We built an international network around MAF in recent years. Collaboration with cultural partner organizations in Buenos Aires and Mexico City provided an interesting exchange of expertise on urban art.
Lolo y Lauti, Bárbara Echevarría, Editorial Clase Turista, Paula Baró, Luciano Bonati (Creative Industries BA), Rocío Cerón, Rojo Cordova, Diablos del Cerro de las Tablas, CC Matienzo, UNAM, the embassies of Mexico and Argentina, … are just some of the artists and organizations we have collaborated with through projects or reflections.
This year there is a first! Through the support of the Arenbergschouwburg and the Province of Antwerp (and the partner organizations of Buenos Aires and Mexico City) we managed – despite the cut in subsidies – to carry out our nefarious plans after all: Flying Belgian artists from the MAF network over to Mexico City and Buenos Aires!
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This summer, theater maker Barbara Claes (Lucinda Ra) and dancer/choreographer Benjamin Vandewalle (Caravan Production) are doing a residency of several weeks in CC Matienzo (Buenos Aires) as part of #MAF16. David Ramos and Joffrey Anane (Osei Bantu – Urban Art collective) and Carolina Maciel de França (coordinator of external relations t,arsenaal Mechelen) will then be hosted by the Universidad Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM is 1 of the largest artistic networks in MX DF with museums, arts centers, theaters,…) in Mexico City. Artistic director Gerardo Salinas himself is also in Buenos Aires for 10 days to give a presentation at a conference at the Centro Cultural Recoleta.
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They explore the use of (public) space and artistic work in a metropolis in another country. Their immersion in the cultural scene of 2 exciting metropolises will undoubtedly result in further exchange and perhaps even artistic collaboration.
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Among other things, Barbara participated in the conference of Casa Temenos -espacio de arte- in Archi-Piel-Lago. The theme was the challenges faced by young creators in Buenos Aires in developing choreographic composition on stage. Benjamin Vandewalle created a performance Hello Buenos Aires with Valeria Primost that was screened on Aug. 20. That same day, the Work In Progress of the performance Walking the City continued in the hip Palermo neighborhood. So a busy schedule for our artists on site!
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During their stay, they’ll report briefly from time to time (we’ll post about this at https://www.facebook.com/
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To conclude …
A first artistic video report by Barbara Claes
