The Cities re-imagined: 1 conference will be examining different ways in which BUU can engage with urban cultures and situations. Sub-themes will focus on areas including the representation of urban space in contemporary video art; urban imagery in contemporary photographic art; urban soundscapes and music based on the auditory qualities of urban space; interventionist practices that expose or explore “hidden” aspects of urban space, and theoretical and fictional writing that addresses issues of contemporary urban space. The seminar will feature two keynote lectures:
Steven Bode is a curator, producer and director of the Film & Video Umbrella in London. Bode will talk about his collaboration with artist Dryden Goodwin, with special focus on the big city subject matter in the work of Goodwin.
Nigel Coates is an architect and professor at the Royal College of Art, London. He was previously a teacher at The Architectural Association in London, where he led the group Nato: Narrative Architecture Today. One of Coates last projects was the exhibition and book “Learning from Ecstacity.”
Cities re-imagined:1 is the preliminary event in a planned series of similar events that will take place in different locations over the coming two years. Provisional plans for 2009 include an open air film/video screening event in Cologne, Germany and a series of screenings and talks at Artspace in Sydney, Australia between October - December 2009. In 2010 Cities re-imagined:2 will be an expanded exhibition project. The exhibition is a collaboration between Atelier Nord, BUU, R-O-M for kunst og arkitektur, Atopia and Kulturbyrået Mesén. Events will also take place in Berlin and Trondheim during 2010.
BUU: Bureau for Unstable Urbanism is a loose affiliation of international professionals, within a range of cultural practices, that share a common interest in the investigation of urban cultures and phenomena. Affiliated members include visual artists, composers, musicians, film makers, writers, curators and producers. BUU forms part of a research project being developed at Bergen National Academy og the Arts by Jeremy Welsh. It was instigated in November 2008 in Bergen, Norway and will initially be active until the end of 2010.
Conference coordinators are Jeremy Welsh and Synne Bull.
The conference is supported by Arts Council Norway.