You’re hard at work on your own choreography. You dance and spin, struggle and sweat, practice and perfect, fall and get up again. You’re nearly there. Just a bit more work, a couple more adjustments…
What if… you had a professional at hand to help you make the finishing touches by offering tailored advice?
What if… an expert could give you customised feedback on your work in progress?
What if… you felt even more confident after our coaching? And who knows, maybe you will even be ready to perform your choreography in front of an enthusiastic audience?
What if… you registered for the Great Belgian Dance Showcase?
The Flemish arts field has a special architecture. It grew from the bottom up and draws its strength and innovation from a close collaboration between large and small players. As a small structure that is close to the individual artists, we would like to be clear about where we stand in relation to the announced cuts. And that is why we would like to share our thoughts, in analogy with the statement of Vooruit and other organizations in the arts field.
We want to share the following:
- that saving on culture is just the opposite of what Flanders needs today if it wants to be generous, hospitable and innovative;
- that a cut of 60% on project resources is detrimental to the cultural future of Flanders;
- that an almost empty project pot for individual artists, literally and figuratively touches the heart of wpZimmer;
- that it will force us to radically re-evaluate our way of working together with the artists;
- that, despite the cuts, we will save our artistic budget and will do it with one less employee;
- that we ask ourselves why it would be more valuable to invest in companies and in economy;
- that small organisations with a focus on development are extra fragile because their flexible, tailor-made operation is often invisible and closely linked to that of the individual artists;
- that we ask the cultural world to show what solidarity really is, and to go further than a new profile photo on Facebook;
- that we will contribute to solidarity actions for the arts and beyond and that we will commit ourselves to the social struggle for a socially and ecologically just society;
The team of wpZimmer
wpZimmer is an international workspace for the arts, with a focus on performance, dance and hybrid artistic practices. The organisation revolves around the needs of the artists, their desire to research or create and the development of their skills and practices. A budget cut off -60% has disastrous consequences for the artists. Please sign this petition to give a clear signal. #thisisourculture #stateofthearts
This weekend, Sat. 2 Nov. & Sun. 3 Nov., Christian Bakalov organizes a public showing of ETERNAL, the last part of the trilogy ETERNIA. Stop by at wpZimmer between noon and midnight.
Work In Progress Cooperative settles down in Arenberg (Antwerp). Eight artists from Antwerp show Work In Progress and take the audience on the marvelous route of their creative process. After each ‘WIP’ a selection of professionals (dramaturgists, programmers, producers, …) enter into dialogue with the artists about their work and their future plan(s). During these breaks, the audience can be inspired by pitches about artistic initiatives in the city or enter into dialogue with the artists.
The ‘WIP’ formula, which has been an important working element of the Mestizo Arts Platform (MAP) since 2009, is a cross-fertilisation between forty or so organizations in order to fine-tune feelers and help artists move on to the stages. wpZimmer is one of these organizations. On the initiative of MAP and with the cooperative philosophy in mind, this formula has germinated into an interurban co-production in Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent, with an annual Work In Progress in each city.
The program in Antwerp:
07.11 // THE ARTISTS (theatre & hybrid forms ): Younes Van den Broeck, Mike De Ridder, Zukisa Nante and Khalid Koujili El Yakoubi
08.11 // THE ARTISTS (dance & hybrid forms): Bruno Agbozo, Luke Jessop, Alex Akuete en Daisy Wouters
20.11// WIPCOOP @ KVS, Brussels
28.11 // WIPCOOP @ CAMPO Victoria, Ghent
Next summer Carine Meulders will say goodbye to wpZimmer, where for 14 years she drew the artistic outlines. In recent years, she has helped to develop wpZimmer into an international residence site with a solid network at home and abroad, where artists can develop their trajectory and work in a sustainable manner.
“I feel that it is time for a new chapter. In the light of the new policy that is coming up, it is a good time for wpZimmer to pass the torch and make room for other voices, new forms of work and organization and inspiring visions of the future. I do not yet have any concrete plans for the future, but I would like to continue working with artists,” she says in response to her departure from wpZimmer.
From September 2020 on, the artistic policy of wpZimmer will be taken up by a multi-voiced artistic team led by Helga Baert.
On 7 & 8 November the new creation Haiti o Ayiti from Cecilia Lisa Eliceche and Leandro Nerefuh will premiere in Brakke Grond (Amsterdam).
Currently Charlotte Goesaert is working in wpZimmer on her research. After making her three performances EPIC FAIL, Loophole and ChitChat, she feels the urge to explore new ways to translate the theme of imperfection on stage through a long-term research.
Sunday 8.09 Gosie Vervloessem brings her Horror Garden in its natural habitat, the Lustwarande in Tilburg. Click here if you want to know more of the program of Brief Encounters ’19 #2.
1 > 15/08 – Arnes (IS)
19/08 > 2/09 – Hornaffjordur (IS)
Presentations on 15 en 30 August
The nature of a research project in search of how our relationship to nature tastes. It is a philosophical investigation into the sense of taste, in which our tongue and digestive system play crucial roles.
During her residency in Iceland, Gosie will develop work that continues on her research of last year in Hevergardi (IS). The creation process and presentations take place on two different places in Iceland. For this research, Gosie is working together with visual artist Tinna Ottensen.
17 > 21.06.2019 – Napoli Teatro Festival Italia (IT)
During Napoli Teatro Festival Italia the first gathering of the European supported platform Performances between two shores took place.
In a context in which racism and populism invade the Italian politics and public debate, a group of Arab artists based in Europe met with local artists and discussed topics of freedom of expression, memory, Arab theater in Europe and performing arts as an intercultural dialogue.
Dounia Mahammed participated in this event, together with the other artists such as Anis Hamdoun, Sara Shaarawi and Wihad Suleiman.
During their time at wpZimmer, Dan and Laurent will work towards finalising their ddddddddddduettttttttttttttttttttttttt, culminating in a showing moment on July 5th.
wpZimmer organises in collaboration with State of the Arts (SOTA) a workshop about the Fair Arts Almanac 2019: an informative and inspirational calendar on fair practices in the arts. All artists and art workers are invited to learn how to use the almanac as a tool for knowledge and reflection.
Prior to the OPENHOUSE, we organise a reading-session/interactive workshop guided by Katrien Reist and Derk Byvanck on ecological themes. Developed ideas and proposals from the discussion can be used for the next edition of almanac.
Subscribe by sending an email to charlotte@wpzimmer.be (limited capacity, only 20 persons!)
Sunday 9 June, we open the doors of wpZimmer again for OpenHouse. For this 14th edition, we are zooming in on the topic of landscapes in transition. Works of Karl Van Welden, Gosie Vervloessem Fabric Samyn, Dounia Mahammed and Leonardo Delogu / DOM- will be shown. Also Tuur and Flup Marinus welcome you in their atelier and we provide sweets and drinks for in between.
This week we have the pleasure of having Tine Van Aerschot and Evelien Cammaert in wpZimmer. Both will work on their research. While Tine is working on disbelief, Evelien is going through collected images, texts and performative material in order to develop new strategies for the next phases of the creative workshop.
This week we have the pleasure of having Tine Van Aerschot and Evelien Cammaert in wpZimmer. Both will work on their research. While Tine is working on disbelief, Evelien is going through collected images, texts and performative material in order to develop new strategies for the next phases of the creative workshop.
The coming two weeks Charlotte Vanden Eynde and Nicolas Rombouts will work in the studio on Hyphen. In 2015, they were invited to perform a public improvisation in Brussels. A special artistic interaction unfolded, whereby their two ways of creating proved to have many similarities. Now they are doing a research project together that they will work out in a performance next year.
This week we welcome dancer/choreographer Lisi Estaràs, musician/composer Mirko Banovic, theater maker/actrice Kristien De Proost and dramaturge/theater maker Sara Vanderieck in wpZimmer where they will work on “When I look at a Strawberry, I think of a Tongue“.
During the residency in wpZimmer, Luke Jessop and Karenina Lambrechts will work on the duet. They start to put together some early ideas that they have and see how they work within the space. On Friday (03.05) they have a small public presentation. Welcome!
The Programmers’ Days are back! Together with Kunstenwerkplaats Pianofabriek, Caravan Production, Hiros, Kosmonaut Production and CAMPO, we are preparing two exciting days for you on May 10th & 11th at Kunstenwerkplaats Pianofabriek (Brussels). This year Kinga Jaczewska, Ula Sickle, Cecilia Lisa Eliceche & Leandro Nerefuh, Jaha Koo, Christophe Meierhans, Benjamin Vandewalle, Liz Kinoshita, Danae Theodoridou, Karl Van Welden, Gosie Vervloessem will present their work through talks, videos, and (fragments of) show(ing)s. A more detailed programme will follow soon.
MARS II – insitu version is shown 1 and 2 March 2019 at Arsenal Metz.
The research of NECROPOLIS was based on the article in The Guardian which includes a list of the 34.361 deaths of immigrants and refugees attempting to reach Europe since 1993.
For his residency in wpZimmer, Italian artist Leonardo Delogu is looking for (professional) dancers. During a three-day workshop, he and the dancers will conduct research into the liminal phase of a rite of passage, a concept of the cultural anthropologist Victor Turner
From 18-20 April 2019
10h-13h / break / 14h-17h
Lunch included
Subscribe via charlotte@wpzimmer.be
For this 2nd edition of Critical Techno ‘So, do you believe in spirits?’, Helena Dietrich Together with Thomas Proksch conduct research around otherworldly body experiences, paranormal perceptions and the conditions to communicate with spirits and other entities.
Enter a world where forces are felt, colors keep on changing, obstacles appear and disappear. Created by Manon Santkin, this universe called New Measuring Rites will land in wpZimmer during this year’s Dag van de Dans on 27.04.
The guest of this week is Wouter Krokaert who will work together with Katja Dreyer and Charlotte Vanden Eynde on ‘Composities in het wilde weg’.
You are a starting creator (theatre, dance, comedy, slam, hiphop, cross-over, …) and you have an extraordinary concept in mind for a performance. You are looking for interesting people with whom you can talk about this idea – professional people with a lot of experience, an open mind and a broad background knowledge. You would even like it better to sit together with several people to bounce off your ideas to different viewpoints.
Are you this person? Click here!
During their time at wpZimmer they will continue their work on the third part of the project “The Art of a Culture of Hope”, which is an “Archive of Hope & Fear”. This archive is an attempt to find a way of sharing the experiences they have gained during “the art of a culture of hope”: which has become a web of responses and tender provocations, which have been collected across Europe, through the (performative) participation of more than thirty artists as well as through workshops with the (local) public.
14h
Atelier 210
During SINGULIER (14 > 17 Feb 2019) Gosie Vervloessem continues experimenting with her home, kitchen and garden equipment. The project Recipes for Disaster: The Magazine & Tupperware Party cooks up some crucial questions about classification and control: How do we cope with chaos in our daily lives? How to free ourselves from the quarantine of our own bathroom? How to argue for a messy and less sterile life in times of Ebola