You are here

A city has emerged on Amsterdam’s windy Java eiland: FABCiTY. The houses there are made of waste materials and one can use energy without being connected to an electricity network. Steel bridges are being printed there. Small businesses, students and creative people are working together, off-grid and self-sustaining. This ‘circular city’, where things are recycled and shared, and where everybody claims and designs their own spaces, may well be the city of the future.

More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and the number of people keeps growing. We live together in a very limited number of square miles. There is less and less space that is not being used or for which no plans exist yet. Social inequality is becoming more apparent and economic problems are emerging. The air and the environment are getting more polluted. In fact, how pleasant are cities, really? FABCiTY sounds far more attractive. It has a positive vibe and the ‘inhabitants’ use their own creativity to live together in harmony, as equals. The outcome is a shared space where people cook, eat, laugh, talk, work, create, and drink a hemp beer. The city is not a result of urban planning, but of people’s actual needs. Sounds utopian? Perhaps it does.

What is your outlook on the city? Is it just a place where you live? Is it where you draw your inspiration from or is it your stage? And what influence do you yourself have on your living environment? As an artist, you might well find solutions to the city’s problems. Or you might contribute to its identity through the art that you create. During You are Here you will explore the city, (co)existence in the city and the role that you as an artist can play in the city. Together with other artists, scientists and technologists you will exchange ideas, identify challenges and maybe even develop strategies for the future. Where do you stand?

Guests in this program:

Jennifer Miller (entertainer Circus Amok/professor Pratt Institute, NY), Henk Oosterling (philosopher Erasmus Universiteit/Rotterdam Vakmanstad), Gikkels (rap artist), Recetas Urbanas (platform social architecture, Seville), Gewildgroei (movement for city nature), Lotte van den Berg (theatre maker), René Boomkens (philosopher/professor UVA), Sabrina Lindemann (urban curator OpTrek), Elizabeth Sikiaridi & Frans Vogelaar (professors, partners Hybrid Space Lab), Ruben Jacobs (sociologist/HkU), Wermke/Leinkauf (video/performance/public space, Berlin), Chris Keulemans (journalist), Eric Frijters (lector Academies van Bouwkunst), Erwin Jans (dramaturge Toneelhuis, Antwerp), Renate Zentschnig (curator/theatre maker), Stef Visjager (Radiomakers Desmet), Bart Van Nuffelen (theatre maker MartHa!tentatief, Antwerp), Denicolai &Provoost (artist duo, Brussels), Harmen de Hoop (visual artist/public space), Alida Dors (dance maker), Anthony Heidweiler (artistic director Operamakers), Fedor Teunisse (artistic leader Slagwerk Den Haag), Aurélie Lierman (radio artist/vocalist/composer, Brussels), Korsten & De Jong (artists), Laura Brouwer (artist), Peter Sonderen (Professor Theory in the Arts), Jeroen Lutters (Professor Education in Arts and Culture) and many others!