Syndicate: the Syndicate meeting in Belgrade has already started

[abroeck@v2.nl (andreas broeckmann)]

dear katarina, dear fellow syndicalists,

i think that a few of us are wondering how this is going to unfold, but i
think that a spring picnic in belgrade would be a very appropriate place
for the next syndicate meeting ;-)  - so we should just go. as a vehicle
and a weapon, choose what you deem appropriate: curiosity, irony, love, a
democratic spirit, the wish to visit and support your friends, ...

in conversation with igor i had the idea that we should look at the meeting
as another one of our soon-to-be infamous syndicate performances - remember
the Partnership for Culture Plan in Stockholm, our Pyramedia-scheme in
Tirana, or the Deep Europe Visa Department in Kassel. the conversations
that are beginning now, your trip to the yugoslav embassy in zagreb, paris,
berlin, sofia or moscow, the intricate network of travel routes, the secret
knowledge we will gain - look at all this as part of the exercise which
will, in the second half of april, hopefully bring us together at
CinemaRex.

as topics for the meeting, i think that the deadly silence around the
changes in the scca network indicates that that topic is probably, as
luchezar and igor already said, a non-starter; it still bemuses me that
nothing gets out into the Open about this, but then that is my private
obsession with conspiracy theories, i guess.

the Post-Governmental Organisations-theme about which there will be a panel
at the Next 5 Minutes in march is probably more interesting for us, because
it provides a good, inspiring context for thinking up new structures, both
for organisations and for translocal networks like the syndicate. it would
mean quite a challenge to project the syndicate as a PGO that is ready to
take over from the SCCAs in june ... ;-) (only joking ... ;-) the question
of 'Supporting structures' could come up in that context, as well as that
of what could be called the Deep European Meta-Colonialism. we should spin
this out further, though, and see how we can enter ino the discussion.

what i would really like to see is that we do a series of very informal
presentations of projects that people have been working on, bring the books
and tapes, click us through the CD-Rom, tell us about the conference you
went to, or report about the latest scam of cultural politicians in your
country. let us know how the new media lab in sarajevo is doing, what the
programme of WRO will be this year, how the Virtual Revolutions project is
progressing, and what kind of a bookshop Meteori in helsinki is. we can
spend a whole day doing that.

the question of how we can somehow control the political symbolism that our
presence will have in belgrade - after all, it is unlikely that the
kosovo-crisis will have been resolved - is a tricky one, and those people
who go should be aware of this. descending into the depths of europe ...
one line of argument could be: we are visiting our friends who are working
as artists and media organizers in belgrade; we want to assure them of the
fact that belgrade is still very much a european city, and that we are
concerned about the way in which the political situation is polarising and
hindering cultural cooperation. our presence symbolises the democratic,
open nature of our friendships and cooperation even in these difficult
times. we will work hard to keep as many doors and channels open, in and to
yugoslavia. (i'm trying to find the right words here ... we'll have to work
on this.)

finally, a practical point. i understand from branka that it might be the
easiest and safest to travel to belgrade by train from budapest. what an
opportunity! if we have the train times, we could arrange to meet in
budapest on, for instance wednesday 21 and thursday 22 april and make the
journey together. who could resist the opportunity to make that journey ...

so, get those passports out and find the nearest yu-embassy. for travel
money, there might be a chance that the people from soros-land can apply
for culture-link grants; some can probably get their trips paid through
APEX (see Support pages on the www.v2.nl/east site), and then you could
also try and contact your foreign ministry that might recognise the good
cause in supporting a peace-building trip to belgrade, especially now.

with best wishes from berlin,

-a

Katarina wrote:

>here are some more details about Belgrade meeting.
>
>April 22 for arriving and evening welcome
>April 23/24/25 meeting (REX is free until 17)
>April 25/26 leaving
>
>On 23/24/25 from 18:00 we will have Video art in Serbia - retrospective
>organized by CCA (Dejan Sretenovic posted text about it last week)
>Visit to Novi Sad is optional.
>
>As about Syndicate presentation - 22 evening is opened and all other
>dates - as and if you whish... Details about topic you had in Igor's letter....
>
>In order to proceed with planing the event we need to see how many of
>you are interested to come to Belgrade. Suggestion is, for all interested,
>to send me (katarina@opennet.org)
>until February 20
>answer to these questions which are necessary for getting the visa:
>-  name
>- date of birth + city
>- address
>- number of passport
>- date of issuing (of passport)
>- date of expiring (of passport)
>I will send you invitation letter with these details  (With it you have
>to go to the nearest Yugoslavian embassy and get the visa.)
>
>sincerely.
>
>katarina