Theme: Communication- Exchange, Dialogue & Art

“Our task is simply to be like a transparent web, through which pass those things which are given” Koulsy Lamko, extract from a documentary the Missing Book by FrouwkjeSmit.

In order to examine and engage in this subject we invite artists and scholars of different disciplines.

Questions we propose for reflection are:

•What are the missing links in communication and what impact do these have?
•Does language in all its facets hinder or limit fruitful - communication?
•How can artists, scholars and the public respond or contribute to this discourse
•Since Communication is central to the on-going processes of culture and society, how does a breach in communication affect these processes?
•Does internet contribute to widening the gap of inequality between different parts of the world?
•What are the unseen obstacles and or possibilities internet and the digital age can offer?
•While internet technology seems to have broken the physical borders of communication, has it at the same time become a communication barrier to those unable to access it creating a huge development backlog and vice versa?
•Although the ability to communicate is bringing about great changes in our world, how can we utilize ready available communication possibilities to bridge the gap in communication, to create more access, to build and preserve knowledge resources that can answer the challenges facing our world today and most importantly bring about change in the way we treat our environment?

The IFAA artists in residency will therefore bring together creators based in different parts of the globe – to Louvain la Neuve in order to reflect on and respond to the above mentioned questions. Because art and artists have the power to inspire change, the take-off point will be based on sharing knowledge, through cross disciplinary collaborations that can foster fruitful dialogue.

The intention is to permeate the results of this intensive collaboration into the public domain through the form of an international exhibition, projects in public space, a table of discussions, international conference, documentation, the website, social networks, public debates and a festival.