28/08/2017 Alpbach Forum 2017, Migration and the Arts: Europe’s Next Narrative

Europe has always been an asylum land for migrants. Its ethos has largely been forged thanks to those population’s movements where artists have always played a crucial role, all the more those who have ‘other’ origins, perspectives and views. Beyond the prejudices which often reduce them to their country of origins, migrant artists can tend to universality and build up bridges between different parts of the world and amongst communities in Europe. Far from being a spectator, artists with foreign descent can be actors of social changes, questioning their ‘host’ countries and delivering strong messages of tolerance to their citizens and to European citizens. In this Breakout Session, the Cultural Diplomacy Platform invites participants to the European Forum Alpbach to discuss issues faced by contemporary artists with foreign origins in their daily practices, in their relations with their communities and what possible role or message they can endorse in this respect.

Speakers Ms. Aicha Diallo, Associate & Managing Editor, Contemporary And (C&) – Platform of International Art from African Perspectives Of Guinean parentage, Aïcha Diallo was born and grew up in Berlin. She is a cultural producer (B.A. in European Studies, Queen Mary University of London), editor, and an educationist (M.A. in Intercultural Education, Freie Universität/Free University, Berlin). As a founding member and project director of Label Noir, a Black German theatre platform, Diallo was also one of the actors on stage. She has worked for the cultural platform Chimurenga in Cape Town, the art project prêt-à-partager organised by the ifa (German Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations) which included the co-curation of the international symposium Where We Meet: Cultural Translation and Art in Social Transformation focusing on African art practitioners, and Aperture Magazine”s summer issue 2017 Platform Africa. Moreover, Diallo curated and edited the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s online dossier The Living Archive: kulturelle Produktionen und Räume (The Living Archive: Cultural Productions and Spaces). Diallo is now associate editor of Contemporary And (C&), an international platform for diverse and critical insights into contemporary African art and contributing guest editor of Aperture’s summer 2017 issue “Platform Africa”. In addition, Diallo is a joint programme director of KontextSchule (Context School) focusing on art education through the lens of diversity and empowerment, a training program affiliated to the UdK (University of the Arts, Berlin) at the Institute for Art in Context. Her work areas are situated in the nexus of education, empowerment through cultural and digital production. Ms. Oulimata Gueye, Curator, XamXam Oulimata Gueye is an independent critic and curator. Since 2010, she has been studying the impact of digital technology on urban popular culture in Africa and closely follows the works of artists, activists, and theorists who reflect on the socio-cultural, political and economic issues at stake in Africa in the 21st century. Her fields of investigation include Africa sf, a research project she has been developing for several years. Africa sf  explores the links between fiction, digital culture, science and utopias. The idea behind Oulimata’s research is that the economic, technological, political, social and aesthetic upheaval the African continent has undergone is now fostering the development of imaginary worlds revolving around technology and sciences. Oulimata is convinced that science fiction has emerged as the genre that best reflects the interactions between the present, projections for the future, and founding myths. Oulimata’s research is constantly evolving, thanks to field trips, as well as the works of researchers and artists.

Mr. Fadi al-Hamwi, Painter, Video & Installation Artist, www.fadialhamwi.com Fadi al-Hamwi was born in Damascus, Syria in 1986. He graduated from the faculty of Fine Arts, Damascus in 2010, majoring in Oil & Mural Paintings. Al-Hamwi is a painter, video and installation artist, who has participated in numerous solo exhibitions and produced many installations in several studios in Damascus, Beirut and Berlin. He has also shown his artwork at many exhibitions, festival and art fairs in Damascus, Beirut, Dubai, Montreal, London and Washington dc, Copenhagen Paris and Berlin. Al-Hamwi now lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Mr. Daniel Giorev, Policy adviser to the Director General, European Commission DG “International Cooperation and Development” Prior to his current position, from 2014-2016, Daniel Giorev was Member of the Cabinet to the European Commission Vice-President for Budget and Human Resources, focusing notably on external relations, security and ensuring the successful anchoring of the EU institutions in their host countries. From 2010-2014 as Cabinet Member to the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response he oversaw communication policy and campaigns, relations with civil society, EU’s relations with the Balkans countries, Asia, Eastern Europe as well as relations with international organisations. He worked to boost EU’s support to education in emergencies and the EU Children of Peace initiative – the lasting legacy of EU’s Nobel Peace Prize. In 2015-2016 he supported the work of the UN High Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing, which produced the Report to the UN Secretary-General: Too important to fail – addressing the humanitarian financing gap, leading to important reforms in the Humanitarian eco-system. Between 2007-2010 he has was trade negotiator in the External Trade department of the European Commission, working on bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations such as the Free Trade Agreement with Ukraine and Korea, the European Partnership Agreements, the Doha Development Round as well as numerous World Trade Organisation accessions. This work included focused negotiations of Cultural Cooperation Protocols ensuring that EU’s trade policy protects cultural specificity and promotes cultural diversity. He is a graduate of the College of Europe in Bruges (LLM), King’s College London (LLB) and the University of Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne (MA).

Moderator Ms. Sana Ouchtati, Team Leader, Cultural Diplomacy Platform. www.alpbach.org