A project by Goethe-Institut, Tranzit.ro/București, Zeppelin
What would happen if the local residents of one of the less fortunate side of Bucharest would take their fate into their own hands? If they tapped the potential and advantages of the place, if they multiplied the good things that are already happening there? Bucharest-South. Build your own city! is part of the international program Actopolis. The Art of Action, an urban laboratory and a multi-disciplinary platform which takes place in South-Eastern Europe and in the Ruhr region of Germany.
The project was an opportunity for positive action in two major directions.
First, we proposed the citizens in the south of the city an exercise of imagination and responsibility, inviting them to take a hypothetical position of authority, making decisions for the area and their community. The project „Mayor for ten minutes” was an installation that travelled in May in several places in the area: a mobile office that allowed for a few hours the citizens to become mayors. It was a participatory artistic intervention, an exercise of democratic planning. After completing the action, the construction was carried to Belciugatele village, Calarasi County, where Association Arhipera and a team of volunteers have reassembled it as street furniture in the park in the village centre. The decisions, opinions and proposals of the mayors have been collected and will be made public.
The second main objective is to talk about a place and people of that place, to bring public attention to the less appreciated half of Bucharest.
Vlad Petri filmed the installation in May and produced a documentary dedicated to the attending residents.
A map like you’ve never seen before speaks about the “good places” (invented or reinvented through independent initiatives) in the area, from cultural centers to autonomous social enterprises or Văcăreşti Park.
Several research articles examine the general urban context and the potential development trends.
We integrated a literary project (Michael Duţescu) and a photographic one (Andrei Mărgulescu). The two came up with a series of six stories about the neighbourhoods and the people, including their own views and opinions of the inhabitants (one building administrator, a doctor and many others); it is a concise poetic summary of a hidden, complex and energetic urbanity.
All these are found (or will be found by 2017) on the website and in several publications. An international exhibition devoted to all Actopolis projects will run in 2017 and will reach Bucharest as well.
“Actopolis / Bucharest-South” Team
The project is part of the „Actopolis. The Art of Action” program and is organized by Goethe-Institut Bucharest, Tranzit.ro/Bucharest and Zeppelin.
Curators: Raluca Voinea; Ștefan Ghenciulescu
Art installation (concept, design): Daniela Pălimariu, Constantin Goagea
Coordinator of the research on Bucharest-South, texts: Cosmina Goagea
Bucharest-South Stories interviews and texts: Mihai Duţescu
Bucharest-South Stories photos: Andrei Mărgulescu
Program of the installation, social research: Iuliana Dumitru, sociolog
Documentary: Vlad Petri
Goethe-Institut team: Evelin Hust, director; Oana Lăpădatu, coordinator of the Cultural programs / Music and Visual Arts program
Colaborators: Matei Popescu, Sorina Dumitru, construction; Dragoș Dragnea, design
Urban research: Claudiu Forgaci
Drawing of the map for „The other Bucharest-South”: Maria Alexandrescu
Operators of the installation: Floriana Genes, Bogdan Stănescu, Sorin Popescu
www.e-zeppelin.ro, www.tranzit.org, www.goethe.de/ins/ro/ro/index.html
About Actopolis. The Art of Action
Actopolis brings together artists, urban planners and activitists from the cities of South Eastern Europe and the Ruhr region, in a joint production laboratory. Issues of future urban life can not be seen only locally. Actopolis is a call to action and to co-producing the city, beyond the boundaries between disciplines and nations or cultural differences.
The project takes place in Athens, Belgrade, Bucharest, Ankara / Mardin, Oberhausen, Sarajevo and Zagreb.
A project of the Goethe-Institut and Urbane Künste Ruhr.
Artistic direction: Angelika Fitz and Katja Aßmann.
http://blog.goethe.de/actopolis/
