Mediterranean Reflection Group
e
Now available! 
An alternative gaze - a shared reflection on cross-Mediterranean cooperation in the arts
This book is the result of the reflection process of the Mediterranean Reflection Group. It gives valuable insights into cultural issues affecting the Mediterranean region. Contributors include Basma El Husseiny, Sofiane Hadjadj, Adila Laïdi-Hanieh, curator Nat Muller, and Ghislaine Glasson Deschaumes, members of the Mediterranean Reflection Group. The book has been launched at 6 March 2008 in Amsterdam, at SICA's Café Mediterranée.
Download the
online pdf-version or contact
Susanne Mors at the ECF if you want to receive a hard-copy.
At the ECF we explore areas that play a key role on the cultural map. The Mediterranean is one of them. So, together with regional partners we explored the ins and outs of cultural cooperation. This book is the result. It is available online and as hard copy.
The ECF is in dialogue with the cultural sector engaged in Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. We do not only promote this dialogue, we also provoke it, to instigate and facilitate new ways of cooperation across borders.
What the Arab world needs today is a new language and new media to create a new image, to question Arab identity. Show this in the West and they will understand there is more to the contemporary Arab than camels and sand.
Abdellatif Benfaidoul, video artist
About
Cross-Mediterranean cooperation is influenced by several factors, not least the cultural and political premises on which cooperative projects are based. European cultural practitioners engaging in cross-Mediterranean cooperation are often poorly equipped ‘politically'. Of course they need practical tools, but they also need open, challenging debates with their prospective partners in the region. Read more
Sharing
In a complex and sensitive political setting, the voice of artists, writers and cultural journalists is very important. We had the chance to meet and interview some outstanding personalities from across the Mediterranean to share the experiences they made when working with European partners. The result is a set of inspiring interviews from cultural operators representing different fields of activities. Discover the interviews
Image © Alberto Muciaccia
Spot on!
We gain an impression into how cultures can be linked through the personal stories and experiences of artists and producers who originate in countries round the Mediterranean rim but who are now working in Europe. These cameos reveal what moves and inspires them, what difficulties they encounter, what makes them stay in Europe, what makes them return to their country of origin. Read the portraits
Inside-Insight Blog
If you want an inside insight into the ups and downs of working together on a Euro-Med cooperation project, read the diary kept by aMAZElab from Italy, as they document and reflect upon the development and day-to-day implications of their cooperation project Atlante Mediterraneo. Enter
Essays
In this section, Nat Muller and Adila Laïdi share their views on specific aspects of cross-Mediterranean cultural cooperation: Read a paper on the landscape of the contemporary arts scene in the Euro-Mediterranean region, and an in-depth essay on the phenomenon of small-sized arts audiences in the Mediterranean and Arab world. Read the essays.
Image © Daïkha Dridi
Agenda-Results
Reflection and debate live from real encounters. Therefore, following the first meeting of the ECF's Mediterranean Reflection Group (Amsterdam, 3 and 4 July 2006), 2007 has seen five more seminars across Europe and the Mediterranean. Check out our agenda and meeting results. Read more
For more information, please contact Susanne Mors
The ECF is grateful for the project support of NCDO (National Committee for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development).