13. April 2021
Through
a unique partnership with 11 international institutions from seven countries, the Octopus Programme has selected 10 outstanding
artists to take part in the programme during the academic years 2021/2022.
From
a rigorous, multi-institutional application process with five interconnected evaluation committees, the winning candidates’
research-based proposals were selected from a pool of applicants from Austria, Finland, Tunisia, Palestine, South Africa,
Sweden and Turkey.
The participating artists selected and appointed to the programme are Alina
Rentsch (DE/SE), Bengü Karadumann (TR), Bochra Taboubi (TU), Els van Houtert
(NL/AT), Jannis Neumann (DE/AT), Kim M. Reynolds (US/SA), Maarit Mustonen
(FI), Nondumiso Lwazi Msimanga (SA), Noor Abed (PS), and Sofia Priftis
(SE).
Octopus Programme is a guided, research-based educational programme which encourages artistic research
and production-based collaborations between academies, art institutions, students and professionals and includes diverse presentation
modes, processes of research and documentation taking form within and from different geographies. By merging the viewpoints
of academic entities and contemporary art institutions and utilizing their facilities and activities, the programme aims to
develop an autonomous and progressive educational methodology.
The programme intends to bridge
and acknowledge social and cultural diversity in the targeted geographical regions—Europe, the Mediterranean, and Africa—and
values the ambiguity between or among: socio-political realities and perspectives; interdisciplinary approaches; academic
and non-academic intellectual models; forms of artistic research and practices; divergent perspectives on artistic production
methodologies; individual and community-based approaches; top-down and grass-root organisation models; accessed and distributed
resources and facilities; strategies of environmental sustainability; artistic challenges and opportunities; different funding
possibilities; institutional and alternative curatorial practices; forms of engagement of artists, audiences and institutions;
forms of innovative and technology-driven mindsets; and diverse knowledge production models.
The
Octopus Programme was initiated in 2019 by
University of Applied Arts Vienna and
Kamel Lazaar Foundation with a pilot phase linking Vienna and Tunis. The
current phase will be defined collectively by
University of Applied Arts Vienna;
Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunis;
Konstfack
University of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm;
Index – The Swedish Contemporary
Art Foundation;
The University of Pretoria;
The
Centre for The Less Good Idea, Johannesburg;
Birzeit University, the Palestinian
Museum, Birzeit;
Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, Ramallah;
SAHA
Association, Istanbul;
Publics, Helsinki; and
Saastamoinen
Foundation, Helsinki.
The programme was designed as a two-semester course “Spectral Encounters”
that includes seminars, peer-to-peer educational sessions, online and class discussions, research fieldtrips, collaborative
production-based workshops, and lectures. The course also incorporates guest lecturers and curated presentations, exhibitions
and activities. The course is led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Basak Senova, Visiting Professor at Art and Communication
Practices, the University of Applied Arts Vienna and its dynamic content and design are generated collaboratively with all
the curators and partners involved: Lina Lazaar, Moez Brabet, and Karim Sultan
(curator) in Tunis; Barbara Putz-Plecko and Basak Senova (curator) in Vienna; Maria
Lantz, Magnus Bärtås, Marti Manen (curator) and Anne Klontz (curator)
in Stockholm; William Kentridge, Phala Ookeditse Phala, and Bronwyn Lace
(curator) in Johannesburg; Johan Thom in Pretoria; Tina Sherwell (curator), Sandy
Rishmawi, Inas Yassin in Birzeit; Renad Shqeirat in Ramallah; Çelenk Bafra (curator)
in Istanbul; Paul O’Neill (curator) and Saastamoinen Foundation in Helsinki.
Throughout
the spring and fall of 2021, the programme will focus on presentations, activities and exhibitions and will execute a diverse
and intense practise-based agenda until the end of June 2022 which concludes with an extensive publication. Participating
artists from the 2019 pilot phase, Férielle Doulain-Zouari (FR/TU), Julia Stern (AT), Marwa
Manai (TU), Sophia Bellouhassi (DE/AT), and Younes Ben Slimane (TU) will also be
integrated in the programme through different formats. The sister project, “Research of Doing,” initiated
by the University of Pretoria and University of Applied Arts Vienna in collaboration with the Centre for the Less Good Idea
in Johannesburg, is funded by OeAD Africa-UniNet and BMBWF, will provide further input to the Octopus Programme.