Culturescapes (or: CULTURESCAPES) is a multidisciplinary Swiss arts festival devoted to inter-cultural exchange. The festival, which takes place in autumn, showcases the cultural landscape of a different region, nation or city. Although based in Basel the festival extends to many other places in Switzerland, such as Aarau, Bern, Chur, Zurich, Geneva or Bellinzona. Founded in the year 2002, the festival mainly focussed on Eastern European countries at the beginning. However, with festival editions devoted to countries like Turkey, Azerbaijan, China or Israel the festival gradually expanded its scope. To mark its tenth anniversary in 2012 Culturescapes focussed on Moscow, for the first time placing the topography of a city at the centre of the festival.[1] The 2013 Balkans festival edition highlighted not only a country but an entire cultural region.[2] 2015 Iceland was presented.[3] At the same time was also announced that in the future the festival will take place in the biennial rhythm. The next two editions took place in 2017 with a focus on Greece and in 2019 with a focus on Poland.

From 2021, CULTURESCAPES is opening a new festival series dedicated to critical zones that extend beyond the boundaries of nation states. In 2021, the focus was on the Amazon region. In 2023, the focus will be on the Sahara, in 2025 on the Himalayas and in 2027 on the oceans.[4]

CULTURESCAPES is a network festival, cooperating with existing arts venues in Switzerland, such as the Kaserne Basek or the Museum Tinguely. The festival is usually supported by Swiss federal agencies, e.g. DEZA, county authorities as well as state departments of the guest country. The festival is interdisciplinary. Next to performing arts like theatre and dance the festival also presents fine arts, graphic arts, craft, literature, film and new Media. In the programming section entitled „Focus" the history, current affairs and popular culture of the focus region are discussed and analysed. This largely happens in cooperation with Swiss education institutions such as the University of Basel or the University of Zurich. Some of the countries and topics chosen have led to protests and debate. Such topics include the Armenian genocide or the Conflicts in the Middle East. In a public letter, Culturescapes was requested by BDS Switzerland, a group advocating the boycott of Israel, not to host the Culturescapes Israel 2011 festival.[5] The BDS Switzerland also protested at some of the events of the festival.[6]

Foundation

The original idea behind CULTURESCAPES was to draw attention to the transformative processes taking place in the less well-known countries of the former Eastern Bloc, as manifested in the art produced there. Gradually, however, the focus shifted to cultural landscapes with a long tradition of artistic diversity, whose current form bears the stamp of a unique combination of historical, political, social and economic factors.[7] Founder and curator of all the festival editions to date is Dutch arts manager Jurriaan Cooiman. Since 2009 CULTURESCAPES functions as a charitable foundation. Before this date, the festival had been run by the group Performing Arts Services Basel (PASS).[8]

Festivals

Festival editionGuest regionFeatures
2003 [9]  Georgia i. a. Gija Kantscheli as Composer in Residence
2004 [10]  Ukraine i. a. Topics: Chernobyl; Literature from Chernivtsi, Music from Valentin Silvestrov
2005 [11]  Armenia i. a. First Public conference about the Armenian genocide,[12] Tigran Mansurian as composer in Residence[13]
2006 [14]  Estonia i. a. Estland in Wandel, von Kraahl Theater, Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür, first composition contest[15]
2007 [16]  Romania i. a. Monday theatre with Peca Stefan,[17] Gianna Carbunariu; Stefan Niculescu, Aurel Stroe, Horațiu Rădulescu, Ana Blandiana
2008 [18]  Turkey i. a. Fazıl Say; Mercan Dede,
2009 [19]  Azerbaijan i. a. Frangiz Ali-Sade, Aziza Mustafa Zadeh, Pantomime Theatre Baku, first artists in residence program for young artists
2010 [20]  China i. a. Co-production with Wang Jianwei; Jin Xing, Composition request to Wang Xilin, opera from Hangzhou[21]
2011 [22]  Israel i. a. Batsheva Dance Company; Composition by Chaya Czernowin; Co-Productions Ofira Henig, Yasmeen Godder, Daniel Landau
2012 [23] Moscow i. a. Dimtri Krymov, Yuri Bashmet, Co-operation with Musma (music masters on air),[24] Composition by Alexander Raskatov, Alexey Sysoev und Pavel Karmanov, Vladimir Sorokin
2013 [25] Balkans i. a. Miljenko Jergović, Dubioza Kolektiv, Oliver Frljic,[26] EnKnapGroup, Rambo Amadeus, Vlatko Stefanovski, Damir Imamović
2014 [27] Tokyo Part of 150 years anniversary of diplomatic relationships between Switzerland and Japan[28]
2015 [29]  Iceland i.a. Jón Gnarr, Ragnar Kjartansson, Ragna Róbertsdóttir, Egill Sæbjörnsson, Andri Snær Magnason, Einar Falur Ingólfsson, Erna Ómarsdóttir, Sóley, ADHD, Skúli Sverrisson, Ólöf Arnalds
2017[30] Greece i.a. Dimitris Papaioannou, Rosarte Children's Choir, Rimini Protokoll, Vassilis Varvaresos, Mönchen vom Berg Athos (Monks of Mount Athos), Milo Rau
2019[31] Poland i.a. Krzysztof Warlikowski, Marta Górnicka, Paweł Pawlikowski, Olga Tokarczuk, Vladyslav Sendecki, Kinga Głyk
2021 Amazonia i.a. Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, Claudia Andujar, Ernesto Neto, Victor Moriyama, Alessandra Korap Munduruku.

Literature

  • Culturescapes Aserbaidschan: Kultur, Geschichte und Politik zwischen Kaukasus und Kaspischem Meer. Christoph Merian Verlag, Basel 2009, ISBN 978-3-85616-488-1.
  • Culturescapes China: Chinas Kulturszene ab 2000. Christoph Merian Verlag, Basel 2010, ISBN 978-3-85616-514-7.
  • Culturescapes Israel: Kultur im Spannungsfeld des Nahen Ostens. Christoph Merian Verlag, Basel 2011, ISBN 978-3-85616-528-4.
  • Culturescapes Moskau: Schauplatz der Inszenierungen. Christoph Merian Verlag, Basel 2012, ISBN 978-3-85616-572-7.
  • Culturescapes Balkan: Kosovo 2.0 - Balkart. Christoph Merian Verlag, Basel 2013, ISBN 978-3-85616-626-7.
  • Culturescapes Island: Zwischen Sagas und Pop. Christoph Merian Verlag, Basel 2015, ISBN 978-3-85616-676-2.
  • Culturescapes Greece/ Griechenland: Archaeology of the Future / Archäologie der Zukunft. Christoph Merian Verlag, Basel 2017, ISBN 978-3-85616-845-2.
  • «ON THE EDGE»: Culturescapes Poland. ISBN 978-3-033-07245-9.
  • CULTURESCAPES 2021 Amazonia: Amazonia. Anthology as Cosmology. Sternberg Press, Berlin 2021, ISBN 978-3-95679-611-1.

References

  1. ↑ Fluri, Christian „Culturescapes feiert mit Moskau Jubiläum" Basellandschaftliche Zeitung (Basel) 22 November 2012
  2. ↑ Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC CULTURESCAPES Balkan, Website SDC. Accessed 12 March 2014., Fluri, Christian „Culturescapes: Erstmals widmet sich Festival einer umstrittenen Region" Basellandschaftliche Zeitung 20 September 2013
  3. ↑ Website Culturescapes Island 2015. Accessed 04. December 2015.
  4. ↑ "Culturescapes".
  5. ↑ BDS public letter Archived 12 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Accessed 12 March 2014
  6. ↑ BDS Switzerland „Proteste beim Auftritt der Batsheva Dance Company im Beyeler Museum" Archived 12 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine 23 November 2013, Accessed 12 March 2014.
  7. ↑ The history of Culturescapes Archived 28 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Website Culturescapes. Accessed 11th Marth 2014., EFA European Festival Association „Culturescapes Member Profile" Archived 16 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Accessed 15 April 2014.
  8. ↑ Federal Office of Justice, Switzerland Commercial Registry Archived 23 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ Flyer Culturescapes Georgia
  10. ↑ Program overview Culturescapes Ukraine
  11. ↑ Program overview Culturescapes Armenia
  12. ↑ Wanted for the future - historical clarification! Armenians, Turks, and Europe in the shadow of World War I, Program Symposium. Accessed 12th Marth 2014
  13. ↑ De Marchi, Rolf „Meine Musik kommt von oben" Basellandschaftliche Zeitung (Basel) 9 November 2005 Article online
  14. ↑ Program overview Culturescapes Estonia
  15. ↑ Wirz, Ursina „Culturescapes Estland" Students.ch Magazin (Basel) 8 November 2006
  16. ↑ Programm overview Culturescapes Romania
  17. ↑ De Baas, Michael „Rumänien Land im Umbruch" Badische Zeitung (Basel) 15 November 2007 Article online
  18. ↑ Program Culturescapes Turkey
  19. ↑ Program Culturescapes Azerbaijan
  20. ↑ Programm Culturescapes China, Press review Culturescapes China Archived 7 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ↑ „Remarks by Chinese Ambassador WU Ken At the Closing Ceremony of Culturescapes China 2010" Archived 30 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Website Chinese Embassy in Switzerland. Accessed 12 March 2014.
  22. ↑ Program Culturescapes Israel, Press review Culturescapes Israel Archived 12 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ↑ Programm Culturescapes Moscow
  24. ↑ Website Musma, Accessed 12 March 2014.
  25. ↑ Program Culturescapes Balkans
  26. ↑ „Wahrheit im Kaleidoskop gebrochen" Badische Zeitung 19 November 2013
  27. ↑ Website Culturescapes Tokio 2014
  28. ↑ Staines, Judith „Switzerland’s Culturescapes Festival selects Tokyo as focus for 2014„, Culture360.org 8 November 2013, „Events and Projects", Website 150 Years Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Switzerland and Japan. Accessed 12 March 2014
  29. ↑ Website Culturescapes Island 2015
  30. ↑ "CULTURESCAPES | GRIECHENLAND". www.culturescapes.ch. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  31. ↑ "CULTURESCAPES | POLEN". www.culturescapes.ch. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
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