Linking places through artistic practices

Place plays a key role in the construction process of the identity of individuals and communities. A place is the result of the interaction between people, spaces and the activities. In our global and multicultural societies, placemaking encompass multiple spaces, actors, perceptions and media. However, the multiple meanings embedded in places are not always perceived by all members of a community, beyond those individuals or groups who create ties with them. Artistic practices can act as catalysts to unveil the multiple meanings underlying places, to make them perceivable to others; links which can give rise to a new sense of place beyond physical and cultural limits. A-PLACE will design and implement art-centered placemaking activities (i.e. performances, installations, debates, video and photography productions) in five European cities -Barcelona, Brussels, Lisbon, Ljubljana, and Nicosia- to connect meanings and experiences associated to places across cultural and geographic boundaries. People of multiple origins and backgrounds will contribute as co-creators of a network of places which will emerge through networked artistic practices. Four types of placemaking activities (Spot-Place, Mobile-Place, Learn-Place and Digital Place) will be carried out in each of the five cities with the participation of the diversity of both, local (residents) and transient (refugees, tourists, business workers) inhabitants, in collaboration with artists and educational staff participating in the project. Artists will be commissioned to carried out works with mixed media as part of the placemaking activities. Their work will be displayed in special events organized at three consolidated international festivals. The placemaking activities will contribute to developing a sense of place which overcomes existing physical, social and cultural boundaries. Reflections on the products of these practices will be archived and later disseminated through an interactive digital platform.