QWAS – Migrating Dialogue 

by Train to Almaty, Kazakhstan
Nummer und TypZMO-ZMO-P021.17H.001 / Moduldurchführung
ModulQWAS-Migrating Dialogue 
VeranstalterZ-Module
LeitungRada Leu
Peter Tränkle
Anzahl Teilnehmende5 - 6
ECTS6 Credits
VoraussetzungenKeine
LehrformProjektwoche / Exkursion
ZielgruppenBachelor- oder Masterstudierende aller Departemente
Lernziele / KompetenzenThe project is a transcultural collaboration between the Zurich University of Arts (ZHdK) and the Eurasian Cultural Alliance (ECA) in Almaty, Kazakhstan. In August / September 2017, five students from ZHdK and five artists from Kazakhstan will work together during a train journey from one location to the other. The results of the collaboration will be presented at the ARTBAT FEST 2017, a festival for public art in Almaty.
InhalteKasachstan is still widely unexplored by the international art scene and discourse. The world’s largest landlocked country, its recent politics have been dominated by the independence from the Soviet Union and the quest for an own national identity. The question of identity touches upon many fields, such as Kasachstan’s numerous ethnical groups or gender debates. Large transformation processes, for instance the creation of a new post-modern capital in the north (Astana, host of the Future Energy Expo 2017) are further signs of its geopolitical self-characterisation. The contemporary art scene, whilst still emerging, is currently forging its specific position in the global context, and reflects on many of these topics.
The idea is to use the train as both a tool and a location – a third space, a platform not only for exchange but also for artistic interventions. It offers the possibility of exploring the passage through space, borders, time and contexts equally well as it is itself an object of inquiry. The travellers are facing challenges due to the limitations of both physical and personal space, having to adapt to a pre-given rhythm and numerous encounters. By traversing the space between the two countries, students are invited to contextualise their own artistic perspectives on research topics such as migration, nomadism, mobility, identity politics, distance, mapping, borders, languages and other means of communication, experience of time and space, experiments and utopias . The train journey provides the setting for an experimental exploration of those topics.
Leistungsnachweis / TestatanforderungAktive Teilnahme, Teilnahme an Exkursion und Abschlusspräsentation in Almaty
TermineMai bis August: Vorbereitung der Workshop-Phase (wenige Treffen)
18.-23. August: Workshop-Labor in Zürich mit Gästen aus Kasachstan
24. August bis 1. September: Zugfahrt Zürich – Almaty (über Berlin, Moskau, Saratov, Aralsk, Baikonur)
2.-8. September, Workshop-Labor in Almaty, Ausstellung im Rahmen des ARTBAT Fest 2017
9. September, Rückreise (per Flug)
Bewertungsformbestanden / nicht bestanden
BemerkungDie Teilnehmenden beteiligen sich mit CHF 300 an den Kosten der Exkursion.
Interested participants are welcome to apply by submitting a short statement (1 page A4) which should contain one or two example works, as well as your motivation – Why are you interested in this project? How does it refer to your fields of study? What do you expect from this transcultural exchange? Would You already have possible ideas? Please also suggest what Q.W.A.S. might stand for.
Deadline: 10 May 2017, by mail to rada.leu@zhdk.ch and peter.traenkle@zhdk.ch