Próximamente: working towards equity within international arts
Speakers: Gerardo Salinas, Cecilia Kuska, Pitcho Womba Konga (Próximamente Festival)
Language: English
KVS, together with some of the most relevant festivals, theatres and cultural organisations of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil, present the PRÓXIMAMENTE festival.
Próximamente means as much as "soon/coming soon". At the same time, it also refers to "proximity".
Together, they form a cooperative platform with an innovative festival programme. Since its first edition in 2019, new networks have been built and the European audience has been introduced to a number of compelling new performances from Latin America. The Latin American curators personally selected the pieces to be included in the programme in Europe. In doing so, they question the traditional (and colonialist) way of European curating while, at the same time, they share an alternative artistic frame of reference.
It is the starting point for an honest dialogue between Latin American and European artists and audiences. Sharing and being shared is the goal and drive of the festival: a cooperative that attempts to question financial discourse and logistical relations in artistic exchanges between continents, i.e. Europe and Latin America.
Gerardo Salinas, the festival’s curator and inspirer, together with Cecilia Kuska and Pitcho Womba Konga, two of its participating artists, will share some fundamental thoughts and lessons from their international collaboration. Starting from the asymmetrical premises of our world and the economy of the arts they have ventured to reach common ground and respond through the continual importance of equity and equality. This will be an inspiring session and food for thought for the world of ‘international cooperation’.
Speakers
Gerardo Salinas
Gerardo Salinas is city dramaturg at the Royal Flemish Theatre (KVS) and the initiator of the Próximamente Festival (Argentinia/Belgium). He was born in Argentina, where he studied literature at the University of Buenos Aires. He later worked as an editor and editor in chief on various projects and publications. He was an active participant in the battle and lawsuits against the last Argentine dictatorship and published – 1 (2010, poems and essays) and El Cañón de Vladivostok (2012, novel) for Editorial Clase Turista.
He has been active on the Belgian artistic scene since 2002 and studied socio-cultural work at KHL. He collaborated on CORDOBA, an initiative by the Flemish Community to employ people from diverse cultural backgrounds at the organisational level in cultural organisations, and specialised in cooperative working methods and processes of change within organisations.
Cecilia Kuska
Cecilia Kuska is an Argentinean cultural worker (creative producer, curator and artist manager) with a strong focus on the crossroads of disciplines and cultural diversity on an international level. She has been closely involved as a curator with Próximamente Festival from day 1.
She has worked in different capacities on cultural projects around the globe, including Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Cecilia currently based between London, Berlin and Brussels.
Pitcho Womba Konga
Pitcho Womba Konga is a multidisciplinary artist, rapper, producer and actor (DRC/Belgium).
He is the founder-inspirer of Congolisation, a multidisciplinary arts festival.
He directed plays like Kuzikiliza and Fire Will Become Ashes, But Not Now, and played a part in the much-lauded performance Malcolm X.
