QWAS – Migrating Dialogue 

Making art on/in a train from Zurich to Almaty (Kazakhstan)
Nummer und TypZMO-ZMO-L001.3.18H.001 / Moduldurchführung
ModulQWAS – Migrating Dialogue 
VeranstalterZ-Module
LeitungRada Leu (MA Transdisciplinarity) is an artist, musician and performer. She is interested in digital culture, cyborgs, transhumanism and DIY subcultures. Peter Tränkle (MA Transdisciplinarity) is an artist who works in the grey field between sociology/art
ZeitMi 8. August 2018 bis Mi 29. August 2018
Anzahl Teilnehmende6
ECTS6 Credits
VoraussetzungenKeine / Bewerbung um Teilnahme in OPEN CALL (siehe unten) Interesse an transkulturellem Austausch und Zusammenarbeit/
LehrformWorkshops, Exkursion, Ausstellung
Zielgruppenelective for all bachelor students, open for master students
(Wahlpflicht für alle Bachelorstudierenden, offen für Master)
BA STUNDENTS ONLY: Bachelor students who are already enrolled for another Z-Module between 3rd-16th September (calendar weeks 36 and 37) are welcome to apply for the exchange but won't receive additional ETCS credit points for this Z-Module.
Lernziele / KompetenzenThe project is a transcultural collaboration between the ZHdK and the Eurasian Cultural Alliance (ECA) in Almaty, Kazakhstan. In August 2018, 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 2018, a festival for public art in Almaty.
InhalteKazakhstan’s recent politics and culture have been dominated by the independence from the Soviet Union and the quest for an own national identity, a process that encompasses gender debates, ethnical differences and geopolitical challenges. Its art scene, although very rich, is still being discovered by the international art scene and discourse. There are many well-established Kazakh artists, who performed the emancipatory gesture from the Soviet Union and reflected upon its demise and subsequent reimagining. Currently, the younger generation is continuing this process, but also engaging in their very own contexts.
In QWAS, we travel through Europe and a series of post-Soviet countries. We use the train as both a tool and a location – a third space, a platform not only for exchange but also for artistic interventions. The passage through space, borders, time and contexts are central to the journey, but the train itself is also an object of inquiry. What kind of art can you make in a limited, moving place? What is the rhythm of the train? Who do you encounter and what are their stories? And where is all that black tea coming from?
The journey between the two countries invites students to explore topics such as migration, nomadism, mobility, identity politics, mapping, borders, languages and other means of communication, time and space, experiments and utopias.

This exchange already took place once in the fall of 2017.
Leistungsnachweis / Testatanforderung100% attendance
Active participation throughout the workshop-week in Zurich; excursion and exhibition in Almaty
TermineOPEN CALL for participation will be distributed via Postmaster in the beginning of May
Provisional timeline:
8th to 12th of August 2018: Workshop-Lab in Zurich with artists from Kazakhstan
12th to 22nd of August 2018: Train Ride from Zurich to Almaty (with stopovers in Berlin, Moscow, and Astana)
23rd to 28th of August 2018: Workshop-Lab in Almaty, exhibition at ARTBAT FEST 2018
29th of August 2018: return journey (by aircraft)
Dauer3 Wochen
Bewertungsformbestanden / nicht bestanden
BemerkungStudents will have to contribute a fee of 300 CHF.
You are welcome to apply by submitting a short statement (1 page A4). It should contain the following:
  • one or two examples of your work and methods, as well as your motivation: why are you interested in this project? How does it refer to your fields of study or artistic practice? What do you expect from this transcultural exchange?
  • an idea for a project you would like to realize on the train
  • knowledge of basic English is desirable but not mandatory
  • please also suggest what Q.W.A.S. should stand for
Deadline: 20. May 2018, by mail to rada.leu@zhdk.ch and peter.traenkle@zhdk.ch
+++ LOOK OUT FOR THE OPEN CALL +++

Links:
QWAS
qwas.zhdk.ch

ARTBAT FEST
https://www.artbat.kz/qwas-cyurih-almaty