Performing Togetherness is a new type of laboratory-residency developed by Gabriela Tudor Foundation as a result of the crisis within the cultural sector following the pandemic period and the war in Ukraine. It is a platform for research, cultural dialogue, reflection and innovation where participants are invited to meet and confront different points of view about culture and life and discover a new cultural routine based on the concept of togetherness, seen as the quality of working and belonging to a collective practice.
The laboratory aims to foster creativity and interdisciplinarity looking into the future, (re)imagining new ways of performativity, culture and life by creating a space for dialogue, sharing of different artistic practices, exchange and collaboration but also for reflection on (post)war in Europe. Makers from different disciplines, cultural researchers but also experts in biodiversity are invited in a collective co-authorship process, to slow-down their activity and allow time for reflection and experiment, recording emotions and memories of people in relation to nature, city and life.
The laboratory-residency is open to interested mid-career participants with experience in collaborative practices from Austria, Germany, Poland, Romania and Ukraine who are willing to think, reflect and connect with the nature, the city of Bucharest, people’s emotions as well as engaging in a critical thinking process about a greener future. A total number of 8 participants will be invited for 3 weeks to Romania to meet, discuss and develop new ideas and projects on the proposed themes of the residency.
Following a 3-day introductory period at the Black Sea in the middle of the nature, each participant will be invited to lead the group for one day, sharing their own artistic practice, lead conversation and debates, propose films for watching together, experiment and test the concept of togetherness and slowness and what does it mean to create and live nowadays. In the last days of the laboratory-residency, participants will be encouraged to generate in small groups new ideas on the proposed themes. On the last day of the residency, the participants will choose collectively one project idea that was generated during the laboratory. The project selected (including up to 3 participants) will be offered an additional 3-week research time in order to further test and develop the project in October 2024 in a residency in Bucharest at AREAL and Pavilion Goethe Institute.
The residency covers travel costs from the city of residence to Bucharest (return ticket up to 300 Euro/each participant) and accommodation in a shared apartment (with single and twin rooms); a fee of 1000 Euro (gross amount) for the laboratory period in May 2024; a fee of 1000 Euro (gross amount, including per diem) for the additional research 3-week residency in October 2024 (fee per person/ up to 3 participants).
