CORNERS of Europe
CORNERS
CORNERS of Europe connects places on the outer edges of Europe that were built for an industry that is longer there. From Taranto in Italy to Gdansk in Poland, from the Balkans to South East Northumberland, CORNERS considers what we share and what defines us. Designed and driven by a growing number of cultural organisations working on the edges, it brings together artists and audiences through research, artwork, collaboration and digital exchange. In May 2016, we presented CORNERS artworks across public spaces in Blyth, created by over 20 international artists with groups from South East Northumberland. In September 2017 we presented 3 CORNERS projects in Horden, Shotten and Blackhall in East Durham.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
CORNERS connects regions on the outer edges of Europe. It brings to the center areas that are outside of political, cultural and economical mainstreams, focusing on remote regions and small towns. It draws connections between them through research and artworks, connecting people to people and place to place. For us, this means looking closely at what is specific to each place we work in, regardless of official borders and divisions, and then searching for commonalities that draw threads between them.
CORNERS can be found in and between remote areas such as the North of Sweden, Sàpmi Land, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, East of Poland, West of Ukraine, Lithuania, Kaliningrad Russia, Basque country, Northern Ireland, North-East England and the South of Italy.
Our goal is to meet local audiences, organizations, and active citizens, to connect with them and together bring the corners of Europe into the centre of the European cultural map. Since 2011, CORNERS has brought together more than 50 artists and researchers (and the number grows) and over 30 organisations and institutions working as partners and collaborators on the project.
CORNERS artists develop projects that are presented in public spaces, where this kind of work is not often shown and to people who don't often have the chance to experience contemporary art within their neighbourhoods.
Since we joined the CORNERS, we have worked with our four UK-based artists Lalya Gaye, Simon Farid, Julie Myers and Maria Anastassiou to develop co-productions that will be presented across Europe over the next two years. In March 2015, we welcomed 30 artists and producers to the region as part of the CORNERS North East England Xpedition, where we toured a range of places, connecting creatively with local people, hearing and sharing their stories and taking inspiration from our region.
We have developed CORNERS Live, working with our associate digital curator Dominic Smith and open-source software developers Sourcefabric, based in the Czech Republic, alongside the CORNERS artists. CORNERS Live is an exciting hybrid exhibition, broadcast and collaborative online space for artists and audiences to share their experiences of CORNERS from anywhere in the world.
We visited CORNERS events in Haninge (Sweden) in May, Prizren (Kosovo) in August as part of DokuFest and Belfast (Northern Ireland) in October as part of the Belfast International Arts Festival, where the artists presented their work.
Together, CORNERS artists and researchers will continue to explore the outskirts of Europe and co-create artistic projects across borders of artistic disciplines in order to bring stories from one corner of Europe into another. Co-creations will be gathered in different places across Europe, where artists and their audiences will inhabit unusual and public spaces, using partners’ cities as their stages: Umeå and Stockholm (SE), Ljubljana (SI), Gdansk (PO), Belgrade (RS), Zagreb and Rijeka (HR), Donostia / San Sebastian (Basque Country, ES), Belfast (Northern Ireland, UK), Tees Valley and Northumberland (England, UK), and Prizren (Kosovo).
CORNERS of Europe connects places on the outer edges of Europe that were built for an industry that is longer there. From Taranto in Italy to Gdansk in Poland, from the Balkans to South East Northumberland, CORNERS considers what we share and what defines us. Designed and driven by a growing number of cultural organisations working on the edges, it brings together artists and audiences through research, artwork, collaboration and digital exchange. In May 2016, we presented CORNERS artworks across public spaces in Blyth, created by over 20 international artists with groups from South East Northumberland. In September 2017 we presented 3 CORNERS projects in Horden, Shotten and Blackhall in East Durham.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
CORNERS connects regions on the outer edges of Europe. It brings to the center areas that are outside of political, cultural and economical mainstreams, focusing on remote regions and small towns. It draws connections between them through research and artworks, connecting people to people and place to place. For us, this means looking closely at what is specific to each place we work in, regardless of official borders and divisions, and then searching for commonalities that draw threads between them.
CORNERS can be found in and between remote areas such as the North of Sweden, Sàpmi Land, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, East of Poland, West of Ukraine, Lithuania, Kaliningrad Russia, Basque country, Northern Ireland, North-East England and the South of Italy.
Our goal is to meet local audiences, organizations, and active citizens, to connect with them and together bring the corners of Europe into the centre of the European cultural map. Since 2011, CORNERS has brought together more than 50 artists and researchers (and the number grows) and over 30 organisations and institutions working as partners and collaborators on the project.
CORNERS artists develop projects that are presented in public spaces, where this kind of work is not often shown and to people who don't often have the chance to experience contemporary art within their neighbourhoods.
Since we joined the CORNERS, we have worked with our four UK-based artists Lalya Gaye, Simon Farid, Julie Myers and Maria Anastassiou to develop co-productions that will be presented across Europe over the next two years. In March 2015, we welcomed 30 artists and producers to the region as part of the CORNERS North East England Xpedition, where we toured a range of places, connecting creatively with local people, hearing and sharing their stories and taking inspiration from our region.
We have developed CORNERS Live, working with our associate digital curator Dominic Smith and open-source software developers Sourcefabric, based in the Czech Republic, alongside the CORNERS artists. CORNERS Live is an exciting hybrid exhibition, broadcast and collaborative online space for artists and audiences to share their experiences of CORNERS from anywhere in the world.
We visited CORNERS events in Haninge (Sweden) in May, Prizren (Kosovo) in August as part of DokuFest and Belfast (Northern Ireland) in October as part of the Belfast International Arts Festival, where the artists presented their work.
Together, CORNERS artists and researchers will continue to explore the outskirts of Europe and co-create artistic projects across borders of artistic disciplines in order to bring stories from one corner of Europe into another. Co-creations will be gathered in different places across Europe, where artists and their audiences will inhabit unusual and public spaces, using partners’ cities as their stages: Umeå and Stockholm (SE), Ljubljana (SI), Gdansk (PO), Belgrade (RS), Zagreb and Rijeka (HR), Donostia / San Sebastian (Basque Country, ES), Belfast (Northern Ireland, UK), Tees Valley and Northumberland (England, UK), and Prizren (Kosovo).
CORNERS East DurhamOur second CORNERS event took place in East Durham in September 2017, where 9 artists presented projects in Horden, Shotton and Blackhall. >>
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CORNERS OF EUROPE IN BLYTHOur first CORNERS event was in South East Northumberland in May 2016, where many of the artists who visited the region as part of the North East England Xpedition returned to present their projects. >>
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Artistic ProductionsWe co-produced a number of artistic commissions for CORNERS; collaborative artworks with both UK and international artists. >>
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CORNERS LiveCORNERS Live is our digital commission for CORNERS, an exciting hybrid exhibition, broadcast and collaborative online space which allows artists and audiences to connect and share their experiences of CORNERS from anywhere in the world. >>
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OUR SUPPORTERS AND PARTNERS
The total budget for CORNERS was 2.566.000 EUR, half of this amount was covered by Creative Europe, and the other half was from local funds by CORNERS Partners. CORNERS in Blyth was supported by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, Arts Council England, bait, The Esmée Fairburn Foundation, The Community Foundation and The Polish Cultural Institute. CORNERS East Durham has been further supported by East Durham Creates, The County Durham Community Foundation and The Big Lottery Fund.
The support from Creative Europe programme is giving us the opportunity to continue building our platform, to make it more vivid and diverse. We will continue to connect artists in co-creations, encounter new regions, meet and engage new audiences in arts and culture. For 4 years, starting from September 2014, eleven partners will work together: Intercult (Sweden), Pogon and Drugo More (Croatia), Exodos (Slovenia), Arts Council Northern Ireland and ISIS Arts (UK), City Culture Institute/Gdansk (Poland), Donostia/San Sebastián 2016 (Basque Country/Spain), Cultural Centre REX (Serbia), Teatro Pubblico Pugliese (Italy), and DokuFest (Kosovo).
The total budget for CORNERS was 2.566.000 EUR, half of this amount was covered by Creative Europe, and the other half was from local funds by CORNERS Partners. CORNERS in Blyth was supported by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, Arts Council England, bait, The Esmée Fairburn Foundation, The Community Foundation and The Polish Cultural Institute. CORNERS East Durham has been further supported by East Durham Creates, The County Durham Community Foundation and The Big Lottery Fund.
The support from Creative Europe programme is giving us the opportunity to continue building our platform, to make it more vivid and diverse. We will continue to connect artists in co-creations, encounter new regions, meet and engage new audiences in arts and culture. For 4 years, starting from September 2014, eleven partners will work together: Intercult (Sweden), Pogon and Drugo More (Croatia), Exodos (Slovenia), Arts Council Northern Ireland and ISIS Arts (UK), City Culture Institute/Gdansk (Poland), Donostia/San Sebastián 2016 (Basque Country/Spain), Cultural Centre REX (Serbia), Teatro Pubblico Pugliese (Italy), and DokuFest (Kosovo).