Dates: 10 April 2025 —12 April 2025 with students of MKE and students/alumni of Freeszfe Society Realized in collaboration with members of the open art community Pneuma Szöv. (Sarah Günther, Zsuzsa Berecz, Viktor Markos - Pneuma Vizuál, Luca Szabados) Venues: HUFA Intermedia Dpt., Internép (Népszínház utca 26. Budapest, 1081, Hungary) The seminar will embark on a journey towards the potentials of presence at a location. We go beyond our usual understanding of the local, we work ourselves into the in-between. As potential community members, as artists, as entities. Where does our interest lie? In Latin the word inter esse means "taking part", literally "being in-between." When we have an interest, we take part — we are in the space between something and ourselves. During the seminar, we will delve into this notion of in-between presence, experimenting with various stages of presence, of flow, also exploring methodologies of improvisation. We will engage with the surroundings of a specific location in Budapest: Népszínház utca (People's Theatre Street). The block seminar will take place at Internép, an experimental space in Népszínház utca, where a longterm coexistence of artists and neighbours is emerging. Together, we will look into and mingle with practices of locals, district municipality, locals and strangers. The seminar will also be open for students and alumni from theatre-related study programs of the Freeszfe Society. — Regarding the theme, students will be guided to envisage and conduct site-specific research and artistic interpretations within group work. The discourse of the seminar is to link theoretical and practical aspects within contemporary art and embrace the togetherness of local and international students from diverse disciplines and cultures. Prior to the beginning of the seminar, to assist students with their preparation for the program, we will compile a reading list with useful resources (texts, projects, web links). The content of the intensive seminar will consist of lectures and presentations, explorations of the urban space, city walks as well as film screenings, discussions and tutorials to support the realization of collaborative projects by small groups of students. Pneuma Szöv. is an open art community working mainly in Budapest since 2008 with collaborations and temporary exiles internationally. They launch processes that trouble the regimes of our daily lives and re-enchant what seems to be obvious and unchangeable. Their post-dramatic performances meld artistic research, social philosophy, and informal urbanism with various practices of visual art, community art and public art, free pedagogy, and embodied politics of participation, in preparation for a different potential society to come. (see more at: https://www.pneumaszov.org) See the previous themes & projects by Mapping the Local: https://mke.hu/mapping_the_local/index.php The workshop will start at the Internép on the 10th of April, 14:00 Prior to the workshop, there will be two preparatory meetings, the first taking place at the Intermedia Dpt. on 6 February, 4 PM, the second in March, exact day TBC. The seminar will close with a public presentation by the group projects and their research (17. April 2025).
