EuroVision2000
Temporary European "Local TV"
Eurovision2000 is a project of independent, thematic events, communication and exchange. The project, initiated by artists, will be organised and produced in the framework of Café9. During the course of September 2000 there will be a week of discussions and events in the various premises of Café9, focussing on the reconfiguration of Europe and the processes linked to this, such as the invention of a "European identity". There will be independent and critical video and film productions, as well as discussions and live events. Videos, films and documentations of the live events will be compiled as programmes and exchanged between the various Café9 partner cities, and will also be made available on the internet.
Café9
Café9 provides the space and infrastructure for the independent EuroVision2000 project. Café9 is a joint venture between the cities of Avignon, Brussels, Bergen, Bologna, Helsinki, Prague and Reykjavik, i.e. seven of the new European Cities of Culture of this year. Its aims are to build a network-based forum for socially and culturally involved artists, media activists and other interested groups in Europe, in order to realise joint projects in the various Cities of Culture and enable an exchange. More information about Café9 can be obtained under http://www.cafe9.net
The Concept of EuroVision2000
EuroVision2000 developed from ‘MoneyNationsTV’. This project started in 1998 as part of the wider framework of ‘MoneyNations@access’, which evolved in Shedhalle Zurich. One of the central concepts of ‘MoneyNationsTV’ was the direct exchange of reports, documentations, personal experiences and narrations around the issue of the current redefinition of Europe and its socio-economic transformation.
These theoretical and socio-political perspectives were shared by filmmakers, artists and theorists from Middle, Central and Southeast Europe. The productions resulting from this focussed on new border constructions in Europe, on migration, the social and political effects of Neo-Liberalism, informal economies and the function of art and culture in the course of the reconfiguration of Eastern Europe. More detailed information on ‘MoneyNations@access’ and ‘MoneyNationsTV’ can be found online under http://www.moneynations.ch
The Content of EuroVision2000
EuroVision2000 will take another look at the topics which were central to MoneyNationsTV. This includes the economic, social and cultural transformation of Europe, the many-sided, but sometimes contradictory, transformation in the countries of the former Eastern Block, and the consequences with regard to personal biographies, informal economies and migration, as well as racism, which is increasing in the whole of Europe.
Traditionally, the exclusive status of Europe was defined by the demarcation and devaluation of "other cultures", for instance by the demarcation of former colonies, the Orient, Africa and Asia, and also of the USA. The transformation of Europe, forced by the East as well as the West since 1989, has been attributed to global competition. However, in the framework of the current reconfiguration of the European Union, of the extension of EU borders towards Middle, Central and Southeast Europe, and in conjunction with the new accessions to NATO, the "old" privileged pivotal point of Europe has self-evidently remained in the West. Political and societal experiences and realities of the countries of the former socialist alliance are deliberately ignored just as was previously the case with regard to the countries of the global South. The adaptation and normalisation processes that accompany the political and economic orientation towards accession to the EU trigger off a whole series of societal and social changes in every-day life in the countries of the former Eastern Block. They also cause new exclusions of different kinds, depending on the individual country. This affects not only the many-sided, and often contradictory, adaptation processes of (Western) European culture, which is defined as global culture, but also the reconstitution of a new national identity and the social exclusions which result from this. Additionally, old (gender) orders are reintroduced.
Culture acquires a central significance in these exclusion and inclusion processes. European or national identities were historically formed by claiming cultural differences. The fusion of nation states into "one new Europe", and the great social, political and economic changes, are conveyed as attractive and justified, for instance through new cultural models. All that does not comply with the idea of an economically innovative, flexible and efficient Europe is increasingly being devalued and excluded.
Aims of EuroVision2000
The aim of EuroVision2000 is a critical examination of current and historic forms of border construction, as well as exclusion processes, related to the formulation of national or general European identities.
EuroVision2000 will use the spatial and structural framework of Café9 to present new, as well as already established, video productions, relating to this subject, to a wider audience. It intends to intensify personal exchange and discussion between the various producers who work within the framework of this topic.
The aim is to expand the existing network of independent film producers and media activists, and to link it with locally, socially and culturally involved groups and people in the Café9 partner cities.
The ‘MoneyNationsTV’ network has already established contacts with artists, film producers and activists in France, Italy, Ex-Yugoslavia, Kosova, Bulgaria, Rumania, the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland.
The Presentation of EuroVision2000
EuroVision2000 will be presented on three levels:
Film and video programmes: EuroVision2000 will collect, compile and show independent film and video productions based on personal, cultural, and documentary observations of the ongoing redefinition of Europe with all its social, political and economic consequences. Moreover, EuroVision2000 will attempt to initiate new video productions about local events in the various Café9 cities.
Live events: EuroVision2000 will use TV format in a tactically playful and ironic way. For one week, the various Café9 locations will be transformed into production studios with stages for public events. Local teams will focus on specific themes and create relevant TV programmes for one or several nights. These could include video screenings with live facilitation, talk shows, discussion rounds, interviews with guests, game shows, documentary soaps and other kinds of programmes.
Distribution and networking: EuroVision2000 will create its own internet archive, a databank from which short descriptions of all videos and films will be available, as well as low-resolution copies of the films in RealMedia format.
All live events will be recorded in the various Café9 locations and continuously exchanged with all other Café9 cities. They will also be available on the internet.
EuroVision2000 maintains its own mailing list to further the direct exchange between the participating groups, artists, activists and theorists. In addition to the Café9 events EuroVision2000 will aim to find other channels for the distribution of its output, perhaps through further showings of excerpts of the film and video programmes in other locations, through editing and distribution of video samplers, or through collaboration with local, national or international television broadcasters.
Dates and Locations of EuroVision2000
EuroVision2000 will take place in September 2000 at Café9 locations in Prague, Bologna, Avignon, Brussels, Bergen, Reykjavik and Helsinki, and on the internet under http://www.eurovision2000.net.
Organisation and Responsibilities of EuroVision2000
Café9 will be responsible of the over-all coordination of the project, and the technical infrastructure of the various locations, as well as the creation and the hosting of the website.
The coordination team, consisting of Jennifer de Felice (Prague), Marion von Osten (Berlin), Peter Spillmann (Zurich) and Susanna Perin (Rome), will be responsible for the topic-related content development and the establishment of the local teams. Local production teams will develop, organise and produce their own specific programmes in the various Café9 cities.
Funding of EuroVision2000
The EuroVision2000 project is independent from Café9 and the Cities of Culture 2000, and will therefore be dependent on additional funding. For the project launch, communication and coordination within local teams, as well as for the compilation of a video and film collection, initial funding is available from Café9. Funding at European, national and local levels, as well as from additional public and private bodies, will have to be sought in order to cover the production costs of local live events, as well as new videos, and their distribution to all Café9 localities. The coordination team, as well as the various local production teams, will be responsible for fundraising.
Call for Contributions of Video and Film Programmes for EuroVision2000!
All artists, film producers, activists, theorists and other groups or individuals who have already worked on EuroVision2000 topics as laid out above, or who plan such productions, are invited to participate in the EuroVision2000 network.
Please send us videos or films on VHS/pal tapes, together with the usual information on authors and participants, as well as a short description of content. Also include full address, e-mail address and details of the relevant bank account.
Language: In principle productions are possible in any language. However, since the productions are distributed to 7 different countries, English subtitles are almost indispensable. All short descriptions of the videos and films should be in English, since the website will be exclusively in English.
Fees / remuneration: We aim to pay a remuneration of least 100 Euros for all contributions that become part of the programme. This will, however, depend on the success of the fundraising.
Copyright rules: All copyrights will remain with the authors and artists. EuroVision2000 will show the videos in the framework of programme blocks in the various Café9 locations, and will include low-resolution copies in the on-line archive. New negotiations will take place with authors, artists and their distribution representatives respectively with regard to any further use of the material. This could be, for instance, for the production of a EuroVision2000 compilation tape, further screenings outside Café9 localities, or for broadcasting on local, national or European TV channels.
All EuroVision2000 network participants will automatically be added to the EuroVision2000 mailing list (eurovision-l@ecn.cz) and receive all information concerning the further development of the EuroVision2000 project, as well as the latest news on Café9. In this way they will also be able to participate actively in future discussions and decision-making.
Call to Participate in a Local EuroVision2000 Production Team!
Eurovision2000 is looking for groups or individuals who would like to take on the local coordination of EuroVision2000 and/or who would like to participate in the conception and production of their own programmes, parts of programmes and live events, in one of the Café9 partner cities of Avignon, Brussels, Bergen, Bologna, Helsinki, Prague or Reykjavik.
Contact
EuroVision2000
c/o Labor k3000
Schöneggstr. 5
CH - 8004 Zurich
Switzerland
spillmann@access.ch
0041 1 291 30 40
or
EuroVision2000
c/o Centrum pro soucasné umení
Jelení 9
CZ - 11800 Praha 1
Czech Republic
jennifer.defelice@ecn.cz
0042 02 2437 3178
