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ArizonA MArkeT: inTer-eThnic collAborATion in brcko

Not far from the north Bosnian town of Brcko lies one of the most notorious marketplaces in south-eastern Europe: Arizona Market. It has 2,500 stalls on an area covering 40 hectares, receives 3 million visitors a year and employs directly or indirectly an estimated 100,000 people. Apart from these statistics, what distinguishes the market depends on participants’ perspectives and interests, and these can differ considerably. For some, it is a model of a multi-ethnic com-munity, for others it is the largest open-air shopping mall in the Balkans, while still others experience it as hell on earth. The differences in perspective depend upon which of the numerous stages and transformations of what is commonly called Arizona Market one is referring to.

The strip of land occupied by the present Arizona Market is a part of the war zone that was fiercely fought over by Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian Muslim units because of its strategic position after Bosnia-Herzegovina had left the federal state of Yugoslavia in 1991. Besides the entities set out in the Dayton Peace Accords of November 1995, i.e. the Serbian Republic and the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the disputed territory around the town of Brcko, whose future was to be decided in an international arbitra-tion process, was granted special status. It was placed under the direct supervision of a special supervisor from the Office of the High Representative (OHR) of the inter-national community of states for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Along the so-called Arizona Corridor (the north-south link between Bosnia and Croatia, which divides the Serbian Republic into a western and an eastern part), thus named by the IFOR/SFOR troops, an economic hub has established itself whose importance extends far beyond the area occupied by the Special District of Brcko. In 1996, after the checkpoint set up at the interface between the three ethnic groupings had evolved into an informal meet-ing place where cigarettes and cattle were traded and coffee was served at the road-side, the local commander decided to encourage initial encounters between members of the different ethnic communities by establishing a ‘free-trade zone’, with the aim of consolidating peace. SFOR soldiers levelled several hectares of farmland, cleared the mines and supplied building materials. In next to no time, the largest informal market for goods in Southern Europe arose on the opposite side of the road to the checkpoint: with wooden huts, improvised stalls, smuggled goods and bootleg versions of brand-name goods. Textiles, food, electronic products, building materials, cosmetics, car accessories and CDs could all be purchased at favourable prices there. The cheapest goods could be acquired directly from the lorries.

Decisive for the continued development of Arizona Market was the fact that, unlike most other informal markets, it arose on the open fields with the support of the armed forces. In the years that followed, the convergence of economic activities at the site and the self-organization of this grey trade area were extolled as a model for promoting the sustained development of communications and community structures between former wartime enemies. Supplementing the simple market facilities and mobile sales, the first houses soon arose, presaging the emergence of a self-organ-ized urbanization process on the site. As time went by, ever more bars and motels operating in these huts and houses started to accommodate a form of trade that made it increasingly difficult to sell – at an international level – the success story of peace based on the market economy. For at Arizona Market, the real money was made through prostitution and trafficking in human beings: with women and girls who were being brought in from Eastern Europe. According to reports, they were rounded up on the streets and resold like cattle from one bar owner to the next. On 26 October 2000, the international community (OHR, OSCE, UNMIBH and SFOR) announced a package of measures designed to purge Arizona Market of such illegal activities. These measures focused on regulating the issue of licences and tax revenues and relocating the market by June 2001 to a new site that would offer

all the necessary facilities and safety features.1

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of forms, colours, materials and standards. Turbo architecture is one of the uncon-cealable and unrestrainable results of the black market. It is ‘proof that architectural production depends neither on a stable market nor on a stable political system’.5 Turbo architecture is a self-created niche marking out its own field of operation by skilfully manoeuvring through a combination of half-truths, misunderstandings and local reactions; it is the antithesis of the firmly laid-down rules of the master plan. In this sense it counterbalances the design envisaged for the new Arizona Market. Indeed, at Arizona Market, at the interface between the grown settlement and the new developments on allotted plots, ‘Balkanized’ house models respond to a land-scape of instable policies with powerful gestures of invulnerability and success, hyper-materialism and hyper-identifiables.

In contrast to all of these facades, developments on the other side of Arizona Road point to the vital contribution that invisible labour markets have made to Arizona Market’s prosperity. The far-reaching trade contacts find their official expression in the fact that Italproject is developing the Trade City of China on the other side of Arizona Road. The Trade City of China is a theme shopping centre designed to accommodate over 100 businesses that import their goods directly from China and resell them in Brcko to wholesalers and retailers. This splendid future is being made possible by hundreds of Chinese workers who are staying in a bunkhouse in a vacant salesroom that stands in the shadows of advertising hoardings. If one takes Arizona as a model of a market-oriented town-establishment project, then the Trade City of China is Arizona’s Chinatown, and its decorated prefabricated hall a sign of changing trade relations. Arizona, being caught up in the vortex of these diverse enterprises, is also surrounded by a variety of conceptions. In their study on the Arizona Market, Harvard Business School economists, for instance, have concluded that democracy is not necessarily a precondition for launching capitalist economies. The armed forces, they argue, are more efficient than a democratically elected government at triggering economic processes, because they, like their market counterparts, go into operation when states of emergency present themselves.6 Where the Harvard study praises the combination of a military framework and economic self-organization as a model for a perfect market-oriented state structure, others condemn the transformation process as a lost opportunity to urbanize the area from below. This shift in attention to tax rev-enues and ignorance about the potential that self-regulating structures contain have extinguished any hopes of forward-looking models of sustainable urban development. To cite Azra Akšamija: ‘A fundamental reorganization of a situation in the case of a conflict provides the possibility to intuitively come to terms with the economic and political changes that ensue. Using the existing conditions to create new ones would have continually reshaped the market without destroying its original character.’7

In only 10 years, Arizona Market has been transformed from a space of bare survival into a centre of ubiquitous consumption. What was once a mere border guard post has now become a post-metropolitan territory. Hopes that Arizona Market might become a model for a self-organized town were dashed when a market arose whose existence and development were far more extensively tied up with the presence of the international defence force than that formerly generous gesture to bulldoze a few fields seemed to suggest. The UNHCHR attributes the crisis – the dramatic increase in prostitution and trafficking in women – to, among other things, the presence of over 30,000 peacekeepers in BiH.8 Bosnia was not so much a transit country as a destina-tion for women victims of trafficking. The SFOR troops were not only customers, but allegedly also had their share of the profits accruing from smuggling and corruption. The ‘solution’, based on the model of ‘urban renewal’ developed in the US in the 1960s (declaring a district a problem area and thus permitting large- scale expropriation in the name of the ‘public interest’), was fostered by the trans-formation of the legal system in the Brcko district with the help of legal advisers financed by USAID (US Agency

for International Development).9

The most striking thing about this strategy to regain control over Arizona Market – which ultimately culminated in the ceremonial opening of a new shopping centre in the presence of the Principal Deputy High Representative, the US Ambassador, Donald S. Hays, on 11 November 20042 – was the way the international community, which exercised politico-territorial control, and an international investor co-operated in privatizing public space. In February 2001, the supervisor ordered the closure of the existing market.3 In December that year, Italproject, an Italian-Bosnian-Serbian con-sortium, won a tender to establish and operate a new market. The consortium signed a 20-year leasing agreement with the district administration that granted it the right to retain 100 per cent of the rental income for a period of seventeen years in return for developing the infrastructure. The project envisaged investing 120 million euro, under the supervision of the EUFOR (EU), to develop a modern trade infrastructure on an area initially comprising 60,000 square meters. In a later phase of development, a complexly structured economic and trade base for the entire southern European area was to be established, which would include multiplex cinemas, hotels, casinos and

a conference centre. Italproject offered existing traders the opportunity to rent or buy stalls in module-like rooms. Resistance by landowners and traders to this total takeover was met with compulsory disposses-sions. This response was justified with the argument that it was in the public interest to ensure that the dis-trict administration of Brcko complied with the agree-ments concluded with Italproject.4 Demonstrations and road blockades staged to oppose the demolition of the old site were cleared by the police. As most of the landowners affected were Croatians who sought the support of nationalist groups to assert their cause, the maxim of achieving reconciliation by taking economic measures came dangerously close to fomenting an ethnic conflict as a result of what was seen as an arbitrary allocation of economic options.

The transformation of the informal market into a shopping centre, which was intended to prevent illegal activities and, at the same time, preserve its economic vitality, signalled a critical turning point, revealing the limits of translating between formal and informal systems. The ‘spontaneous’ evolution of a public-urban space in the shape of an informal market surrounded by transporters and huts was replaced by enclosed fee-charging parking spaces. The coming together of diverse cultures was now regulated by fixed opening hours and private security guards. In summer 2006, there was little sign of the original Arizona Market (Arizona 1) with its thousands of wooden huts standing around a tarpaulin and metal-roofed bazaar. All that was left after the site had been cleared were a few levelled-off fallow fields – an uncanny reminder of that moment, a decade earlier, when the bulldozers started work. The present Arizona Market contains the market halls operated by Italproject and Arizona 2, a hybrid urban entity whose gravel roads and wooden verandas not only make it look like a Wild West town – a rudimentary social and economic frontier – but also conjure up images of an embryonic self-organized town where people can live and trade. A new type of local structure is emerging here which is composed of the remains of the former ‘rampant’ developments and the newly partitioned plots of the master plan whose module structures are being appropriated through individual aesthetics. A residential settlement has evolved polymorphously above two clearly arranged sales floors, inspired by urban models. At the same time, the wide variety of roof extensions, window apertures, balustrades and other forms of decoration signal the advent of individual inhabitation of the large-scale structures of strategic investments. The site’s remarkable form reflects the struggle of official planners to control the dynamics of the black market. In this segment of the market, the conver-gence of the two systems has led to the proliferating parallel existence of cultural claims and practices. Here, the tension between informally and formally regulated organizational forms has enhanced the aesthetics of spatial use which Srdjan Jovanovic Weiss describes as ‘turbo architecture’ – a kind of aesthetics that takes

its orientation from self-made truths about national tradition, rules and architec-tural style and invents new typologies from a combination of diffuse repertoires

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Nowadays, Arizona Market is characterized by two things that are ultimately related to each other. Although – or because – the international community has intervened massively in the regulation of the market, the purging of the market by means of centralized controls has been an extremely nebulous affair: on the one hand, for example, Italproject’s Italian lenders are persistently not named and, on the other hand, Italproject refuses to ask where the buyers of new market properties obtain the money they need to make their purchases. Rumours range from assertions of lucrative deals being made by organized veterans of paramilitary associations and the employment of suspected war criminals, to allegations of deals being struck with former brothel-owners who are not content to rent one stall only, but invest in ‘turbo penthouses’ occupying several floors. The convoluted flows of international money and goods at Arizona Market may have now entered a new phase, yet the form of capitalism that prevails there now is no less ‘rampant’ than it used to be. Its attrac-tion lies in an all-pervading motivation to gain some form of control – ranging from the need to survive, at one end of the scale, to international relations at the other – by seizing anything that is not yet subject to controls. All these many different levels of exchange have created the countless trade situations that one finds at Arizona Market, which promise everyone an opportunity to exploit the market to their own ends, even if this only means purchasing a cheap T-shirt.

isTAnbul ToPkAPi: TrAnsienT TrAffic

In July 2005, one of the lead-ing forums for international architecture – the 22nd World Congress of Architecture – was held in Istanbul under the motto ‘Grand bazaar of architectureS’. The central theme of the congress was the utopian idea of a plural-istic world in which cultural differences are not a source of animosity and atrocities, but a resource to help people find a way to live together in harmony.10 The leading lights in contemporary architectural design presented their models and discussed them in the context of Istanbul’s struggle for recognition as a cosmo-politan city. Outstanding engineering achievements, sustainable planning and cul-tural heritage formed part of a well-orchestrated protocol of declarations of intent to participate in the exclusive

set of global cities. The allegorical motto of the congress as well as its point of refer-ence – the legendary oriental bazaar that leaves no desires unfulfilled – transfigure the socio-spatial challenge posed by a rapidly expanding megacity and its hope that it will be saved by quick responses from architects and town planners.

Outside the tourist centres and escaping international attention lies a very different type of bazaar. It is composed of a vast network of provisional, informal street markets that establish themselves right alongside building sites where urban renewal plans are being realized, beneath terraces of city motorways and next to newly constructed

tramway lines. These markets disappear as quickly as they materialize, only to reappear elsewhere. This bazaar is not so much a location for trading goods as

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a space under negotiation. It is a threatening and threatened space which winds its way through the city from site to site and temporarily uses (as the intermediary user of the newly planned infrastructure) the wastelands along the development axes of the planned city.

Both the ambivalent form of the ‘bazaar’ and the schizophrenic manner in which it produces space are symptomatic of the way modern Istanbul’s entire spatial development has proceeded up to now. Its present largely stems from its having developed outside the regular planning channels. Istanbul’s explosive growth has seen the number of residents rise from 1 million in 1950 to 9 million in 1995 and finally to an estimated 15 million in 2005. These millions of domestic migrants from Eastern Anatolia have primarily found accommodation in illegally built dwellings, in Gecekondus built ‘over night’. They make up countless villages, based on local relationships, on the outskirts of the multi-million metropolis and account for up to 65 per cent of all buildings there. There has been an influx of the rural and the dirty, from which the pro-Western middle class feels increasingly overrun. Urban researcher Orhan Esen believes that this development has resulted in Istanbul more and more losing sight of its own urban reality during the twentieth century.11 The dominant con-ceptual model of the city of modernity, one based on planned intervention, has failed here. And in the rejection of the autonomously and collectively, self-built environ-ment typical of Gecekondu culture, as well as its suppression from discourse on the contemporary city, open debate with this city has given way to shame and encour-aged denial and a tendency to withdraw. It has come to the point where Istanbul is frequently portrayed as an agglomerate that cannot be represented and is doomed to decline. The result is a city without a language, in other words: a city unable to reflect upon itself in any other terms than in those of the failure, the worthless and the abject. Over the past two decades, as the number of residents and developed areas has risen, a conspicuous shrinking process has occurred that is typical of the globalized city. An increasingly large and ‘invisible’ city confronts a small core of globally usable infrastructural spaces. This infrastructure does not cater for a local environment, but for global processes centred on the lifestyles of the global elites, which meet face-to-face in an increasingly generic city.12 As the city shrinks, it increasingly isolates all that lies outside the loops of global networks. In Istanbul, for example, there is a widely spread myth that the millions of residents in the undersupplied periphery have never made it as far as the Bosphorus, let alone the urban hubs of public-political activity such as Taksim Square or Istiklal Caddesi in Beyoglu.

The merging of urban production with the circulation of state planning agents and the informal economy has created countless hybrid spaces in Istanbul. One of these arose in 2005 before the gates of the Byzantine city wall in the district of Topkapı, where the building sites of two of the main enterprises that took on the job of tidying up the city in the 1980s converge. On the one hand, a traffic network of urban motorways has been created there in the style of modernist US urbanism. On the other hand, the 1,500-year-old Byzantine city fortifications have been reinstated there in their original condition. In nationalist literature, their continual decline and the living conditions in the wretched areas bordering the fortifications had come to symbolize both the impoverishment of Istanbul and the stronghold of true Turkish values.13 Between newly delivered and unused building materials, impassable heaps of crushed stone and 8-lane motorways, a swarm-like mass fills a black market covering several kilo-metres. Piles of second-hand goods and fabrics are mixed up on bare ground with new TV sets, refrigerators, pieces of furniture and computers. On days when visitors turn out in strength, several thousand people can been seen negotiating this construc-tion site of the new Istanbul.

The informal market evokes an archaic model of a city that arises organically as trading centre at the junction of transport and trading routes. In the case of Topkapı, however, it is also moving in the shadows of official town planning, which it tempo-

rarily turns into a vehicle serving informality. This market makes use of the semi-finished building structures in a way that has less to do with their intended uses Tr

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Cherkizovsky Market (often referred to as Izmailovo Market) in the northeast of Moscow, is one of the largest informal markets in the city, with connections to all parts of the Russian Federation and beyond. On an area three times the size of that occupied by the Kremlin in Moscow, 15 specialized trading areas form a rampantly growing bazaar structure that com-pletely surrounds Izmailovo Stadium and includes all sorts of attractions: from Eurasia markets to the Izmailovo Kremlin (with a Vodka Museum), which

was specially erected for tourists, the sale of arts and crafts, and a reconstruction of Tsar Alexander’s wooden palace. The market’s ‘owners’ are among Russia’s new millionaires. Telman Ismailov, for instance, developed the AST group (one of Russia’s largest developers) with an estimated half a billion US dollars in annual rent taken from Cherkizovsky Market. A birthday song sung by Jennifer Lopez for a rumoured 1 million dollars established him in the media as one of Moscow’s new oligarchs. At the lower end of the new market-economy scale, there are thousands of migrants from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, China and an extended Southeast Asia, who have come to seek work at the market as stall-minders, carriers and tea-sellers seven days a week. They sleep in the metal storage containers (above the stalls or on the periphery of the market) or in the cellars of the stadium. In this state of modern slavery, they are not only at the mercy of exploitative employers, but also of arbitrary police behaviour and gangs of young thugs. As a result, many of them never dare to go more than a few hundred metres from the market.

In September 2006, one month after the bombing, the vice-speaker of Moscow City Council announced that the market would be closing at the end of 2006. A few weeks later, the head of the Department of the Consumer Market of Moscow announced that most of the trading places on the site of the Russian State University of Physical Education (RGUFK) would be taken down by 1 July 2007, and the remainder by the end of 2007. This, it was said, would allow the site to be returned to its proper use, as a space where people could devote themselves to physical culture. But how is it pos-sible to determine the ‘proper’ use of a space, especially in an age of global restruc-turing? Does its use as a venue for sports events really do justice to the original plans? Or isn’t it simply a by-product, a parasitical use of its potential?

During the XXII Olympic Summer Games in 1980, the RGUFK site served as one of the locations of the Moscow Games. For the weight-lifting events, a new indoor arena, the Izmailovo Sports Palace, was erected. At the southern end of the site, next to Izmailovo Park underground station, the Olympic village was constructed in the form of a four-tower hotel complex with 8,000 beds. The stadium itself, which stands in the middle of the grounds, was built during the 1930s. It is a fragment of the envisaged ‘Central Stadium of the Soviet Union’ planned by Stalin to accommodate 120,000 spectators. Never completed, it also served to camouflage the ‘Reserve Command Centre of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Red Army, I.V. Stalin’. Ultimately, the construction of the stadium was inspired by more than purely sporting considera-tions. Not only was the stadium intended to be bigger than Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, and its peculiar asymmetrical form designed to hold grandiose military parades at which the columns of tanks could roll into the stadium unhindered from the parade ground to the east. It was also conceived as part of a vast military infrastructure covering the entire Soviet Union. Situated 17 kilometres to the east of the Kremlin, a bunker beneath the stadium was designed as an intermediary stop-over point in case Hitler should launch a surprise attack on Moscow and the Soviet Command have to be evacuated to Samara, 1,000 kilometres away in the Urals. Consequently, sports events in Izmailovo have always been part of a far greater system of deceptions and com-pensatory gestures. Cultural events are just as important as strategically embedded building structures for preserving this system. Events such as these helped to sustain policies that were imitated with ever greater rapidity when the RGUFK site was con-verted into one of the largest informal trading centres in the Russian Federation.

Cherkizovsky Market was a product of the politics of individual initiatives pro moted by perestroika. Under its banner, members of the state sports

or with any conceptions or images of modern urban planning than with unplanned utilization and the economic situation of the rural population that has migrated to the city. Land has been occupied here on an improvised basis, bypassing the plan-ners. This approach is not based on how things will look after the plans have been realized, but seeks instead to realize alternatives to this process. The innovatory power of this informal economy is evident not only in its sheer size, but also in its far-reaching ramifications, with all the emerging services systems such as shuttle buses, street kitchens, middlemen, suppliers, livestock selling, the attendant forms of cultural entertainment and ad hoc shooting ranges. With its bizarre combination of modern transport systems, its symbolic sites of a national renaissance, spontan-eously arising market activities, rich visual display of the intricacies of legally author-ized work, its third market and informal trading, Topkapı represents more than just a coincidental clash of diverse forces. The growing perviousness of official and informal structures, the rampant appropriation of urban space and the accelerated disinte-gration of cultural territories are typical moments in the evolution of a city structure dictated by the new world economy, in which full control over a territory is no longer a relevant issue. In contrast to the territorially based economic forms, large and small spatial structures are evolving which circumvent the functional separation of space and embed themselves in the prevailing geography as a mesh of networks.

These observations raise the central question about the current status of planning as the once great hope of modernity. The self-organized economies of Istanbul’s poor defy the goals of official planning while being inextricably tied up with them at the same time. To the authorities, these economies are undesirable developments that must be eradicated by urban planning schemes. Proceeding from this logic, modern planning projects in Istanbul are not simply endeavours to find solutions to prob-lems linked with the city’s enormous growth, but also schemes that simultaneously trigger further conflicts. A street market like Topkapı clearly demonstrates the increas-ing energy with which Third World cycles encounter those of the First World – yet without the spatial shields or the mediatization once considered a matter of course. The essential point here is that there is absolutely no distinct dividing line nor – more importantly – is there any set of binding rules that could serve as an operational basis for an exchange between the systems. We only know that the minibus we try to stop by waving it down really is going to stop once we are inside it. Hence, participation in socio-spatial processes, for which the informal market situated amidst the hustle and bustle of Istanbul stands, echoes the performance – used as a metaphor by Ernesto Laclau – at which we always arrive too late. We live as bricoleurs in a world of imper-fect systems whose rules we co-determine and transform by retracing them. It is in this very moment, according to Laclau, that we find the key to (acts of) emancipation: in the middle of a performance that has started unexpectedly, we search for myth ical and impossible origins but are unable to rise above the impossible task facing us. What counts, however, is that we struggle and strive to arrive at decisions that have to be made because there is no superordinate monitoring or control system. Running counter to the radical foundation of a democratic society and operational structures sketched out in the great narrations of modernity, a model of political praxis is taking shape that is continuing to develop through a plurality of acts of democratization.14

Moscow izMAilovo: visiTing sTAlin

Thirteen dead and 53 badly wounded: this is the result of the bomb that exploded at Moscow’s Cherkizovsky Market on 21 August 2006. The dead included six Tajiks, three Uzbekis, two Russians, one White Russian and one Chinese. Among the badly wounded were many Chinese and Vietnamese. The suspects are three young Russian skin-heads, who are accused of ‘premeditated murder of two or more persons committed out of national hatred’. Immediately after the attack, the Moscow Public Prosecutor was still convinced that it was related to internal disputes between criminal associations of local traders, as had been assumed in the case of repeated explosions and arson attacks on Moscow markets in the past. Earlier, on 26 March 2005, the 10,000-square-metre Russian Court, the pseudo-historical wooden exhibition complex at Vernizash

souvenir market, had also been the target of one such ‘explosive’ conflict.

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institute began to use the grounds and buildings commercially. In June 1989, Sergei Korniyenko and a ‘collective of enthusiasts’ leased the stadium buildings. Under the terms of the contract, the spectators stands and the sports fields are to be available for events such as Spartakiade 2000 (‘For a United and Healthy Russia in the 21st Century’). The remaining spaces, like those beneath the stands, can be used commer-cially. FOP, the Sports Health Enterprise founded in 1989, proved to be extremely inno-vative. Nowadays, in conjunction with the New Historical Cultural Centre Izmailovo (NIC Izmailovo, founded in 1995), it operates enterprises as diverse as an arbalest shooting range, the Aero Fitness Club, various bars, the Lux Sauna, the Alain Beauty Salon (up to ‘European standard’) and the Preobrazheniye (Transformation) School for the Spiritual Development of Man, which is run by a cosmic artist-healer.

Furthermore, FOP played a vital role in the ‘rediscovery’ of Stalin’s old bunker. In 1994, the Iron Division club helped to organize a museum exhibition which was taken over from the Central Museum of the Armed Forces and opened as a branch on 1 September 1999. Adjacent to the bunker rooms, FOP operates a Georgian-style restaurant called Visiting Stalin, as well as a concert hall (holding 200 people) used for performances by the Prince Sergei Korniyenko Orchestra. Even though the bunker was apparently never used by Stalin himself – just as the stadium never performed the function originally anticipated – one can now book a bunker tour for a little over 100 US dollars. The price includes a visit to the reconstructed conference hall of the Supreme Command of the Red Army, as well as to Stalin’s study and recreational and leisure areas, plus a dinner at ‘Stalin’.

Alexander Ushakov, the General Director of Vernizash in Izmailovo, another com-pany operating on the site, was also a member of the State University of Physical Education. He was an active combat sambo wrestler, before he became a sports trainer. Ushakov took over the flea-market site to the south of the stadium from the RGUFK. He started to construct the Vernisazh Complex, which, not unlike Disneyland, accommodates countless imitations and set pieces from Russian architecture on an area covering 20,000 square metres. Here, a mixture of Russian arts and crafts is sold alongside Soviet souvenirs such as fur hats and Matroschka dolls, amidst the folklorist scenery of an old Russian village with a fort-like Wild West touch. The Vernisazh tourist market, initiated under perestroika, highlights the great expectations placed on the Western market. The far greater part of Cherkizovsky Market confronts these expecta-tions with the informal economy created by the new market systems in the deregu-lated transformation societies in the East.

Whereas the stadium was originally supposed to provide an arena for mass perform-ances demonstrating the superiority of the political order of the Soviet Union, it has now become the archaeological site testifying to the inner emptiness of a Babylonian city-within-a-city into the cracks of which the ants of globalization have now moved. No longer do revolutionary tanks roll or patriotic armies march on the parade ground, which has disappeared beneath the Eurasia Market. Instead, thousands of carriers and tea-sellers swarm out around the endless labyrinth of its kilometres-long halls to keep this rough trading organism alive. As a central trading place for the sheer necessities of life, the Cherkizovsky Market has become the contested scene of cultural identities where attempts to reconstruct a Russian national identity encounter the complex real-ities of a globalized migration-economy. The progressive commercialization of even the tiniest of niches has generated a large number of unforeseen spaces for micro-cultural negotiations, like the one for the 3,000 Mountain Jews from the Caucasus, for whom a 20-square-metre room – laid out with carpets and located between the shoe storerooms and the sportsmen’s and women’s toilets in the caverns of the stadium stands – serves as a synagogue. Like the majority of the hundreds of thousands of people whose existences are inextricably tied up with the market, they, too, are both marginalized and transformed into targets of a global tug-of-war over cultural identity. To some, they are ‘blacks’, to some they are not orthodox enough, while some doubt whether they are Jews at all.

Whereas the owners’ good contacts with the government and the mayor have led to repeated delays in implementing the plans to close the markets, a ruling to restrict the share of foreign workers at markets to 40 per cent, which came V

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is less a disciplinary organ than an expedient instrument for regulating ‘informal’ arrangements. Driven by new imperatives of social mobility and the expansion of transnational spaces brought about by the unequal movements of tourism, migration and flight, informal market types have come into being that have created, from local opportunities, novel and extreme physical configurations very different from the old centre-periphery model. These spatial structures are intermediate zones that are seized by diverse interest groups, no matter whether they are local or global, formal or informal, and own much or little capital.

Operating against centre-periphery logic, economic processes are currently spawning spatial network structures at whose intersections poles of economic development are being created that stand out against their immediate surroundings. As the economist Pierre Veltz shows in his model of the archipelago economy, the globally oriented homogenization of production finds itself repeatedly challenged by a dynamic net-work of bottom-up associations. The countless interstices in the archipelago, where people operate with social capital, trust, a shared culture and unspoken knowledge, contain a new zone characterized by the development of self-organized, small-scale social relations rich in endogenous development.16 Within this archipelago-like overall distribution of economic power, a new type of efficiency is emerging with corres-ponding spatial imperatives: unlike Fordism, the efficiency of an archipelago economy does not stem from specific forms of the division of labour, but from the quality of its communications and co-ordination processes, which, due to the specific spatial distribution of actors, can only be standardized to a certain extent.17 Informal relation-ship structures are needed so that these processes can spontaneously connect things outside the framework of unwieldy systems of rules. The processes that stimulate the self-organization of informal markets and direct the transactions create a lively

imbroglio of actors. It is because of family ties, the prospects of a quick sale and the opportunity to sell items at other markets, and because of friendships, dependencies, liabilities and debts to suppliers, as well as unexpected twists in people’s lives and the development of new relationships that people come together in an environment where they can benefit from worlds different from their own. It is not the constitution of leakage points – points where overflows are allowed to occur and the commodification of things is partially suspended – but a far more generous and inconspicuous opening up of many different worlds to each other that generates the vigorous dynamics and maximizes the turnover of the informal market.

One of the most striking features of the boom in informal markets in Europe over the past two decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union has been the increas-ingly rapid development of external networks. This process has intensified exchange relations with markets outside Europe and, above all, with China. Operating in such extensive informal market structures means having to rely on network connections with special qualities. Relationships of trust, loyalties, favours and personal agree-ments determine what is known among cohesive transnational Chinese communities as ‘quanxi’ (relationships) between different people: exchange structures – based on personal contacts – that extend beyond formal agreements and are easy to mobilize.18 The Russian term ‘blat’ stands for a similar form of transforming social into finance capital. ‘Blat’ relationships are dynamic, long-term, and informal in nature: from black-market deals and party contacts to the exchange of services and reciprocal assistance in everyday life. The smooth transition from social exchange to profitable business deals encourages the extensive and increasing interweaving of economic, economical-ly caused and extra-economic phenomena. The increasingly refined channels through which goods and commodities are transported are an important instrument in this con-text. As labour conditions become increasingly precarious, the transport of goods and commodities becomes increasingly individualized, spreading across a large number of smaller towns and localities where finely meshed networks participate in informal trading structures. In this way, informal markets are part of a simultaneous process of geo-cultural fragmentation and expanded reproduction. They serve as models for

the materialization of a new spatial order of social strata, cultures, regions and associations from which new structures of civil-societal cohesion emerge.

into effect on 1 April 2007, really did have a widespread impact. From Moscow to Vladivostok, there are reports of markets collapsing completely. This has not only affected immigrants working at the market, but also all those impoverished sections of the Russian population who are dependent on the cheap products available at these markets. These policies (Russia for the Russians), which are propagated by Putin, are frequently seen as a tactically motivated response to the increase in racially inspired attacks. Consequently, the bombers of 12 August 2006, who felt that there were ‘too many Asians at the market’, ultimately did not only kill thirteen people and wound 53 others, but also affected, with their actions, the existence(s) of an estimated five million illegal immigrants in Russia.

MArkeT coMMuniTies

The complex transformations of the three sites dealt with here reveal how markets function as a dynamic force that generates new forms of collective exchange, and how this process relates to the aesthetics of establishing new social orders. Despite the very different ways in which historical developments and local micro- processes converge, there are similarities between the informal trading areas along the Byzantine city wall in Istanbul, the establishment of an economy in the district of Brcko and the never-ending transformation of a cultural site of national importance in Moscow. All three markets arose and expanded in a hybrid situation, meandering between informality and planning, and in a close dialogue with strategically important typologies of modern urban planning: sports and training centres, traffic buildings and facilities, and military complexes: in the stadium area of Moscow’s Cherkizovsky Market; between the newly constructed rapid transport systems and the historical fortifications in Istanbul; and at a checkpoint controlled by international troops in a Bosnian war zone. These three markets are now being demolished (Moscow), or transformed into legal structures (Brcko) or forced to move to new locations (Istanbul). The fate of these three junctions of self-organized trade is similar to that of other informal markets, following, for example, the pattern of the slow dismantlement of the Jarmark Europa at the Dziesięciolecia Stadium in Warsaw and the removal of the Polish market near Potsdamer Platz in Berlin around the time the Wall opened in 1989. These markets are able to survive for a short while as platforms for an experimental urbanity at the micro-level of everyday life; they then give way to the political pressure to create a new architectural order, which is supposed to restore some form of normative urbanity; later, they reappear somewhere else. Although these experimental structures repeatedly disappear from the face of the earth, they leave their mark on the fabric of the city. They transport images, ideas and values between different worlds. And with their improvised technologies, infrastructures and spatial pol-icies, they create openings for new urban situations and new links between the local and the global levels.

The term ‘informal market’ is a collective noun referring to widely scattered trading phenomena whose dynamics and forms of spatial materialization differ greatly in character, even though they are generally tied to political and economic transfor-mations. At the economic level, the term applies to incomes whose generation is ‘unregulated by the institutions of society, in a legal and social environment in which similar activities are regulated.’15 Informal markets refer to uncontrolled activities by travelling enterprises operating over large areas, such as the East European ‘suitcase traders’ and the mobile and border-crossing networks of the kiosk trade, as well as the rampant agglomerations of temporary grey and black markets that are provi-sionally occupying vacated plots everywhere. The globally distributed nodes of the informal economy are usually the product of political upheavals, global economic deregulation and related migration patterns, and new working and production situ-

ations. Nowadays, they arise at the interface marking the transition from nation states to a globally oriented, neo-liberal, control society, in which the state

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coMPliciTies

Informal markets are places of transition in more ways than one. They serve, on the one hand, as places for brief stays and are themselves often seen as mere ‘ transitional effects’: as adapters between unregulated relationships and order. This perspective views transition as a foreseeable process whose conclusion – as the result of a series of measures – is certain from the very start. It assumes the existence of a central intention that controls change, the existence of both an order-generating plan and the latter’s ability to capture a development in its totality. The concept of transi-tion that we are referring to here sees in this process a transition to a different, as yet unknown state, whose spatial form only reveals itself later. Initially, this transition is not physical. Even so, it still generates an accelerated space which, in the case of informal markets, is saturated with a surfeit of conflicting symbols and practices of signification. Transition, at the spatial level, characterizes ambiguously formed places where the transformation and novel organization of subjectivities are possible. Thus considered, informal markets are unstable and vulnerable places that do not appear in the matrix of territorial and ideological affiliation of individuals and cultures. They are channels through which cultures outside the designated places of encounter interact directly with the forces of globalization, creating another feature of liberalized global capital markets: a flexible shadow system, whose relationship to the homogeniz-ing forces of neo-liberal globalization is characterized, above all, by its paradoxical production of culturally heterogeneous micro-locations. Here the cultural paradoxes of globalization become evident. The traditions of self-appropriation of space and the self-organization of markets combine with the dynamics of neo-liberal globalization to create a contradictory process in which networks are formed at ever greater and asynchronous speeds, spaces are generated on a trans-territorial basis and cultural experiences are transformed.

When examining these scenarios, one cannot ignore the way neo-liberal policies are co-opting survival strategies in the Global South nor can one overlook the related expedient myths of informality that serve as an expression of emancipated individua-tion. Mobile and fleeting accumulation are just as attractive for the functioning of neo-liberal capital markets as they are for the organization of black markets. It is, therefore, necessary to ascertain which structural link lies behind these shared interests. Elmar Altvater and Brigitte Mahnkopf draw attention to this when they describe informality as the ‘shock absorber of globalization’ outside the framework of the welfare state and assistance programmes, and demand that it be understood as ‘an expression of structural transformations in the relationship between global, national and local economies under the dictate of global competitiveness.’19 This complex relationship between neo-liberal government techniques and forms of self-organization, as well as the spread of the market mentality20 to the organization of creative processes and critical practices has led to a multiply encumbered starting point – to take up the ques-tion of how cultural experience can be organized in a way that generates space for modes of expression whose outline is yet to be defined.

Both the global art market and the ever-growing market of the creative industries determine the patterns through which the aesthetics of resistance are able to perpetu-ate themselves intentionally, as it were, in a spectacularized world of consumption and to become profitable in the process. Faced with the extended boundaries of the neo-liberal market, the battle – initiated within the extended field of art and archi-tecture in the 1990s – to radicalize culture by fusing art and life is now in danger of degenerating into a commissioned parody of itself. In a climate marked by the neo-liberal ‘appropriation of forms of appropriation’, the control of critiques of control and the abstraction of the senses by the sensualization of abstraction, it seems wrong, at first sight, to take informal markets, of all things, as a point of departure for reflecting upon models of alternative economies in which new horizons of cultural experience can be organized outside both central controls and profit-oriented frames of refer-ence. According to Saskia Sassen, informal markets are the low-cost equivalent of global deregulation and serve, first and foremost, as the suppliers of advanced urban economies, with the sole difference that, at the lower end of the scale, the risks and

costs have to be borne by the actors themselves.21 With her argumentation, she finds herself in the same boat as Mike Davis, who, in Planet of Slums (2006), C

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In these analyses of informal markets, it is not a question of establishing what the markets represent in themselves or are supposed to achieve, but of ascertaining what they can help to realize at a different level. Informal markets create a conflict-ridden terrain of accesses without explaining the principles behind accessibility. They are not a concept of space, but an expression of social praxis. We are particularly interested in the point at which transformations occur when informal market realities connect up with their specific field of application: the place where they take root, crystallize into new forms, and trigger effects that extend the field of social perception and activity. In exploring scenes such as these, we are interested, in other words, in how alternative involvement is possible – with the spontaneously emerging spaces of informal market activities and their physical and visual properties – that will enhance that logic of resistance which affects not only concrete experiences themselves, but also the hori-zons and modalities that organize these experiences. What we associate with this kind of commitment is certainly not the production of a map that assigns a specific activity to a specific location and represents a geography of ‘sites of informal trade’. Nor are we concerned with a comprehensive typology of informal markets or a typology of the spaces in which informal trade takes place. Our interest in the complexity of local situations is mainly concerned with examining those perspectives from which the many fleeting flows of convergence, aggregation and atomization, which are charac-teristic of informal exchange, are themselves considered. The local space is the terrain on which the dynamic movements of countless actors are recorded, strip by strip, in scattered visual allusions, physical signs, spontaneous scenes and small organi za-tional changes that trigger the growth of a network of ‘trans-localities’.

boundAry econoMies

One of the most virulent sites of conflict in recent times has been the transition from governance centred on the nation state to an ensemble of forms of governing and regulation that is increasingly attuned to the mentalities of networks and markets. As forms of cohesion change, temporary geographies with unequally saturated power constellations emerge that are particularly dependent on one parameter: mobile and short-term accumulation. Within global market realities, the spread of market techniques to all areas of life, which Foucault characterized as the main principle of neo-liberal governmentality, has created new relationships between the world and the subject. Governmentality thus works on a liberalized economy of the ontological. Each ‘governmental measure’, in other words, each measure aiming to direct, control and manage individuals and collectives that wants to seize some space within this structure, must first, according to Foucault, pass the ‘market test’. One important aspect of the economization of the social level is the extension and naturalization of governmental activities, whose product is homo oeconomicus: a social actor commit-ted to maximizing his or her personal gain.25 Foucault also points out, however, that people never exclusively play the role of homo oeconomicus. The arts of government also allow the subjects to act in accordance with their own will, to deviate, and to com-mit misdemeanours intentionally, which might be directed against the goals of the government, because they establish markets, for instance, which allow people to gain social experiences outside the designated categories. In this sense, then, they permit activities that involve resistance and block old categories, thereby allowing new avenues for self-constitution to open up. In this way, markets can serve as settings for exposing social normalization and negotiating resistance.

In neo-liberal economics, the role of homo oeconomicus can be considered only as a utopian nucleus that serves to limit governmental power to those domains in which there is no risk of conflicts with the practice of social life. In this sense, it is an expe-dient ‘interface between government and individual’.26 As a result of both the ever greater influence of economic knowledge on social organization nowadays and the dominance of socially accepted knowledge structures that endeavour to make capital out of the most remote spheres of cultural production, conflict areas multiply when-ever economic requirements and social network structures merge. The question as to how, in such a situation, economic calculation divorces social behaviour from its

context and networks lies behind the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) developed by Bruno Latour, Michel Callon and John Law in the 1990s. In Actor Network Theory

presents an ensemble of epistemological fallacies on informality in order to expose the strategic nature of the ideology of informal organization. From the myriad of concealed forms of exploitation and seduction to the fanatic obsession with quasi-magic ways of acquiring money (gambling, pyramid schemes, etc.) to the diminution of social capital as a result of increasing competition within the informal sector, Davis lists all the erroneous beliefs held by the advocates, such as the Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto, of an ‘invisible revolution’ of informal capital.22 Instead of fulfilling the promise of greater upward mobility, the boom that began in the informal sector in the 1980s led to greater ethno-religious differentiation, as well as to increased exploitation of the poor and urban violence. Davis’s notion of a counter-offensive to the neo-liberal version of informality involves strengthening trade union structures and radical political parties and, last but not least, reviving a community based on worldwide solidarity within the framework of a militant refusal to accept the assigned marginal role within global capitalism.23

The wealth of arguments and evi-dence, as well as all the statistics, maps and diagrams that have been presented, seem to demand a condemnation of the state of informality – a condemnation that can draw on well-documented material on the dynamics of pov-erty, exploitation and oppression. The roles of power seem to be too clearly allocated and consoli-dated to imagine how – through the way they function – they can allow alternative social formations to develop. But what if we refuse to accept this logic for a moment and take a look at an entire series of shortcomings in the apparatus of global economic control that we have just criticized – short-comings that can create space for social experiences outside the boundaries within which this apparatus exercises control? If one looks beyond the boundar-ies imposed on the world by the economic regime, one sees the manifestation of the boundary

as a political space that cannot be controlled through the workings of the economy alone and which therefore creates a space for re-structuring social order. Attempts to explain informal activities from the standpoint of the totality usually ignore the way in which local spaces are changed by a large number of actors and spontaneously co-ordinated modes of behaviour that cannot be determined by knowing the overall situation. Hence, the type of habitable formation and the potential for change offered by networks of informal organizations are often overlooked. Although power circu-lates in such networks, people are not merely the consenting targets of those who exercise power, but, as Michel Foucault argues in his lectures at the Collège de France in 1975-1976, the relays of power. Power is a kind of arrangement: people submit to power and exercise power. Power flows through them, which means that it can be seized and redirected.24 Hence, one of the ways of carrying out artistic interventions and thinking architecturally is, therefore, to search – beyond the world of hackneyed concepts such as slum culture, chaos economy, social mobility and transitional societies – for ideas, impressions, images and experiences that help to show ways of making local co-ordination work in these spaces of self-organized exchange, and to demonstrate how the forces of change are not appropriated or passed on in the same

way as property and commodities, but are, instead, directed through networks with differentiated structures.

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– The Market Test’27 Callon argues that markets are not embedded in networks – not even when they use their flows and intensities to generate trade. If this were not the case, the argument continues, they would be unable to produce calculating actors who settle conflicts by fixing prices. Homo oeconomicus and homo sociologicus are not, in Callon’s view, opposing forces, but individual actors with perfectly stable spheres of competence.28 Whereas in Mark Granovetter’s much-cited theory of ‘weak ties’, social networks represent the milieu that configures markets,29 Callon believes that it is precisely those establishments and elements (catalogues of goods, anonymity processes, financial controls, etc.) which reject networks and create space for calculability within the framework of transactions and by creating an arena that breaks down the constituents of an unregulated assemblage into its individual com-ponents. The calculability thus achieved (in Callon’s theory) is based on processes of disentanglement, separation and dissolution affecting parts of a network, and on the destabilization of old relationship patterns in favour of a superior market inter-est. Amidst all the radically vague and flowing communication, fixations and frames are thus established which are able to act at a distance to weak social bonds. In brief: frames are placed on a fabric of fluid relationships to create a basis for economic co-ordination and transparent calculation. This necessary process of alienation, on which the market is based (according to ANT), generates a wide range of frames and configurations in parallel to the crea-tion of the social, psychological and communicative horizons of life. This process is advanced by a multiplicity of different interests that are equilibrated with the aid of economic calculation. As it is impossible to equilibrate everything, strategies are needed to deal with overflows. Relationships are created that do not appear in a calculated frame: as externalities that can be internalized to a certain degree, but also produce new externalities. Each transaction concluded on the market produces, in other words, business sidelines that escape the control of the central actors. For this reason, elements are also needed with which the externalities can be used to fine-tune calculated processes locally. Susan Leigh Star and James Griesemer coined the term ‘boundary objects’ for these elements. Boundary objects serve, on the one hand, to stabilize activities in a shared market environment and, on the other hand, to open up a market to other worlds. They have ‘different meanings in different social worlds but their structure is common enough to more than one world to make them recognizable means of translation. The creation and management of boundary objects is the key to developing and maintaining coherence across intersecting social worlds’. 30 They facilitate the production of space for overflows.

If the neo-liberal drive to cheat the regulated market affects ever more people who are excluded from the rules, pressure will grow to create a different kind of exchange in which a series of agreements is annulled. As the informal market cannot obey the official rules, it can only rely on them to a certain degree. In order to maintain this trade structure, a network of informers, mediators, black marketeers, and middlemen is necessary. These networks, which are essential if an informal market is to function, form highly efficient boundary economies that can absorb the vast overflow produced by informal trade. A network generated by this collective involvement in business sidelines changes the rules by refusing to implement them. Overflowing is also a procedure used by contemporary artists and architects to manipulate the frame for explor-ing geo-cultural processes in order to establish new connections. Working in a variety of different projects, they play a game with the sensory horizons against which we perceive, and enter into contact with flows of human beings, goods and capital. Through acts of networking, aesthetic and political practises change the frames in our perception: whether it be to manu-facture a ‘third space’ for congregating, or to explore hidden phenomena, to sketch out alternative forms of exchange or to discuss the use of a certain space.

A trading place altered in this way generates other by-products, a different set of encounters

outside the customary conventions. If the creation of overflow points is both a means of artistic destabilization and an instrument of control for regulating niches, then the question arises of how the two forces operate in relation to one another. Does this make it easier to finely adjust the way dominant market relations are configured, or to create a loose network of creative mergers whose activities may spawn new centres of activity and trade? To avoid espousing a model of polar opposition, we should, from the very start, view existing forces not as opposing movements, or as the clear opposition of two sides, but as a continual reciprocal play of vague figures and shadows that employs the moments of framing and overflowing as means of creating ensembles and controlling horizons without laying down rigid goals. The network-generating processes in experimental artistic and architectural activi-ties demonstrate just how useful frames are for staking out relationship structures and co-ordinating co-operation, as, for example, in the joint production and distribution of knowledge. Drawing on analyses by the Swiss sociolo-gists Urs Bruegger and Karin Knorr Cetina, Brian Holmes has pointed out how markets can be described as know-ledge constructs. They act as epistemic objects within a sphere of technological and institutional frames. They are highly instable and variable in their nature as they always remain incomplete and changeable. This variability makes them seem alive and unpredictable. Holmes writes: ‘What is at stake in the new art are framing decisions which set boundaries around productive groups (by constituting relational structures with unique parameters) and at the same time provoke displacements (by engaging processes of self-reflection and intervention on those constitutive structures).’31 The point of this discussion on the inter-action between economic controls and creative network production is not the question of frames as such, but that of using frames. In brief: the politics of their deployment.

Whether in social or in political terms, the new subjectivi-ties emerging in the current flows of migration, displace-ment and resettlement become a nexus of contacts between conflicting worlds. They remain entangled but rework their entanglement within themselves, creating the subject as a fragmented battleground, as a potent and contested mobile arena. Informal markets come into conflict with the official social order because the economic system operates with different frames from those the victims of globalization need in order to sur-vive. Owing to the pressure to exclude their sociality in different ways, the migratory economies that are linked informally with one another, also come into conflict with one another. The way in which the compensations produced by trade overflows can help to negotiate this conflict shapes the forms and realities of our coexist-ence. Does the establishment of such frames permit the emergence of a fruitful and shared terrain or does it signify the violent end of all differences? Does over-flow result in one-sided profits or does it allow for the redistribution of shares – i.e. a self-determined reor-ganization of our subjectivities? A key moment in this discussion centres on operating outside existing polit-ical taxonomies. Many of the traditional taxonomies employed to gauge the dynamics of market activities are based on a conception of network structures as spatially linked

phenomena with clear goals. The exact opposite applies, however, when we con-sider, say, the spatial reality of global network migration, where abrupt mobility,

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no logical operational structure, but only a contingent operating mechanism – a social fabric geared to opportunities, one that continually obeys the principles of reciprocity instead of being subject to the dictates of rational calculation. If they are to attract fur-ther transactions, AbdouMaliq Simone argues that forms of urban sociality arising in the shadows of the informal economy need to be able to shield themselves from the public eye, scrutiny and comparison. He writes: ‘This process of assembling proceeds not by a specific logic shared by the participants but rather can be seen as a recombi-nation of contingency. In other words, a coincidence of perspectives, interpretations, engagements, and practices that enable different residents in different positions to either incrementally or radically, converge and/or diverge from one another and, in the process of doing so, remake what is considered possible to do.’32 One reason why framing processes are never completed when it comes to informal markets is rooted in the very nature of informal organization itself. Out of concern that such types of organization will become known, their frames are always provisional and mobile, so that they cannot be identified as having a tangible form or be assigned a familiar taxonomy. The movement of endless transfers is the dominant image of these global microstructures. Objects are transported ever further afield instead of being unloaded once at the ‘right’ place. The process of becoming of this particular place is rooted in the paths of movement themselves. Consequently, the process of transport is endless.

These sites of mobile and transient production, the deferral, obfuscation and active fragmentation of archival composition account for many of the activities that define informal trade as well as for the spatial emergence, dispersal and re-aggregation of informal markets: the lack of price tags, the false trade descriptions, the improvised trading places, the mutability of constellations, the devalued spaces filled with cultural hybridities, the abundance of strange objects that can be used for almost anything. They allow us to consider the potential of cultural encounters outside the formal mar-ket prerequisites of clarity, transparent calculation and disentanglement. The market, with all its hustling and bustling, creates a cacophony of sounds, voices and accents which finds its own social audience despite the fact that it does not resound in an ‘ideal speech situation’. Scattered informal arrangements of stalls, trailers, trucks and tent cities arise that do not constitute what modernist planning would consider a rich form of cultural co-habitation, but as places that always exist outside the conceptual framework of urban planning. Irregularities appear that characterize the ‘mosaic universe’ of diasporic movements where things and beings don’t converge on a totality, but assert their mutual relatedness by ‘inventing junctions and disjunctions that construct combinations that are always singular, contingent and not totalizing.’33 One could argue that the organizing principles of informal markets are not ideal blueprints for sustainable alternative economies, open community projects and new bonds of worldwide solidarity. They may, however, destabilize processes occurring within larger institutional and non-institutional ecologies that have been taken for granted for quite some time. This destabilization does not represent the transition from one system to another, but the slow and conflict-ridden process of multiply-ing systems in an amalgam of synchronicities that are mutually dependent and use one another. The alliance between informal and formal exchange systems spreads not through a strict process of creating frames but through never-ending entangle-ments in which overflows are not side-effects, but a mode of spontaneous operation, disguise, expansion and change. It is not despite, but because of this entanglement these structures transform themselves into something novel: they become amphib-ian forms. They multiply instead of disentangling themselves, producing a volatile body of knowledge which passes between informal global structures and the subject emerging from them.

extreme uncertainty and radical openness are the defining parameters of this kind of social and economic structure. This also raises the question as to how, in the absence of stable and reliable prognoses, it is possible to calculate activities within this sphere. What is the ‘market’ and cognitive value of frames circulating in the informal sphere?

In a certain sense, informality veils the epistemological dimensions of trading places. Informality filters knowledge, so that only some of the activities on the market remain intelligible, while murky segments, dubious contacts and risky transactions are supposed to go undiscovered. Precisely this aspect of knowledge production – the displacement, blacking out and the active suppression of knowledge – is respon-sible for a great deal of those activities that define not only informal trade, but also

the spatial appearance, dissolution and reconstitution of informal markets. The informal market is an instrument of concealed trade. In this sense, then, there is

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1 Office of the High Representative (OHR) and EU

Special Representative (EUSR) in Bosnia and

Herzegovina, ‘International Community to clean up

trade at the Arizona Market, Brcko’, Press Release

(26 October 2000).

Online: http://www.ohr.int/ohr-dept/presso/

pressr/default.asp?content_id=4092

2 Office of the High Representative (OHR) and EU

Special Representative (EUSR) in Bosnia and Herze-

govina, ‘PDHR to attend the formal opening of the

Arizona Market’, Press Release (10 November 2004).

Online: http://www.ohr.int/ohr-dept/presso/pressb/

default.asp?content_id=33492

3 Office of the High Representative (OHR) and EU

Special Representative (EUSR) in Bosnia and

Herzegovina, ‘Supervisory Order on the Use of

Land in Arizona Market’, Press Release (17 February

2001). Online: http://www.ohr.int/ohr-offices/

brcko/bc-so/default.asp?content_id=5323

4 Office of the High Representative (OHR) and EU

Special Representative (EUSR) in Bosnia and

Herzegovina, ‘Opening Remarks of Brcko Supervisor

on land expropriation in Arizona Market at a press

conference in Brcko on 25 July 2002’, Press Release

(25 July 2002).

Online: http://www.ohr.int/ohr-dept/presso/

presssp/default.asp?content_id=27536

5 Srdjan Jovanovic Weiss, ‘What Was Turbo

Architecture?’, in Almost Architecture (Stutt gart:

edition kuda.nao, merz&solitude, 2006), 28.

6 Bruce Scott and William Nash, ‘Global Poverty:

Business Solutions and Approaches’, paper given

at the Harvard Business School conference ‘Brcko

and the Arizona Market’ (1-3 December 2005).

Online: http://www.hbs.edu/socialenterprise/

globalpoverty.html

7 Azra Akšamija, ‘Arizona Road’, in Designs für

die wirkliche Welt. Designs for the Real World, ed.

Sabine Breitwieser, Generali Foundation (Vienna

and Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther

König, 2002), 74.

8 Madeleine Rees (UNHCR Sarajevo), ‘Markets,

Migration and Forced Prostitution’, Humanitarian

Exchange Magazine, no. 14 (June 1999). Online:

http://www.odihpn.org/report.asp?id=1054

9 US Agency for International Development (USAID),

‘Bosnia and Herzegovina. ACTIVITY DATA SHEET.

FY 2002’. Online: http://www.usaid.gov/pubs/

cbj2002/ee/ba/168-031.html

10 Suha Özkan, ‘The welcoming speech of the

President of the 22nd UIA, World Congress of

Architecture’, Programme (Istanbul: UIA 2005), 10f.

11 Orhan Esen, ‘Learning from Istanbul – Die Stadt

Istanbul: Materielle Produktion und Produktion

des Diskurses’, in Self Service City: Istanbul, ed.

Stephan Lanz (Berlin: b_books, 2005), 33.

12 Scott Lash, Critique of Information (London: Sage,

2001), 4f.

13 Orhan Pamuk, Istanbul. Memories and the City

(New York: Alfred Knopf, 2005), 245f.

14 Ernesto Laclau, Emancipation(s) (London and

New York: Verso, 1996), 79-82.

15 Alejandro Portes and William Haller, ‘The Informal

Economy’, in Handbook of Economic Sociology,

2nd edition, eds. N. Smelser and R. Swedberg

(New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2005).

16 Pierre Veltz, Mondialisation, Villes et Territoires.

L’Économie d’Archipel (Paris: Presses universitaires

de France, 1996).

17 Pierre Veltz, ‘The resurgent city’, paper delivered

to the Leverhulme International Symposium ‘The

Resurgent City’ (London School of Economics,

19 April 2004). See also idem, Le nouveau monde

industriel (Paris: Gallimard, 2000).

18 Anita Pozna, ‘Guanxi: A safety net of personal

relations in the transnational Chinese community’,

in Re:Orient. Migrating Architectures, ed. Attila

Nemes (Kunsthalle Budapest, 2006), 20.

19 Elmar Altvater and Birgit Mahnkopf, ‘Die

Informalisierung des urbanen Raums’, in

Learning from* - Städte von Welt, Phantasmen

der Zivilgesellschaft, informelle Organisation, ed.

Jochen Becker et al. (Berlin: NGBK, 2003), 24-25.

20 Karl Polanyi, ‘Our Obsolete Market Mentality:

Civilization must find a New Thought Pattern’,

Commentary, vol. 3 (February 1947), 109-117

[reprinted in Primitive, Archaic and Modern

Economies: Essays of Karl Polanyi, ed. G. Dalton

(Garden City, NY: Doubleday Anchor, 1968)].

21 Saskia Sassen, ‘Why Cities Matter’, in Cities.

Architecture and Society, vol.1, ed. La Biennale

di Venezia (Venice: Marsilio Editori, 2006), 47-48.

22 Mike Davis, Planet of Slums (London and New York:

Verso, 2006), 178-185.

23 lbid., 202.

24 Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended –

Lectures at the Collège de France 1975-76

(London: Penguin Books, 2004 [1975]), 29.

25 Michel Foucault, Security, Territory, Population

– Lectures at the Collège de France 1977-78

(Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007 [1977]),

349-354.

26 Ibid., 355.

27 Title of the essay is a reference to Foucault’s market

test of liberal governance.

28 Michel Callon‚ ‘Actor-Network Theory – The Market

Test’, in Actor Network Theory and after, ed. John

Law and John Hassard (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999),

181–195.

29 Mark S. Granovetter, ‘The Strength of Weak Ties’,

American Journal of Sociology, vol. 78, 6 (1973),

1360-1380.

30 Susan Leigh Star and James R. Griesemer,

‘Institutional ecology, “translations” and boundary

objects: Amateurs and professionals in Berkeley’s

Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 1907-39’, in The

Science Studies Reader, ed. M. Biagioli (New York

and London: Routledge, 1999 [1989]), 503-524.

31 Brian Holmes, ‘The Artistic Device – Or, the

articulation of collective speech’. Online: Meteors

(Université Tangente, 2006) http://ut.yt.t0.or.at/site/

index.html

32 AbdouMaliq Simone, For the City Yet to Come.

Changing Life in Four African Cities (Durham, NC

and London: Duke University Press, 2004), 14.

33 Maurizio Lazzarato, ‘To See and Be Seen:

A Micropolitics of the Image’, in B-Zone:

Becoming Europe and Beyond, ed. Anselm

Franke (Barcelona: Actar, 2006), 296.

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tere

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at

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an

d th

e w

ay th

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orr

ain

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d

Pete

r w

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ips

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iate

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her

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by

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(w

hich

is

ho

w s

uch

pro

ject

s m

igh

t hap

pen

to

day

), a

nd

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e ju

st w

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d to

use

th

at a

s a

real

ly im

po

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mp

le o

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kin

g, w

hen

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met

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g is

n’t

fun

ded

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r o

ffici

al in

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cap

acit

y, w

hat

the

po

ten

tial o

f it i

s.

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wad

ays,

the

pro

ject

wo

uld

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fun

ded

by

the

do

ckla

nd

s co

rpo

ratio

n

(th

e d

evel

op

men

t bo

dy

the

com

mu

-n

ity

acti

vist

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ere

wo

rkin

g ag

ain

st),

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wo

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the

dif

fere

nce

. An

d

they

wo

uld

clai

m th

at c

ultu

re w

as

real

ly c

on

trib

utin

g to

the

chan

ge,

that

it

was

imp

rovi

ng

the

resi

den

ts’ l

ives

–

wh

erea

s Lo

rrai

ne

was

usi

ng

her

ro

le

to s

ay, ‘

loo

k: th

ese

peo

ple

are

rea

lly

ang

ry; w

e n

eed

to le

t eve

ryo

ne

kno

w

abo

ut h

ow

an

gry

we

are,

an

d h

ow

can

I h

elp

you

do

that

?’, r

ath

er th

an k

ind

of

hav

ing

a b

rief

fro

m a

n ag

ency

that

was

ab

ou

t to

affe

ct c

om

mun

itie

s’ li

ves

in a

d

etri

men

tal w

ay.

so

ph

ie h

op

e: Y

este

rday

I w

ent t

o

see

a p

roje

ct a

frie

nd

is w

ork

ing

on

in

Far

nb

oro

ug

h, a

s p

art o

f Slo

ug

h

Est

ates

’ big

dev

elo

pm

ent p

roje

ct o

f th

e o

ld M

inis

try

of D

efen

ce a

irfi

eld

s th

ere

and

turn

ing

it in

to a

big

bu

sin

ess

and

le

isur

e p

ark.

Am

y P

lan

t is

the

arti

st a

nd

sh

e se

t up

a Fr

ien

ds

sch

eme

of l

oca

l re

sid

ents

to d

ecid

e w

hat

to d

o w

ith

a ce

rtai

n so

-cal

led

‘pu

blic

’ pat

ch o

f lan

d

wit

hin

this

dev

elo

pm

ent.

I w

as t

alki

ng

to

on

e o

f th

e lo

cal r

esid

ents

wh

o w

as

on

that

Fri

end

s sc

hem

e th

at s

he

set

up,

an

d hi

s m

oti

vatio

n fo

r b

ein

g o

n it

is

bec

ause

he’

s w

orr

ied

abo

ut h

is h

ou

se

pri

ce; h

e’s

wo

rrie

d th

at h

is h

ou

se p

rice

w

ill g

o d

ow

n b

ecau

se o

f th

e b

usi

nes

s p

ark,

so

bei

ng

invo

lved

in th

e Fr

ien

ds

sch

eme

is a

way

of h

im h

avin

g a

say

on

th

e p

rop

ose

d d

evel

op

men

t. T

his

ra

ises

th

e q

ues

tio

n, h

ow

is a

n a

rtis

t im

plic

ated

in s

up

po

rtin

g v

alu

es,

po

l itic

s o

r p

rin

cip

les

they

mig

ht n

ot

nec

essa

rily

en

do

rse

or

that

co

uld

ev

en b

e at

od

ds

wit

h t

he

po

int o

f th

e p

roje

ct. A

pla

tfo

rm s

uch

as

the

Frie

nd

s sc

hem

e is

a m

ech

anis

m f

or

peo

ple

wit

h d

iffe

ren

t vie

ws

and

co

n-

cern

s to

mak

e d

ecis

ion

s ab

ou

t a p

atch

of ‘

pu

blic

sp

ace’

; it i

s n

ot j

ud

gin

g

peo

ple

’s m

oti

vati

on

s fo

r g

etti

ng

in

volv

ed. F

or

exam

ple

, in

th

e p

ro-

cess

of r

aisi

ng

aw

aren

ess

of s

har

ed,

com

mu

nal

sp

ace

the

art p

roje

ct m

igh

t en

able

peo

ple

inst

ead

to fi

nd

a w

ay

to p

rote

ct t

he

valu

e o

f th

eir

pri

vate

p

rop

erty

. Th

e ar

tist

s/ in

itia

tors

hav

e

to a

sk t

hem

selv

es if

th

ey a

re h

app

y

to f

acili

tate

su

ch a

pro

cess

– h

ow

d

oes

it fi

t wit

h t

hei

r o

wn

po

litic

s

and

is t

his

imp

ort

ant?

PM

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: Yo

ur R

eun

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pro

ject

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ery

fitt

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ly p

osi

tion

ed in

this

co

nte

xt,

tryi

ng

to a

pp

rop

riat

e th

e sp

ace

of i

nst

i-tu

tion

al b

oun

dar

ies

that

su

ch p

roje

cts

are

usu

ally

exp

ose

d to

. Ho

w d

o yo

u

stru

ctur

e th

is n

etw

ork

ing

pro

cess

an

d

ho

w d

o yo

u ke

ep it

po

litic

al?

sar

ah c

arri

ng

ton

: In

Reu

nion

, we

have

th

is s

tru

ctur

e in

whi

ch th

e p

artn

ers

that

w

e’re

wo

rkin

g w

ith

will

hel

p to

dec

ide

on

ho

w b

est R

eun

ion

will

op

erat

e, s

o

we

hav

en’t

set d

ow

n a

stru

ctur

e. I

thin

k b

y in

vitin

g p

eop

le w

e al

read

y kn

ow

w

e h

ave

com

mo

n in

tere

sts

wit

h, a

nd

w

ho

kno

w a

bo

ut u

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wel

l, it

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ore

lik

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act

ual

ly le

arn

ing

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ach

o

ther

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d ag

ain

, th

at w

e ca

n lo

ok

at

ho

w w

e m

ayb

e d

on

’t n

eed

to r

ely

on

in

stit

utio

ns

so m

uch

; ho

w c

an w

e u

se a

un

ion

stru

ctur

e –

may

be

just

to

pre

ten

d –

to s

tren

gth

en o

ur w

ork

as

ind

epen

den

t org

aniz

atio

ns

or

as

self-

org

aniz

ing

gro

up

s; h

ow

can

we

use

that

as

a m

od

el, a

nd

po

ten

tially

th

en im

pac

t on

infr

astr

uct

ure

in s

ou

th-

east

ern

Euro

pe

as w

ell.

so

ph

ie h

op

e: O

ur n

etw

ork

ing

, thr

ou

gh

R

eun

ion

for

exam

ple

, or

atte

nd

ing

co

nfe

ren

ces

and

sym

po

sia,

is r

eally

fl

oat

ing

on

and

sup

po

rted

by

the

thin

gs

that

we’

re tr

yin

g to

co

nst

antl

y sh

ift,

chan

ge

and

sub

vert

or

wh

atev

er.

We’

re b

ein

g p

aid

to n

etw

ork

, su

bve

rt

and

crit

iqu

e. T

he

on

ly r

easo

n w

e’re

h

ere

and

we’

re d

oin

g w

hat

we’

re d

oin

g

is b

ecau

se th

ere’

s a

cap

ital

ist s

yste

m

that

kee

ps

it afl

oat

. So

that

is o

ur b

ig

qu

estio

n: h

ow

can

we

sin

k it

– b

ut t

hen

d

o w

e g

o d

ow

n w

ith

it?

PM

/hM

: Can

yo

u d

escr

ibe

ho

w y

ou

w

ork

tog

eth

er a

s B

+B

an

d h

ow

this

co

llab

ora

tive

cur

ato

rial

pra

ctic

e h

as

dev

elo

ped

its

par

ticu

lar

app

roac

h?

sar

ah c

arri

ng

ton

: We

wer

e in

tere

sted

in

loo

kin

g at

ho

w y

ou

coul

d p

rese

nt

pro

ject

s th

at w

ere

inve

stig

atin

g

peo

ple

, or

wer

e u

sin

g p

eop

le, o

r w

ere

wo

rkin

g w

ith

peo

ple

, an

d h

ow

yo

u

coul

d su

pp

ort

the

po

int o

f en

coun

ter

mo

re e

ffec

tive

ly. A

nd

also

to tr

y an

d

crea

te m

ore

of a

term

ino

log

y ar

oun

d

that

pra

ctic

e, b

ecau

se it

felt

like

a lo

t of

it w

as b

ein

g si

mp

lified

or

dis

mis

sed

or

con

fuse

d w

ith

com

mun

ity

art l

egac

ies,

so

we

wer

e tr

yin

g to

loo

k m

ore

clo

sely

at

tho

se d

istin

ctio

ns.

so

ph

ie h

op

e: It

feel

s lik

e n

ow

ther

e ar

e a

lot o

f co

nfe

ren

ces,

pap

ers

and

sy

mp

osi

a w

hich

inve

stig

ate

soci

ally

en

gag

ed a

rt p

ract

ice,

an

d th

at’s

so

me-

thin

g th

at w

e fe

lt h

as c

han

ged

a lo

t si

nce

we’

ve b

een

wo

rkin

g ov

er th

e fi

ve

year

s. B

ut a

lso

som

ethi

ng

that

’s b

een

re

ally

key

to o

ur p

ract

ices

is th

e U

K

con

text

; it’

s o

ur s

tart

ing

po

int.

We’

ve

had

a N

ew L

abo

ur g

over

nm

ent s

ince

w

e’ve

bee

n w

ork

ing

tog

eth

er a

nd

the

imp

act o

n cu

ltur

al p

olic

y h

as b

een

so

mas

sive

. It’

s in

tere

stin

g fo

r u

s to

fin

d

ou

t ho

w it

’s a

ffec

ted

pra

ctic

e an

d h

ow

ar

tist

s ar

e re

ally

dea

ling

wit

h th

is is

-su

e o

f art

bei

ng

use

d to

ch

ang

e so

cial

situ

atio

ns

in q

uit

e a

pra

gm

atic

way

. Bu

t w

e ar

e tr

yin

g to

thin

k ab

ou

t ho

w a

rtis

ts

and

cura

tors

can

co

nn

ect u

p b

eyo

nd

th

eir

ow

n co

nte

xts

by

crea

ting

mee

ting

p

oin

ts b

eyo

nd

the

safe

ty o

f th

eir

ow

n

bac

k ya

rds.

PM

/hM

: Par

t of y

our

wo

rk c

lose

ly

follo

ws

crea

tive

pra

ctic

es a

nd

cult

ural

n

etw

ork

s in

so

uth

east

ern

Euro

pe;

wh

at

kin

d o

f in

sig

hts

do

you

gai

n fr

om

this

re

sear

ch in

rel

atio

n to

wo

rkin

g in

Gre

at

Bri

tain

?

sar

ah c

arri

ng

ton

: Th

ere’

s su

ch a

p

reco

nce

ived

idea

ab

ou

t wh

at s

oci

ally

en

gag

ed p

ract

ice

mig

ht b

e h

ere,

an

d

we’

ve b

een

real

ly in

tere

sted

in fi

nd

ing

ex

ampl

es th

at a

re e

mer

ging

in d

iffe

ren

t co

nte

xts.

By

dem

on

stra

ting

to a

ud

i-en

ces

here

that

it’s

not

just

ab

out N

ew

Lab

our

, th

at th

is p

ract

ice

has

a lo

ng

le

gac

y, a

nd

ther

e ar

e lo

ts o

f peo

ple

w

ork

ing

aro

und

the

wo

rld

in d

iffe

ren

t w

ays,

an

d w

ith

dif

fere

nt m

oti

vatio

ns,

b

ut t

hey

nee

d to

be

giv

en s

pac

e. W

e’re

tr

yin

g to

info

rm a

ud

ien

ces

and

op

en

up

idea

s o

f wh

at s

oci

ally

en

gag

ed

pra

ctic

e m

igh

t be

– b

ecau

se I

thin

k it

’s s

uch

a lo

aded

term

her

e, n

ow

. Fo

r ex

amp

le, w

ith

Trad

ing

Plac

es, t

he

exhi

bit

ion

we

did

at t

he

Pu

mp

Ho

use

G

alle

ry (

Lon

do

n, 2

004)

, we

wer

e b

rin

gin

g to

get

her

exa

mp

les

of a

rtis

ts

wh

o w

ere

wo

rkin

g w

ith

mig

ratio

n as

an

issu

e o

r w

ork

ing

wit

h m

igra

nts

or

refu

gee

co

mm

unit

ies

– an

d in

Bri

tain

th

ose

pro

ject

s ar

e p

erce

ived

as

com

ing

fr

om

a p

arti

cula

r ki

nd

of g

over

nm

ent

line,

that

‘yo

u m

ust

incl

ud

e th

ose

wh

o

are

soci

ally

exc

lud

ed’ a

nd

arti

sts

mu

st

mak

e p

eop

le’s

live

s b

ette

r an

d g

ive

voic

e to

co

mm

unit

ies.

An

d th

en w

e w

ent t

o V

ien

na

and

foun

d p

eop

le s

ay-

ing

, ‘I w

ant t

o g

ive

voic

es to

mig

ran

ts

in m

y w

ork

’, so

we

wer

e in

tere

sted

in

wh

ere

was

that

co

min

g fr

om

, was

that

to

do

wit

h so

me

sort

of t

ren

d, o

r w

as it

to

do

wit

h a

gen

uin

e so

cial

co

nsc

ien

ce,

and

if it

was

, wh

at d

o th

ey r

eally

wan

t to

ch

ang

e an

d h

ow

do

they

thin

k th

e ar

t is

go

ing

to c

han

ge

it? S

o b

y b

rin

g-

ing

pro

ject

s fr

om

that

co

nte

xt to

the

UK

, we

wer

e sa

yin

g th

at th

ese

arti

sts

are

do

ing

this

no

t wit

h a

gov

ern

men

tal

or

cult

ural

po

licy

bag

gag

e, s

o h

ow

can

w

e ac

cess

that

her

e, a

nd

ho

w c

an w

e le

arn

fro

m th

at a

pp

roac

h h

ere,

an

d

ho

w c

oul

d w

e al

so n

ot s

imp

lify

ever

y si

ng

le s

oci

ally

en

gag

ed p

roje

ct to

be

mer

ely

a re

spo

nse

to f

und

ing

?It

’s a

lso

the

cris

is o

f th

e le

ft m

ore

w

idel

y. In

the

Rea

l Est

ate

exhi

bit

ion

w

e h

ad in

the

ICA

(Lo

nd

on

, 200

5), w

e p

rese

nte

d a

pro

ject

by

Lorr

ain

e Le

eso

n

and

Pete

r D

unn

, whi

ch to

ok

pla

ce

fro

m th

e ’8

0s to

ear

ly ’9

0s c

alle

d Th

e D

ock

lan

ds

Co

mm

un

ity

Post

er P

roje

ct.

Lorr

ain

e sa

id h

erse

lf th

at s

he

wo

uld

b+b

Wild

Pla

ces

Lisl

Po

ng

er, 2

000

Trad

ing

Pla

ces,

mig

rati

on

, rep

rese

nta

tio

n, c

olla

bo

rati

on

an

d ac

tivi

sm in

co

nte

mp

ora

ry a

rt, 2

004

Ad

van

ced

Sci

ence

of M

orp

ho

log

yN

ada

Prl

ja, N

ovi

Zag

reb

, 200

6R

eun

ion

, mee

tin

g p

oin

ts b

etw

een

crit

ical

art

pra

ctic

es

fro

m s

ou

thea

st E

uro

pe

and

the

UK

Rea

l Est

ate

Bill

bo

ard

po

ster

fro

m t

he

Do

ckla

nd

s C

om

mu

nit

y P

ost

er

Pro

ject

, Pet

er D

un

n an

d Lo

rain

e Le

eso

n, 1

981-

1991

176

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

177

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

wh

o ar

e in

tere

sted

in R

om

ania

. If

you

Go

og

le ‘R

om

ania

’ in

com

bin

atio

n

wit

h ‘c

on

tem

po

rary

art

’, ‘V

ecto

r’ a

nd

‘P

erif

eric

’ will

ap

pea

r. A

nd

if yo

u ta

ke

a lo

ok

at o

ur w

ebsi

te, y

ou

’ll q

uic

kly

se

e th

e ev

ent h

as b

een

aro

und

for

abo

ut 1

0 ye

ars

no

w.

I thi

nk

we’

re th

e m

ost

org

aniz

ed s

tru

c-tu

re in

Iasi

to p

rom

ote

an

d d

ebat

e co

n-

tem

po

rary

art

. Th

ere

are

som

e o

ther

in

dep

end

ent y

oun

g g

rou

ps

of a

rtis

ts

– w

hich

is v

ery

go

od

– b

ut t

hey

do

n’t

h

ave

eno

ug

h p

ow

er to

exi

st a

s in

stit

u-

tion

s o

r to

att

ract

en

ou

gh

reso

urce

s

to d

evel

op

pro

ject

s. W

e h

ave

our

ow

n

net

wo

rk in

Ro

man

ia a

nd

abro

ad. W

e’re

co

nn

ecte

d to

dif

fere

nt s

tru

ctur

es a

nd

d

iffe

ren

t pro

ject

s. It

isn

’t ea

sy, b

ecau

se

we’

re in

a tr

ansi

tion

al p

has

e at

the

mo

men

t. U

ntil

no

w w

e’ve

rec

eive

d a

lot o

f mo

ney

fro

m a

bro

ad. W

e un

der

-st

and

that

for

futu

re d

evel

op

men

t, fo

r a

med

ium

- an

d lo

ng

-ter

m s

trat

egy,

w

e n

eed

to fi

nd

loca

l res

our

ces.

Th

e R

om

ania

n ec

on

om

y is

gro

win

g; t

her

e’s

mo

re m

on

ey a

vaila

ble

, eve

n if

it’s

no

t ea

rmar

ked

for

con

tem

po

rary

art

, an

d

we

hav

e to

fig

ht t

o at

trac

t sp

on

sors

.

We

wan

t to

con

tinu

e d

evel

op

ing

ed

uca

tion

al p

rog

ram

mes

, fo

r th

is is

w

hat

we’

ve b

een

do

ing

for

a fe

w y

ears

n

ow

. Th

e id

ea is

to s

timul

ate

an in

ter-

est,

a d

ialo

gu

e, a

nd

crea

te a

n ed

u-

cate

d au

die

nce

wh

o n

eed

s th

is k

ind

of

cult

ure.

Thi

s w

ill a

lso

enco

urag

e m

ore

so

phi

stic

ated

art

isti

c p

rod

uct

ion

. Thi

s is

imp

ort

ant a

t th

e m

om

ent,

bec

ause

af

ter

we

join

the

Euro

pea

n U

nio

n in

Ja

nu

ary

2007

, we

wo

n’t

be

rece

ivin

g

the

sam

e fu

nd

s as

we

are

no

w, t

ho

ug

h

the

tran

sitio

n w

ill t

ake

a ye

ar o

r tw

o.

We

nee

d to

un

der

stan

d ex

actl

y th

e ki

nd

s o

f mo

ney

we’

re g

oin

g to

hav

e to

ra

ise.

Pro

bab

ly lo

cal m

on

ey, f

rom

the

mun

icip

alit

y o

r fr

om

loca

l sp

on

sors

...

Th

e C

ity

Co

unci

l of I

asi h

as to

su

pp

ort

u

s –

they

can

’t re

ally

ign

ore

us.

Eve

n

if th

ey d

on

’t un

der

stan

d w

hat

we’

re

do

ing

, th

ey k

no

w w

e’re

en

han

cin

g th

e ci

ty’s

imag

e an

d b

rin

gin

g in

a lo

t of

sop

hist

icat

ed p

eop

le w

ho

are

wri

ting

ab

ou

t Ias

i.

PM

/hM

: Ho

w d

o yo

u th

ink

this

will

ch

ang

e in

lig

ht o

f Ro

man

ia jo

inin

g th

e EU

; in

oth

er w

ord

s, w

hat

imp

act w

ill

EU s

pat

ial p

olic

ies

hav

e o

n yo

ur w

ork

in

Iasi

?

Mat

ei b

ejen

aru

: I d

on

’t th

ink

ther

e’ll

be

ano

ther

EU

en

larg

emen

t to

war

ds

the

east

in th

e n

ext t

en y

ears

. An

d I d

on

’t

thin

k it

will

be

easy

to in

teg

rate

the

Rep

ub

lic o

f Mo

ldav

ia, o

n R

om

ania

’s

east

ern

bo

rder

, ju

st 2

0 ki

lom

etre

s fr

om

h

ere.

It w

ill a

lso

be

har

d fo

r U

krai

ne,

w

hich

is a

no

ther

big

nei

gh

bo

ur. B

ut

Iasi

mig

ht b

eco

me

a p

lace

of e

xch

ang

e fo

r d

iffe

ren

t str

uct

ures

an

d g

rou

ps

of a

rtis

ts fr

om

thes

e n

eig

hb

our

ing

co

untr

ies.

Mo

re m

on

ey w

ill b

eco

me

avai

lab

le, a

nd

this

will

lead

to th

e d

evel

op

men

t of i

nst

itu

tion

s an

d p

ro-

gra

mm

es r

elat

ed to

reg

ion

al c

ultu

ral

colla

bo

urat

ion

.In

200

6, w

e st

arte

d a

syst

em o

f res

i-d

enci

es, c

alle

d B

acky

ard

Res

iden

cy,

a p

roje

ct w

ith

Nov

i Sad

, Bel

gra

de,

Is

tan

bul

an

d Ia

si. T

he

aim

is to

en

cour

-ag

e re

gio

nal

mo

bili

ty a

nd

enab

le th

e ex

chan

ge

of i

dea

s, b

ecau

se it

’s im

po

r-ta

nt f

or

us

to e

stab

lish

a st

ron

ger

art

n

etw

ork

in th

e re

gio

n.

Un

fort

unat

ely,

at p

rese

nt,

we

do

n’t

kn

ow

mu

ch a

bo

ut e

ach

oth

er.

Ro

man

ian

s kn

ow

ver

y lit

tle

abo

ut

Mac

edo

nia

ns,

Bo

snia

ns

kno

w a

lmo

st

no

thin

g ab

ou

t Ro

man

ian

s, a

nd

the

Ser

bs

hav

e p

rob

ably

nev

er tr

avel

led

to

Ro

man

ia b

efo

re. B

oth

the

Bul

gar

ian

s an

d th

e R

om

ania

ns

are

focu

sin

g to

o

mu

ch o

n B

russ

els

– th

ey’r

e n

ow

in a

h

urry

to le

arn

ho

w to

eat

at t

he

sam

e ta

ble

an

d fo

llow

the

sam

e ru

les

of

etiq

uet

te a

s Eu

rop

e.

PM

/hM

: In

1997

yo

u in

itia

ted

the

Peri

feri

c –

Inte

rnat

ion

al B

ien

nia

l fo

r C

on

tem

po

rary

Art

in Ia

si. G

iven

this

p

rog

ram

mat

ic n

ame

for

a b

ien

nia

l, h

ow

can

on

e ap

pro

ach

‘per

iph

erie

s’

in th

e co

nte

xt o

f glo

bal

ized

art

p

rod

uct

ion?

Mat

ei b

ejen

aru

: Ias

i is

in n

orth

east

ern

R

om

ania

an

d h

as a

bo

ut 4

00,0

00

peo

ple

. It h

as it

s o

wn

hist

ory

, whi

ch

mig

ht b

e se

en fr

om

on

e p

ersp

ecti

ve

as a

sad

his

tory

, bec

ause

the

city

lost

ev

eryt

hin

g it

on

ce h

ad. I

t use

d to

be

the

cap

ital

of M

old

avia

. Th

e ki

ng

do

m

of M

old

avia

cam

e in

to b

ein

g in

the

Mid

dle

Ag

es a

nd

, wit

h th

e ad

ven

t of

mo

der

n tim

es, s

low

ly d

isap

pea

red

. In

th

e m

id-n

inet

een

th c

entu

ry, I

asi w

as

still

mo

re e

man

cip

ated

than

Bu

char

est.

T

he

idea

to b

uild

a m

od

ern

Ro

man

ian

st

ate

was

bo

rn in

Iasi

, an

d w

hen

it

hap

pen

ed in

the

1860

s, th

e ca

pit

al

was

mov

ed to

Bu

char

est.

It w

as th

en

that

Iasi

beg

an lo

sin

g in

flu

ence

an

d

po

wer

, an

d B

uch

ares

t beg

an g

row

ing

. R

om

ania

did

n’t

und

erg

o in

du

stri

al

dev

elo

pm

ent u

ntil

the

late

nin

etee

nth

ce

ntu

ry. B

uch

ares

t bec

ame

a la

rge

ci

ty, w

hile

Iasi

rem

ain

ed a

sm

all p

atri

-ar

chal

an

d ar

chai

c p

lace

. No

wad

ays

it’s

an

inte

rest

ing

tow

n w

ith

its

ow

n d

y-n

amic

s an

d d

iffe

ren

t lay

ers

of c

ultu

re

– b

ut i

t ob

vio

usl

y d

idn

’t h

ave

the

sam

e ch

ance

to d

evel

op

and

mo

der

niz

e it

self

as

Bu

char

est d

id. I

n m

y o

pin

ion

, rea

l m

od

ern

izat

ion

beg

an w

ith

com

mu

-n

ism

. Ias

i is

som

ewh

at is

ola

ted

and

p

rovi

nci

al, b

ut n

ot t

o th

e p

oin

t th

at

peo

ple

wan

t to

leav

e.

I stu

die

d ar

t in

Iasi

in th

e fir

st h

alf

of t

he

1990

s, a

nd

afte

r g

rad

uat

ion

o

ther

yo

ung

arti

sts

fro

m th

e ci

ty

and

I ‘in

ven

ted

’ a s

mal

l in

dep

end

ent

per

form

ance

fest

ival

, cal

led

Peri

feri

c.

Fro

m th

e ve

ry b

egin

nin

g it

was

a

pla

tfo

rm w

her

e w

e co

uld

affir

m o

ur

arti

stic

iden

tity

. In

the

first

ed

itio

ns

of

the

even

t we

org

aniz

ed p

erfo

rman

ces,

as

wel

l as

roun

d ta

ble

s an

d d

iscu

s-si

on

s ab

ou

t th

e st

atu

s o

f art

in o

ur

po

st-c

om

mun

ist c

on

text

. We

trie

d to

un

der

stan

d th

e p

ote

ntia

l of t

he

pla

ce

by

rela

ting

our

art

isti

c p

ract

ices

to th

e lo

cal s

itu

atio

n. P

erife

ric

gre

w m

ore

an

d m

ore

an

d w

as tr

ansf

orm

ed fr

om

a

loca

l fes

tiva

l to

an in

tern

atio

nal

bie

n-

nia

l of c

on

tem

po

rary

art

. In

2001

, we

foun

ded

the

Vec

tor

Ass

oci

atio

n, a

no

n-

pro

fit i

nst

itu

tion

that

no

w o

rgan

izes

th

e b

ien

nia

l, ru

ns

a n

on

-co

mm

erci

al

gal

lery

an

d p

ub

lish

es V

ecto

r M

agaz

ine.

W

ith

its

sixt

h an

d se

ven

th e

dit

ion

s,

Peri

feri

c b

ecam

e a

visi

ble

inte

rnat

ion

al

art e

ven

t in

a p

lace

that

was

alm

ost

un

kno

wn

. No

w, w

e’re

tryi

ng

to d

ecid

e w

het

her

we

sho

uld

keep

a b

ien

nia

l fo

rmat

in th

e fu

ture

or

no

t. T

her

e ar

e so

man

y b

ien

nia

ls e

very

wh

ere.

..

We’

re c

urre

ntl

y p

rep

arin

g Pe

rife

ric

8,

whi

ch w

ill b

e h

eld

in O

cto

ber

200

8. T

he

cura

tor

is D

ora

Heg

yi fr

om

Bu

dap

est,

in

itia

tor

of t

he

Free

Sch

oo

l of A

rt

Th

eory

an

d P

ract

ice.

Th

e m

ain

top

ic

will

be

‘Art

as

a G

ift’.

Per

iferi

c 8

inte

nd

s

to e

xam

ine

the

con

dit

ion

s un

der

whi

ch

art c

an b

e re

gar

ded

as

a g

ift,

and

wh

at

spec

ulat

ive

com

po

nen

ts in

flu

ence

its

real

izat

ion

and

soci

al v

alu

e.

PM

/hM

: As

an in

stit

utio

n th

e V

ecto

r A

sso

ciat

ion

pla

ys a

n im

po

rtan

t ro

le

for

the

loca

l sce

ne,

whi

le P

erife

ric

con

nec

ts Ia

si w

ith

the

inte

rnat

ion

al a

rt

circ

uit

. Giv

en th

e re

mo

ten

ess

of I

asi

in te

rms

of t

he

art w

orl

d, h

ow

has

it

bee

n p

oss

ible

to d

evel

op

such

a m

ulti

-la

yere

d st

ruct

ure?

Mat

ei b

ejen

aru

: I th

ink

it h

as d

evel

-o

ped

gra

du

ally

. Fir

st w

e es

tab

lish

ed

links

wit

h ar

tist

s w

ithi

n R

om

ania

; th

en

we

slo

wly

exp

and

ed b

y in

vitin

g ar

tist

s fr

om

eas

tern

Eur

op

e: fr

om

Hun

gar

y,

Pola

nd

, Ukr

ain

e, M

old

avia

, Bul

gar

ia

and

Turk

ey. A

fter

thre

e o

r fo

ur e

di-

tion

s, w

e’d

esta

blis

hed

a n

etw

ork

, bu

t th

at n

etw

ork

was

bas

ed o

n p

erso

nal

re

latio

nsh

ips.

Sin

ce 2

002,

I th

ink

this

n

etw

ork

has

gro

wn

du

e to

the

Vec

tor

Ass

oci

atio

n. F

or

exam

ple

, yo

u d

idn

’t

com

e h

ere

bec

ause

we

knew

eac

h

oth

er b

ut b

ecau

se y

ou

’d h

eard

ab

ou

t th

e p

roje

ct, a

bo

ut t

he

fact

that

ther

e w

as a

n in

stit

utio

n w

her

e yo

u co

uld

m

eet p

eop

le a

nd

get

info

rmat

ion

. S

ince

200

2, th

e ev

ent h

as a

cer

tain

le

vel o

f in

tern

atio

nal

vis

ibili

ty, a

nd

th

is a

ttra

cts

peo

ple

, esp

ecia

lly p

eop

le

fro

m th

e ar

t wo

rld

and

pro

fess

ion

als

Matei bejenaru

Ever

yth

ing

/ Syn

chro

nis

atio

n 02

Lau

ra H

ore

lli, 2

006

Per

ifer

ic 7

, Ias

i, M

ay 2

006

Per

ifer

ic 6

– p

rop

het

ic c

orn

ers

Op

enin

g, P

alac

e o

f Cu

ltu

re, M

ay 2

003

Ab

ou

t art

an

d th

e w

ays

we

loo

k at

th

e w

orl

d 02

H.a

rta,

200

6P

erif

eric

7 –

Fo

cuss

ing

Iasi

, In

tern

atio

nal

Bie

nn

ial f

or

Co

nte

mp

ora

ry A

rt, I

asi,

Ro

man

ia, 1

2-30

May

200

6

Wh

y C

hild

ren

Cu

rate

d b

y A

ttila

To

rdai

Per

ifer

ic 7

, Sp

ort

s H

all o

f th

e A

rts

Un

iver

sity

, Ias

i, M

ay 2

006

178

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

179

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

PM

/hM

: As

an a

rtis

t an

d cu

rato

r w

ho

h

as b

een

livin

g an

d w

ork

ing

in R

io

de

Jan

eiro

for

man

y ye

ars,

ho

w d

o

you

feel

ab

ou

t th

e cu

rren

t in

tere

st in

B

razi

lian

fave

las

in te

rms

of s

oci

al

and

po

litic

al s

elf-

org

aniz

atio

n?

hel

mu

t b

atis

ta: F

or

me

the

fave

las

are

just

an

oth

er p

art o

f th

e ci

ty, l

ike

Co

pac

aban

a B

each

. Bu

t un

fort

unat

ely

they

are

no

t in

fact

rea

lly a

par

t of i

t.

You

wo

n’t

find

them

on

map

s, e

ven

to

day

, in

2007

. I th

ink

mo

st p

eop

le w

ho

ar

e liv

ing

in th

ese

pla

ces

no

wad

ays

do

n’t

thin

k o

f th

emse

lves

as

livin

g

in a

fave

la b

ut f

eel t

hey

live

in a

co

m-

mun

ity.

Th

ere

are

600

fave

las

in R

io

alo

ne.

Th

ere

are

‘bad

’ an

d ‘g

oo

d’

fave

las;

so

me

even

hav

e b

anks

an

d

McD

on

ald

s. S

om

e h

ave

no

vio

len

ce

at a

ll an

d o

ther

s ar

e re

ally

vio

len

t.

Th

e p

olic

e ca

n’t

go

into

man

y o

f th

em;

ther

e ar

e o

nly

a fe

w w

her

e th

ey c

an.

So

ther

e’s

a w

ide

ran

ge

of c

on

cep

ts

for

com

mun

itie

s an

d sm

all t

ow

ns

that

o

rgan

ize

them

selv

es.

Th

e fa

vela

‘Rio

das

Ped

ras’

is o

ne

of t

he

bes

t exa

mp

les

of s

elf-

orga

niza

tion

. An

d

yet t

he

bo

dy

that

kee

ps

it un

der

con

tro

l ar

e m

iliti

a m

ade

up

of e

x-p

olic

emen

, an

d th

ey’v

e ta

ken

just

ice

into

thei

r

ow

n h

and

s. T

hey

’re

no

w b

uild

ing

th

emse

lves

up

into

a s

ort

of p

aram

ili-

tary

forc

e lik

e in

Co

lom

bia

, th

ou

gh

in

a ve

ry d

iffe

ren

t fo

rmat

. In

thes

e p

lace

s

ever

ybo

dy

pay

s a

cou

ple

of r

eais

per

m

on

th fo

r a

vari

ety

of s

ervi

ces,

for

exam

ple

, to

hav

e th

e p

ost

del

iver

ed to

th

eir

ho

mes

. Oft

en th

ere

are

no

stre

et

nam

es, s

o th

e p

ost

man

has

to t

ake

the

po

st to

the

mai

n co

mm

unit

y h

ead

qu

ar-

ters

an

d fr

om

ther

e p

eop

le h

ave

to

dis

trib

ute

it th

emse

lves

. An

d al

tho

ug

h

this

sys

tem

is v

ery

chea

p, it

rev

erse

s th

e co

nce

pt o

f eve

ryth

ing

. It’

s a

very

am

big

uo

us

way

of t

hin

kin

g o

f th

e ci

ty.

You

’re

par

t an

d yo

u’r

e n

ot p

art o

f it.

Th

en th

ere

are

thin

gs

like

elec

tric

ity:

th

e p

ub

lic e

lect

rici

ty c

om

pan

y ch

arg

es

a lo

t in

Bra

zil;

I’ve

read

we

pay

mo

re

than

peo

ple

do

in F

ran

ce o

r G

erm

any.

Pe

op

le in

the

fave

las

use

ele

ctri

city

fr

om

the

syst

em w

ith

ou

t pay

ing

. T

her

e’s

som

ethi

ng

like

an u

nco

nsc

iou

s sy

stem

of w

ealt

h d

istr

ibu

tion

: ric

h

peo

ple

pay

larg

e am

oun

ts to

cov

er

serv

ices

to a

lmo

st e

very

on

e el

se; p

oo

r p

eop

le h

ave

to s

iph

on

off

ele

ctri

city

an

d w

ater

just

for

the

sake

of s

urvi

vin

g.

Th

ey a

lso

do

n’t

pay

any

kin

d o

f tax

es,

for

inst

ance

pro

per

ty t

axes

. T

his

has

a b

ig in

flu

ence

on

cert

ain

as

pec

ts o

f th

e fa

vela

s an

d h

ow

they

’re

bu

ilt. I

f yo

u d

on

’t p

ay fo

r el

ectr

icit

y,

you

bu

ild y

our

ho

use

just

wit

h a

ho

le

for

the

air

con

dit

ion

er. S

o m

ost

of

thes

e p

lace

s ar

e ve

ry d

ark

and

the

stre

ets

are

very

nar

row

, bec

ause

they

d

on

’t re

ally

nee

d d

aylig

ht.

Wh

at’s

m

ore

, if y

ou

hav

e an

air

co

nd

itio

ner

, yo

u w

ant t

o ke

ep e

very

thin

g cl

ose

d.

So

the

fact

that

ele

ctri

city

is ‘f

ree’

m

akes

the

arch

itec

ture

co

mp

lete

ly d

if-

fere

nt.

Th

e b

uild

ing

s ar

e ve

ry c

lose

to

each

oth

er a

nd

oft

en h

ave

no

win

do

ws

or

nat

ural

ven

tilat

ion

. If p

eop

le s

ud

-d

enly

had

to p

ay fo

r el

ectr

icit

y, m

ost

fa

vela

s w

oul

d tu

rn in

to u

nin

hab

itab

le

pla

ces

– th

ey’d

be

too

ho

t to

live

in.

PM

/hM

: In

on

e o

f yo

ur r

ecen

t cu

rato

rial

pro

ject

s yo

u in

vite

oth

er

arti

sts

to tr

avel

wit

h yo

u ac

ross

So

uth

A

mer

ica.

Yo

ur c

ar b

eco

mes

a p

lace

o

f art

pro

du

ctio

n. A

par

t fro

m th

at, i

t

also

exp

ose

s th

e ro

le o

f in

timac

y in

n

etw

ork

ing

pro

cess

es. W

hat

do

you

ex

pec

t fro

m th

ese

kin

ds

of e

nco

unte

rs?

hel

mu

t b

atis

ta: I

’m in

tere

sted

in b

uild

-in

g up

net

wor

ks. I

thin

k th

e on

ly w

ay

for

chan

ges

to h

app

en in

pla

ces

like

Rio

d

e Ja

nei

ro is

by

esta

blis

hin

g ex

chan

ges

b

etw

een

inte

rnat

ion

al a

rtis

ts. I

sta

rted

th

e R

OA

D p

roje

ct w

ith

this

inte

ntio

n in

m

ind

. Eac

h tim

e I m

ake

a tr

ip I

invi

te a

n

artis

t. A

m I

a cu

rato

r? A

ctua

lly, I

don

’t

know

wha

t I a

m. I

invi

te p

eop

le w

ho

se

wor

k I l

ike

and

wit

h w

ho

m I

can

im-

agin

e ha

vin

g a

go

od

per

son

al r

elat

ion

-

ship

. Th

ese

trip

s ar

e ve

ry in

timat

e an

d

we

oft

en s

tay

lon

ger

than

a m

onth

to-

get

her

, nig

ht a

nd

day

. We

star

t th

e tr

ip

wit

h th

e in

ten

tion

of d

oin

g so

met

hin

g

that

mig

ht s

eem

like

wor

k; th

is d

oes

n

ot n

eces

sari

ly m

ean

that

we’

ll en

d up

w

orki

ng

. Th

en w

e g

o fr

om

on

e p

lace

to

the

nex

t an

d se

e w

hat h

app

ens.

Bu

t it’

s n

ot o

nly

ab

ou

t geo

gra

phi

cal

dis

loca

tion

. It’

s al

so a

bo

ut h

ow

we

reac

t to

new

sit

uat

ion

s. It

’s a

bo

ut d

is-

cuss

ion

s yo

u d

on

’t u

sual

ly h

ave

dur

ing

yo

ur n

orm

al li

fe a

nd

wo

rkin

g tim

e. It

’s

no

t ab

ou

t ho

ldin

g m

eetin

gs

for

two

h

our

s in

a c

off

ee b

ar w

ith

a cu

rato

r.

We

are

tog

eth

er 2

4 h

our

s a

day

an

d

shar

e al

l our

exp

erie

nce

s. M

eetin

g

dif

fere

nt p

eop

le w

hile

trav

ellin

g is

su

rely

a b

ig p

art o

f it a

ll an

d m

akes

ev

eryt

hin

g m

ore

po

ssib

le a

nd

un-

con

tro

l lab

le. I

t’s

this

un

con

tro

llab

le

asp

ect t

hat

mo

tiva

tes

us

to c

arry

ou

t th

is p

roje

ct. Y

ou

just

do

n’t

kno

w w

hat

yo

u’ll

fin

d an

d w

ho

m y

ou

’ll t

alk

to. S

o

crea

ting

a n

etw

ork

is ju

st a

sid

e ef

fect

th

at h

app

ens

pre

tty

nat

ural

ly.

An

imp

ort

ant p

art o

f th

ese

trip

s is

the

des

ire

to b

uild

up

a S

ou

th A

mer

ican

re

sid

ency

pro

gra

mm

e an

d n

etw

ork

for

rese

arch

. Th

ou

gh

no

t ju

st fo

r vi

sual

art

, b

ut f

or

rese

arch

in g

ener

al.

So

far

we

hav

e m

ade

six

trip

s. M

y ca

r w

as c

on

fisc

ated

on

my

fift

h tr

ip w

ith

G

abri

el L

este

r, at

the

bo

rder

bet

wee

n

Peru

an

d Ec

uad

or.

Pap

er p

rob

lem

s an

d

corr

up

t po

lice

mad

e m

e lo

se th

e ca

r,

and

fro

m th

at m

om

ent o

n I h

ad to

re-

thin

k ev

eryt

hin

g. T

he

last

pro

ject

, Per

u

to M

edel

lin, w

as d

on

e w

ith

the

hel

p

of M

ED 0

7 (e

ncu

entr

os

de

Med

ellin

) w

ith

arti

sts

Julia

Ro

met

ti an

d V

icto

r C

ost

ales

an

d a

ren

ted

car.

In M

ay 2

007,

a

year

aft

er th

e co

nfi

scat

ion

and

a ye

ar

of s

tru

gg

ling

wit

h Pe

ruvi

an a

uth

ori

ties,

I r

ecei

ved

no

tice

that

ther

e w

as n

oth

-in

g to

be

do

ne

and

my

car

was

no

w

pro

per

ty o

f th

e Pe

ruvi

an g

over

nm

ent.

It

’s f

unny

an

d st

up

id a

t th

e sa

me

time.

It

was

a F

IAT,

bu

t th

ere

are

no

FIA

Ts in

Pe

ru, a

nd

the

car

was

in u

rgen

t nee

d o

f

rep

airs

. So

I gu

ess

it w

ill ju

st r

ust

aw

ay in

so

me

dep

ot i

n Pe

ru.

Sin

ce b

egin

nin

g in

200

4, w

e’ve

bee

n

to A

rgen

tina,

Chi

le, B

oliv

ia, P

eru

an

d Ec

uad

or.

I alw

ays

leav

e m

y ca

r w

her

ever

we

sto

p an

d th

en ju

st fl

y b

ack

wit

h th

e ar

tist

. Un

til n

ow

on

ly

two

of t

he

arti

sts

hav

e ac

tual

ly d

on

e a

pie

ce: J

oão

Mo

dé,

wh

ose

wo

rked

w

e sh

ow

ed a

t th

e R

io F

ilm F

esti

val i

n

2006

, an

d d

urin

g th

e la

st tr

ip (

Peru

to

Med

ellin

) we

finis

hed

up

a p

roje

ct w

ith

Ju

lia R

om

etti.

I’m

no

t in

tere

sted

in

hav

ing

an a

gen

da.

It’s

mo

re a

bo

ut t

he

helmut batista

Cél

ula

Urb

ana

do

Jaca

rezi

nh

oO

pen

ing

of a

med

ia a

nd

info

rmat

ion

cen

tre

in J

acar

ezin

ho

, in

itia

ted

by

Bau

hau

s D

essa

u Fo

un

dat

ion

and

the

mu

nic

ipal

ity

of R

io d

e Ja

nei

ro, 2

004

RO

AD

pro

ject

Mo

bile

res

iden

cy, o

ng

oin

gC

élu

la U

rban

a d

o Ja

care

zin

ho

Rio

de

Jan

eiro

, 200

4

180

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

181

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

exp

erie

nce

we

hav

e to

get

her

. Th

ere’

s n

o co

nce

pt f

or

an e

xhib

itio

n at

the

end

. I j

ust

do

a lo

t of k

ilom

etre

s an

d ta

ke

a lo

ok

at w

hat

’s h

app

enin

g at

thes

e p

lace

s an

d tr

y to

bu

ild u

p co

nn

ec-

tion

s. W

e h

ave

alre

ady

succ

eed

ed in

b

rin

gin

g so

me

Arg

entin

ean

s, C

hile

ans

and

Co

lom

bia

ns

to R

io. N

ow

so

me

Peru

vian

s ar

e co

min

g. S

o it

’s a

lon

g,

stea

dy

and

gen

tle

wo

rk-i

n-p

rog

ress

. I c

all i

t th

e m

ob

ile r

esid

ency

pro

-g

ram

me,

act

ual

ly.

PM

/hM

: Th

e n

etw

ork

s yo

u d

evel

op

ar

e cr

itic

ally

info

rmed

by

the

crea

tivi

ty

of p

erso

nal

frie

nd

ship

s, w

hile

at t

he

sam

e tim

e lin

kin

g u

p w

ith

inst

itu

tion

al

sett

ing

s an

d th

eir

dem

and

s. H

ow

do

yo

u m

anag

e to

neg

otia

te th

e te

nsi

on

b

etw

een

thes

e d

iffe

ren

t en

ds?

hel

mu

t b

atis

ta: I

n R

io th

ing

s h

ave

to

be

org

anic

. No

thin

g h

app

ens

her

e if

yo

u d

on

’t es

tab

lish

frie

nd

ly c

on

nec

-tio

ns.

Act

ual

ly, t

hat

’s h

ow

I d

o th

ing

s,

too

. On

thes

e tr

ips

I’m n

ot i

nte

rest

ed in

just

pu

ttin

g to

get

her

sh

ow

s. P

rim

arily

I’m

inte

rest

ed in

get

ting

to k

no

w

the

rig

ht p

eop

le in

a p

erso

nal

sen

se.

If th

e w

ork

is a

lso

nic

e, w

e h

ave

a p

erfe

ct b

len

d.

Co

min

g b

ack

to th

e in

stit

utio

nal

leve

l:

I gu

ess

I hav

e to

defi

ne

mys

elf a

s a

cura

tor.

Th

ou

gh

this

is ju

st te

rmin

-o

log

y. F

or

me

the

qu

estio

n h

ere

is th

e ch

alle

ng

e to

pro

du

ce s

om

ethi

ng

in

dif

fere

nt c

on

text

s. I

invi

te s

om

ebo

dy

to d

o th

is a

nd

then

we

wri

te a

ll th

ese

bur

eau

crat

ic p

aper

s to

foun

dat

ion

s

so th

at th

ey’ll

pay

for

it o

r at

leas

t h

elp

us.

Th

e ar

t sys

tem

just

en

able

s yo

u to

mee

t th

e ri

gh

t peo

ple

an

d

rais

e so

me

mo

ney

. T

hin

gs

mov

e ve

ry fa

st n

ow

aday

s.

Art

ists

an

d cu

rato

rs h

op

fro

m o

ne

ex

hib

itio

n to

the

oth

er in

a m

atte

r o

f a

few

day

s, e

ven

ho

urs.

Wh

at w

e ar

e d

oin

g h

ere

is p

rett

y m

uch

the

op

-p

osi

te. T

her

e’s

so m

uch

tim

e fo

r re

al

exp

erie

nce

. Thi

s is

a lu

xury

co

mp

ared

to

the

way

thin

gs

are

do

ne

in th

e in

stit

utio

nal

wo

rld

of g

alle

ries

an

d

mu

seu

ms.

Aft

er r

ealiz

ing

six

pro

ject

s in

thre

e ye

ars,

I th

ink

it’s

all

com

ing

to

get

her

to fo

rm s

om

ethi

ng

that

mig

ht

be

calle

d o

ne

pro

ject

, so

met

hin

g th

at

stan

ds

on

its

ow

n. D

oin

g th

is is

als

o a

po

litic

al g

estu

re, a

nd

the

ges

ture

itse

lf

is p

art o

f th

e d

islo

catio

n an

d d

evel

op

-m

ent o

f net

wo

rks

that

is s

o im

po

rtan

t.

Th

e q

ues

tion

no

w is

: W

ho

’s g

oin

g to

pay

for

my

lost

car

?

No

foun

dat

ion

will

do

that

, I g

ues

s.

PM

/hM

: PR

OEK

T_FA

BR

IKA

is o

ne

of t

he

mo

st e

xcep

tion

al c

on

tem

po

r-ar

y ar

t sp

aces

in M

osc

ow

. Can

yo

u

tell

us

abo

ut y

our

invo

lvem

ent i

n it

s fo

rmat

ion?

Asy

a fi

lipp

ova

: Wel

l, I’m

the

dir

ec-

tor

of t

he

fact

ory

, an

d th

is fa

cto

ry is

a

bit

dif

fere

nt f

rom

oth

er a

rt s

pac

es in

M

osc

ow

. Mo

st s

uch

fact

ori

es a

re n

o

lon

ger

fun

ctio

nin

g p

rod

uct

ion

site

s,

bu

t our

fact

ory

still

pro

duce

s te

chni

cal

pap

er. I

t’s

still

in o

per

atio

n, t

ho

ug

h

of c

our

se it

’s v

ery

dif

fere

nt f

rom

in

Sov

iet t

imes

, bec

ause

bac

k th

en th

e fa

cto

ry w

as q

uit

e h

ug

e an

d m

assi

ve,

and

sup

plie

d p

aper

to a

ll o

f Eas

tern

Eu

rop

e –

Pola

nd

, Cze

cho

slov

akia

, Y

ug

osl

avia

an

d o

ther

so

cial

ist c

oun

-tr

ies.

No

wad

ays

we

pro

du

ce v

ery

spe-

cial

kin

ds

of p

aper

an

d o

nly

for

Ru

ssia

. A

nyw

ay, p

rod

uct

ion

was

red

uce

d,

and

man

y sp

aces

, mai

nly

ind

ust

rial

w

ork

sho

ps,

bec

ame

vaca

nt.

An

d th

en

ther

e w

as th

e fa

ct th

at, b

esid

es b

ein

g

the

dir

ecto

r o

f th

e fa

cto

ry, I

’ve

lots

o

f fri

end

s am

on

g ar

tist

s an

d g

alle

ry

ow

ner

s. S

o o

ne

day

I re

aliz

ed I

mig

ht

be

able

to o

ffer

a s

pac

e fo

r cu

ltur

al

pro

ject

s lik

e ex

hib

itio

ns.

Init

ially

, to

be

ho

nes

t wit

h yo

u, m

y id

ea w

as q

uit

e m

od

est.

I ju

st in

ten

ded

to o

pen

a s

pac

e w

her

e m

y fr

ien

ds

coul

d h

ave

pri

vate

ex

hib

itio

ns

of c

on

tem

po

rary

art

. I

invi

ted

Elen

a K

up

rin

a, w

ho

run

s h

er

ow

n g

alle

ry, E

.K. A

rtB

urea

u, to

co

me

take

a lo

ok

at th

e sp

ace.

Sh

e sa

id, ‘

Yes,

it

wo

uld

be

fine

for

exhi

bit

ion

s.’ S

o w

e o

pen

ed in

Jan

uar

y 20

05, w

hile

the

first

M

osc

ow

Bie

nn

ale

of C

on

tem

po

rary

A

rt w

as t

akin

g p

lace

. We

star

ted

wit

h

a sp

ecia

l pro

ject

cal

led

No

Co

mm

ent,

an e

xhib

itio

n o

f yo

ung

Ru

ssia

n ar

tist

s.

An

d th

en th

e p

roje

ct a

ctu

ally

sta

rted

to

dev

elo

p an

d g

row

on

its

ow

n. N

ot

that

I p

lan

ned

it th

at w

ay; i

t was

no

t m

y st

rate

gy

to in

vite

thea

tre

peo

ple

o

r m

usi

cian

s o

r ar

chit

ects

. Bu

t peo

ple

b

egan

co

min

g an

d w

ere

inte

rest

ed in

the

spac

es w

e h

ad. I

n S

ovie

t tim

es, f

or

inst

ance

, it w

as c

om

mo

n p

ract

ice

for

ever

y p

lan

t an

d ev

ery

fact

ory

to h

ave

a cl

ub

for

wo

rker

s, s

o-c

alle

d Pa

lace

s o

f Cul

ture

. So

we

also

had

this

Pal

ace

of C

ultu

re, a

nd

on

e d

ay I

invi

ted

Elen

a Tu

pys

eva

over

– s

he’

s th

e d

irec

tor

of

the

con

tem

po

rary

dan

ce c

om

pan

y Ts

ekh,

a w

ell-

kno

wn

agen

cy in

Ru

ssia

,

spo

nso

red

by

the

Ford

Fo

und

atio

n. I

sh

ow

ed h

er th

is s

pac

e, o

ur P

alac

e o

f C

ultu

re, a

nd

she

dec

ided

to r

enov

ate

it an

d tu

rn it

into

a v

enu

e fo

r co

nte

m-

po

rary

dan

ce a

nd

con

cert

s. It

sta

rted

to g

row

all

by

itse

lf –

we

just

sel

ecte

d

peo

ple

wit

h si

mila

r id

eas,

sim

ilar

pre

fere

nce

s, a

nd

so o

n.

Th

en, l

ast s

um

mer

the

Ford

Fo

un-

dat

ion

invi

ted

us

to N

ew Y

ork

. We

wen

t th

ere

and

too

k p

art i

n a

wo

rksh

op

ca

lled

‘Su

stai

nab

le A

rt S

pac

es’,

and

th

at’s

wh

en I

und

erst

oo

d th

at w

e w

ere

pro

bab

ly a

su

stai

nab

le a

rt s

pac

e, to

o.

In th

e fir

st y

ear,

may

be

a h

und

red

p

eop

le c

ame

to s

ee th

e ex

hib

itio

n an

d

abo

ut t

en p

eop

le r

ang

me

up

fro

m ti

me

to ti

me

to a

sk a

bo

ut m

y p

lan

s, b

ut b

y n

o m

ean

s d

id e

very

bo

dy

in M

osc

ow

kn

ow

ab

ou

t us.

An

d th

en s

ud

den

ly a

fe

w m

on

ths

ago,

I re

aliz

ed I

was

bei

ng

lit

eral

ly in

und

ated

wit

h o

ffer

s, q

ues

-tio

ns

and

idea

s, w

hich

may

mea

n th

is

is th

e ri

gh

t mo

men

t to

mov

e o

n to

the

nex

t lev

el.

PM

/hM

: Ho

w is

PR

OEK

T_FA

BR

IKA

co

nn

ecte

d to

pla

ces

ou

tsid

e M

osc

ow

?

Asy

a fi

lipp

ova

: Wel

l, u

sual

ly e

very

-th

ing

is c

on

cen

trat

ed in

Mo

sco

w

itse

lf. T

her

e ar

en’t

so m

any

con

-te

mp

ora

ry a

rtis

ts li

vin

g in

, I d

on

’t

kno

w...

Sar

atov

or

Vo

ron

ezh

. Man

y

arti

sts

cam

e h

ere

qu

ite

som

e tim

e ag

o an

d ar

e n

ow

wo

rkin

g h

ere

in

Mo

sco

w, w

hich

mea

ns

we

mo

stly

d

eal w

ith

peo

ple

fro

m M

osc

ow

an

d

St.

Pet

ersb

urg

. Th

ou

gh

som

etim

es w

e h

ave

join

t pro

ject

s w

ith

the

Nat

ion

al

Asya filippova

Glo

bal

Ph

oto

Pro

ject

Ivar

Svi

esti

ns,

16

-26

Jun

e 20

06P

roek

t Fab

rika

A c

on

tem

po

rary

art

s co

mp

lex

occ

up

yin

g d

isu

sed

par

ts

of a

tec

hn

ical

pap

er f

acto

ry in

eas

tern

Mo

sco

w, 2

006

Cél

ula

Urb

ana

do

Jaca

rezi

nh

oR

io d

e Ja

nei

ro, 2

004

182

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

183

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

Inst

itu

te o

f Co

nte

mp

ora

ry A

rt a

nd

the

Nat

ion

al C

entr

e o

f Co

nte

mp

ora

ry A

rt.

Th

ey a

rran

ge

year

ly fe

stiv

als

of y

oun

g

arti

sts

and

eng

age

arti

sts

fro

m a

ll ov

er R

uss

ia, b

ecau

se th

ey h

ave

som

e d

epar

tmen

ts a

nd

rep

rese

nta

tive

s in

o

ther

tow

ns

and

reg

ion

s o

f Ru

ssia

. In

o

ther

wo

rds,

they

’re

in a

po

sitio

n to

se

t up

such

a n

etw

ork

, an

d it

enab

les

us

to c

olla

bo

rate

wit

h p

eop

le fr

om

o

uts

ide

Mo

sco

w. R

egar

din

g fo

reig

n

arti

sts,

wel

l, it

’s a

bso

lute

ly a

bsu

rd a

nd

st

ran

ge,

bu

t it’

s ea

sier

for

us

to d

eal

wit

h ar

tist

s fr

om

Ger

man

y, H

olla

nd

o

r S

wed

en th

an w

ith

arti

sts

fro

m

oth

er p

arts

of R

uss

ia, b

ecau

se th

e re

st o

f Ru

ssia

is c

om

ple

tely

dif

fere

nt

fro

m M

osc

ow

– a

ctu

ally

Ru

ssia

has

tw

o co

mp

lete

ly s

epar

ate

par

ts. I

n

Jun

e 20

07, I

was

at t

he

Tran

s Eu

rop

e H

alle

s m

eetin

g in

Viln

ius,

an

d I’m

no

w

thin

kin

g ab

ou

t jo

inin

g th

is n

etw

ork

of

ind

epen

den

t cul

ture

cen

tres

.

PM

/hM

: Giv

en th

e ec

on

om

ic b

oo

m o

f b

usi

nes

s d

evel

op

men

ts in

cen

tral

loca

-tio

ns

in M

osc

ow

, do

such

exp

erim

enta

l an

d hy

bri

d sp

aces

hav

e a

futu

re?

Asy

a fi

lipp

ova

: Wel

l, I d

on

’t th

ink

we’

ll b

e ab

le to

co

ntin

ue

pro

du

cin

g

tech

nic

al p

aper

s fo

r an

oth

er 2

0 ye

ars.

I d

on

’t th

ink

that

has

a f

utu

re, b

ecau

se

it’s

pur

e m

adn

ess

to tr

y to

pro

du

ce

anyt

hin

g in

the

cen

tre

of M

osc

ow

.

At t

he

mo

men

t our

pre

mis

es in

clu

de

thre

e d

iffe

ren

t kin

ds

of a

reas

: on

e ar

ea

is p

rod

uct

ion

itse

lf; t

he

seco

nd

area

co

nsi

sts

of s

o-c

alle

d cu

ltur

al s

pac

es;

and

the

thir

d, o

ffice

s fo

r re

nt –

this

is

the

com

mer

cial

sec

tor.

In th

e fu

ture

, I t

hin

k p

rod

uct

ion

will

be

relo

cate

d

away

fro

m h

ere,

whi

le th

e so

-cal

led

cu

ltur

al s

ecto

r w

ill g

row

an

d d

evel

op

. N

ever

thel

ess,

ther

e w

ill s

till b

e en

ou

gh

sp

ace

ren

ted

ou

t to

pay

the

bill

s, s

pac

e fo

r an

ybo

dy

wh

o w

ants

to c

om

e h

ere

and

wis

hes

to r

ent s

om

e o

ffice

s fo

r th

eir

bu

sin

ess.

.. o

r fo

r o

ther

co

mm

er-

cial

pur

po

ses.

Any

bo

dy

can

com

e h

ere

and

ren

t a s

pac

e, b

ut o

f co

urse

I p

refe

r to

dea

l wit

h p

eop

le w

ho

are

con

nec

ted

w

ith

crea

tive

ind

ust

ries

– a

rt, a

dve

r-ti

sin

g, p

ho

tog

rap

hy, c

inem

a. In

the

pas

t few

mo

nth

s a

lot o

f peo

ple

hav

e as

ked

abo

ut s

pac

es fo

r fil

m s

tud

ios,

fo

r ex

amp

le, m

ayb

e th

is w

ill b

e a

new

b

ran

ch. T

ho

ug

h th

ere

will

alw

ays

be

two

par

ts, o

ne

for

cult

ural

act

ivit

ies,

and

ano

ther

for

com

mer

cial

offi

ces

and

spac

es fo

r le

ase

– fo

r al

l th

ose

w

ho

enjo

y b

ein

g ar

ou

nd

peo

ple

wh

o

are

dif

fere

nt t

han

they

are

, peo

ple

wh

o

dan

ce, s

ing

and

mak

e in

stal

latio

ns.

PM

/hM

: Is

ther

e a

net

wo

rk o

f co

llab

-o

ratio

ns

or

do

the

dif

fere

nt k

ind

s o

f p

eop

le w

ho

hav

e id

eas

for

cert

ain

p

roje

cts

com

pet

e w

ith

on

e an

oth

er?

Asy

a fi

lipp

ova

: I w

oul

dn

’t sa

y th

ey

com

pet

e al

l th

at m

uch

, no

t rea

lly.

I was

afr

aid

it w

oul

d b

e co

mp

etit

ive,

b

ut I

do

n’t

thin

k th

at’s

the

case

at

the

mo

men

t. I

do

n’t

kno

w a

bo

ut t

he

futu

re, b

ut I

’ve

hea

rd s

om

e sa

y th

ere

isn

’t en

ou

gh

con

tem

po

rary

art

an

d

cult

ure

in M

osc

ow

, no

t en

ou

gh

for

the

nu

mb

er o

f sp

aces

, bu

t I d

on

’t kn

ow

. C

om

pet

itio

n d

oes

n’t

exis

t yet

, bec

ause

p

eop

le fr

om

, let

’s s

ay, W

inza

vod

or

AR

TS

trel

ka c

ome

by, t

oo, a

nd w

e co

m-

mun

icat

e an

d ex

chan

ge

idea

s. A

nd

if

an a

rtis

t fro

m A

RT

Str

elka

nee

ds

a sp

ace

for

a st

ud

io, t

hen

his

or

her

man

-ag

er o

r g

alle

ry o

wn

er s

end

s th

e ar

tist

to

me,

whi

ch m

ean

s ar

tist

s co

me

her

e an

d if

I can

off

er th

em s

om

ethi

ng

then

I d

o. I

wo

uld

no

t cal

l thi

s a

net

wo

rk, b

ut

it’s

ab

ou

t co

nta

ct, t

ho

ug

h th

en a

gai

n,

a ve

ry li

mit

ed n

um

ber

of p

eop

le is

in

volv

ed. E

very

bo

dy

kno

ws

ever

ybo

dy

else

, eve

ry g

alle

ry o

wn

er k

no

ws

all t

he

oth

ers,

an

d ev

ery

cult

ural

man

ager

in

Mo

sco

w k

no

ws

mo

st o

f th

e o

ther

s,

too

. We

com

mun

icat

e an

d co

llab

ora

te,

mo

re o

r le

ss. I

sh

oul

d al

so m

entio

n

that

our

fact

ory

is d

iffe

ren

t fro

m o

ther

ar

t cen

tres

– fr

om

the

star

t it w

as n

ot

con

ceiv

ed a

s a

com

mer

cial

en

terp

rise

. M

ayb

e it

wo

uld

be

bet

ter

to b

e as

wel

l p

lan

ned

an

d co

mm

erci

al a

s so

me

of

the

oth

er s

pac

es, b

ut w

e ar

e ju

st c

om

-p

lete

ly d

iffe

ren

t.

PM

/hM

: Do

you

thin

k th

at th

e ae

sth

et-

ics

of t

his

com

ple

x p

lay

a ro

le in

ho

w

arti

sts

feel

wh

en th

ey c

om

e to

yo

ur

pla

ce, o

r ar

e yo

u th

inki

ng

of r

enov

atin

g

the

bu

ildin

g to

en

han

ce th

e cu

ltur

al

app

eal o

f th

e lo

catio

n?

Asy

a fi

lipp

ova

: Wel

l, o

f co

urse

, I h

op

e p

eop

le a

re in

tere

sted

in o

ur s

ite.

Bu

t I a

lso

kno

w lo

ts o

f peo

ple

co

me

and

ta

ke a

loo

k at

our

bu

ildin

gs,

an

d ar

e ei

ther

sh

ock

ed o

r lo

st –

so

I hav

e m

ixed

fe

elin

gs

abo

ut i

t all.

Th

ou

gh

I mys

elf

like

thin

gs

ho

w th

ey a

re. I

like

the

ap-

pea

l of t

his

site

an

d th

e p

eop

le w

ho

w

ork

an

d liv

e h

ere,

an

d th

ey li

ke it

too,

th

ou

gh

som

etim

es, t

hey

co

me

and

ask

me:

‘Wel

l, A

sya,

are

n’t

you

pla

nn

ing

to

ren

ovat

e th

e b

uild

ing

s af

ter

all?

Wh

en

is it

go

ing

to h

app

en?’

So,

yes

, th

ere’

s a

spec

ial a

tmo

sph

ere,

I kn

ow

this

an

d

they

kn

ow

it a

s w

ell,

bu

t it d

oes

n’t

m

ean

it w

ill a

lway

s re

mai

n th

is w

ay. O

f co

urse

we

will

ren

ovat

e so

me

thin

gs,

b

ut I

ho

pe

the

ori

gin

al a

rchi

tect

ure

will

no

t be

ruin

ed b

y p

last

ic s

idin

g,

bu

sin

ess-

cen

tre

arch

itec

ture

, an

d th

e sp

irit

will

rem

ain

the

sam

e.

Pri

nti

ng

offi

ce o

f th

e p

aper

fac

tory

wh

ich

h

ou

ses

Pro

ekt F

abri

ka, M

osc

ow

, 200

6P

roek

t Fab

rika

, Mo

sco

w, 2

006

Form

er P

alac

e o

f Cu

ltu

re (

wo

rker

s’ c

lub

), n

ow

use

d

by

the

con

tem

po

rary

dan

ce c

om

pan

y Ts

ekh

, 200

6P

roek

t Fab

rika

, Mo

sco

w, 2

006

184

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

185

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

or

resi

stan

ce g

rou

ps.

I w

ork

on

thes

e is

sues

bec

ause

I w

oul

d lik

e to

su

pp

ort

th

e g

rou

ps

and

thei

r st

rug

gle

s, a

nd

I t

hin

k th

e b

est f

orm

of s

up

po

rt I

can

o

ffer

is b

y d

oin

g th

is w

ork

an

d m

akin

g

it av

aila

ble

no

t on

ly to

peo

ple

wh

o

see

exhi

bit

ion

s o

r vi

sit fi

lm fe

stiv

als,

b

ut a

lso

to a

ctiv

ists

, wh

o ar

e u

su-

ally

ver

y in

tere

sted

in le

arn

ing

abo

ut

oth

er a

ctiv

ists

’ str

ateg

ies

and

exp

eri-

ence

s, o

nes

that

mig

ht a

ffec

t th

eir

ow

n

stra

teg

ies.

I wo

rked

tog

eth

er w

ith

Dar

io A

zzel

lini

on

two

film

s ab

ou

t Ven

ezu

ela.

Our

co

n-

cep

ts w

ere

in b

oth

cas

es s

o cl

ear

and

ac

cess

ible

that

eve

n p

eop

le w

ho

did

n’t

h

ave

kno

wle

dg

e ab

ou

t co

nte

mp

ora

ry

art u

nd

erst

oo

d an

d va

lued

them

. Man

y su

pp

ort

ers

of t

he

Bo

livar

ian

pro

cess

u

se o

ur fi

lms

for

edu

catio

n an

d m

o-

bili

zatio

n in

thei

r co

mm

unit

ies,

an

d

for

me

it is

an

imp

ort

ant a

spec

t th

at

the

film

s I’v

e re

aliz

ed a

re b

ein

g u

sed

by

the

very

act

ivis

ts w

ith

ou

t wh

om

it

wo

uld

no

t hav

e b

een

po

ssib

le to

mak

e th

em. F

or

exam

ple

, th

e fil

m V

enez

uel

a fr

om

Bel

ow

, our

firs

t co

llab

ora

tive

fil

m o

n V

enez

uel

a fr

om

200

4, is

no

w

also

bei

ng

dis

trib

ute

d o

n th

e b

lack

m

arke

t in

Car

acas

. Yo

u ca

n b

uy

the

DV

D th

ere

for

less

than

a e

uro

. Fo

r so

meo

ne

wh

o w

ants

to s

ee th

e fil

m

in V

enez

uel

a, it

is p

rob

ably

eas

iest

to

bu

y it

on

the

bla

ck m

arke

t – th

at is

, fo

r th

ose

wh

o m

isse

d th

e b

road

cast

s o

f th

e fil

m o

n T

V. W

hen

we

pre

sen

ted

th

e fil

m 5

Fac

tori

es –

Wo

rker

Co

ntr

ol i

n

Ven

ezu

ela,

whi

ch w

e fin

ish

ed in

200

6,

300

peo

ple

cam

e to

the

first

pre

sen

ta-

tion

in C

arac

as, m

any

of w

ho

m w

ere

wo

rker

s fr

om

the

fact

ori

es w

her

e w

e

con

du

cted

the

inte

rvie

ws.

Th

ey c

ame

to C

arac

as e

ven

tho

ug

h so

me

of t

he

fact

ori

es w

ere

in c

itie

s 15

ho

urs

away

. T

he

wo

rker

s m

ade

this

eff

ort

bec

ause

th

ey w

ere,

on

the

on

e h

and

, pro

ud

that

th

ey o

r th

eir

colle

agu

es h

ad a

pp

eare

d

in th

e fil

m a

nd

, on

the

oth

er h

and

, th

ey

wer

e ex

trem

ely

inte

rest

ed in

fin

din

g

ou

t wh

at w

ork

ers

in o

ther

fact

ori

es

in th

e co

untr

y h

ad to

say

ab

ou

t th

eir

stru

gg

les

and

ho

w th

ey o

rgan

ized

thei

r fa

cto

ries

.

Sin

ce m

y w

ork

rel

ies

on

the

time

and

co

llab

ora

tion

of o

ther

s, I’

m in

tere

sted

in

sh

arin

g an

d re

turn

ing

the

wo

rk to

th

em in

exc

han

ge.

Man

y ar

two

rks

I h

ave

pro

du

ced

are

avai

lab

le c

om

-p

lete

ly fr

ee. I

n 20

01 I

did

a m

agaz

ine

tog

eth

er w

ith

Mar

tin K

ren

n th

at w

as

rela

ted

to th

e B

ord

er C

ross

ing

Ser

vice

s p

roje

ct; i

t was

dis

trib

ute

d vi

a d

irec

t m

ail t

o 12

,000

ho

use

ho

lds

in th

e b

ord

er r

egio

n b

etw

een

Au

stri

a an

d

Slo

ven

ia. I

t pre

sen

ted

wh

at m

igra

nt

org

aniz

atio

ns

and

anti

-rac

ist o

rgan

iza-

tion

s in

Au

stri

a an

d G

erm

any

hav

e to

sa

y ab

ou

t cro

ssin

g b

ord

ers,

ille

gal

i-za

tion

, mig

ratio

n an

d th

e Eu

rop

ean

p

olit

ics

of e

xclu

sio

n. I

t hel

ped

to r

evea

l th

eir

view

po

ints

to th

e ru

ral a

rea

be-

twee

n A

ust

ria

and

Slo

ven

ia, w

hich

was

a

hig

hly

mili

tari

zed

Sch

eng

en b

ord

er

at th

e tim

e.

PM

/hM

: Ho

w d

o th

ese

do

cum

enta

-tio

ns

of e

xist

ing

soci

al a

nd

po

litic

al

mov

emen

ts in

tro

du

ce a

no

tion

of

imp

licat

edn

ess

whi

ch e

xten

ds

the

giv

en fo

rms

of p

olit

ical

ag

ency

? o

liver

res

sler

: I th

ink

it’s

cle

ar th

at

I’m v

ery

dis

sati

sfied

wit

h th

e ex

istin

g

cap

ital

ist s

oci

ety.

So

the

mai

n fo

cus

of m

y w

ork

ove

r th

e la

st 1

0 ye

ars

has

b

een

on

ho

w to

get

rid

of t

his

soci

ety

and

con

trib

ute

to th

e cr

eatio

n o

f a n

ew

on

e. S

om

e p

roje

cts

are

mo

re o

n th

e le

vel o

f an

alys

is a

nd

crit

iqu

e o

f so

cial

re

alit

y; o

ther

s fo

cus

on

form

s o

f res

ist-

ance

; stil

l oth

ers

– su

ch a

s th

e tw

o

pro

ject

s o

n V

enez

uel

a o

r A

ltern

ativ

e Ec

on

om

ics,

Alte

rnat

ive

So

ciet

ies

– co

nce

ntr

ate

on

idea

s th

at m

igh

t be

of

imp

ort

ance

wh

en c

on

sid

erin

g h

ow

to

achi

eve

a n

ew s

oci

ety.

I sh

are

man

y id

eas

wit

h ac

tivi

sts,

an

d m

ay b

e co

n-

sid

ered

an

acti

vist

mys

elf,

so th

at o

n

cert

ain

occ

asio

ns

my

po

sitio

n is

on

e o

f a p

arti

cip

atin

g, i

nvo

lved

ob

serv

er.

So

met

imes

the

wo

rk p

rovi

des

a k

ind

o

f pla

tfo

rm fo

r ex

istin

g id

eas,

at o

ther

tim

es it

cre

ates

idea

s th

at d

o n

ot c

om

e d

irec

tly

fro

m a

ctiv

ist p

ract

ices

bu

t may

st

ill b

e o

f gre

at im

po

rtan

ce fo

r ac

tiv-

ists

. So

for

me

ther

e’s

no

form

ula

for

ho

w m

y w

ork

fun

ctio

ns;

ther

e ar

e d

if-

fere

nt s

trat

egie

s an

d d

iffe

ren

t fo

cuse

s fr

om

pro

ject

to p

roje

ct.

PM

/hM

: Yo

ur w

ork

as

an a

rtis

t fo

cuse

s st

ron

gly

on

eco

no

mic

issu

es a

nd

, in

par

ticu

lar,

on

form

s o

f alt

ern

ativ

e ec

on

om

ics.

Ho

w d

o yo

u fe

el a

bo

ut

the

rela

tion

bet

wee

n su

ch a

n ar

tist

ic

pra

ctic

e an

d p

olit

ical

act

ivis

m?

oliv

er r

essl

er: I

n 19

99 I

pro

du

ced

an

inst

alla

tion

calle

d Th

e G

lob

al 5

00. I

t fo

-cu

sed

on

the

500

larg

est t

ran

snat

ion

al

corp

ora

tion

s an

d h

ow

they

rel

ated

to

a d

isco

urse

on

eco

no

mic

glo

bal

izat

ion

. T

he

exhi

bit

ion

was

pre

sen

ted

for

the

first

tim

e so

me

mo

nth

s b

efo

re p

rote

sts

agai

nst

the

Wo

rld

Trad

e O

rgan

izat

ion

in

Sea

ttle

. I w

as e

xtre

mel

y in

tere

sted

in

wh

at w

as h

app

enin

g th

ere,

an

d

pro

du

ced

two

film

s re

late

d to

the

anti

-g

lob

aliz

atio

n m

ovem

ent i

n 20

01/2

002.

T

he

mov

emen

t als

o d

emo

nst

rate

d

ho

w M

arg

aret

Th

atch

er’s

wel

l-kn

ow

n

slo

gan

‘Th

ere

is n

o al

tern

ativ

e!’ c

an’t

b

e tr

ue.

At t

he

time

I had

so

me

kno

w-

led

ge

abo

ut a

lter

nat

ive

mo

del

s, th

ou

gh

n

ot m

uch

. So

I sta

rted

to in

vest

igat

e an

d th

rou

gh

som

e b

oo

ks I

go

t fur

ther

in

form

atio

n ab

ou

t dif

fere

nt c

on

cep

ts

and

mo

del

s fo

r a

syst

em th

at w

oul

d

no

lon

ger

be

cap

ital

isti

c. T

he

pro

ject

A

ltern

ativ

e Ec

on

om

ics,

Alte

rnat

ive

So

ciet

ies,

whi

ch I

star

ted

in 2

003,

is

the

larg

est I

hav

e ev

er w

ork

ed o

n, a

nd

I c

on

tinu

e to

do

so to

day

. At p

rese

nt

it co

nsi

sts

of 1

6 vi

deo

s o

n d

iffe

ren

t m

od

els

and

con

cep

ts fo

r al

tern

ativ

e

eco

no

mie

s an

d al

tern

ativ

e so

ciet

ies.

S

om

e ar

e hi

sto

rica

l on

es, s

uch

as

the

wo

rker

s’ c

olle

ctiv

es d

urin

g th

e S

pan

ish

C

ivil

War

or

the

Pari

s C

om

mun

e o

r w

ork

ers’

sel

f-m

anag

emen

t in

Y

ug

osl

avia

dur

ing

the

1960

s an

d

1970

s. V

ery

elab

ora

te n

ew e

con

om

ic

con

cep

ts h

ave

also

bee

n in

clu

ded

, su

ch a

s ‘P

arti

cip

ato

ry E

con

om

ics’

by

Mic

hael

Alb

ert,

and

con

cep

ts fo

r a

new

o

rgan

izat

ion

al s

tru

ctur

e fo

r so

ciet

y as

a w

ho

le, f

or

inst

ance

‘In

clu

sive

D

emo

crac

y’ b

y Ta

kis

Foto

po

ulo

s o

r ‘L

iber

tari

an M

unic

ipal

ism

’, w

hich

is

pre

sen

ted

wit

hin

my

pro

ject

by

Ch

aia

Hel

ler.

I hav

e al

so in

clu

ded

inte

rvie

ws

that

focu

s m

ore

on

cert

ain

met

ho

ds

and

asp

ects

, on

es th

at m

igh

t be

of

inte

rest

wh

en c

on

sid

erin

g al

tern

ativ

e ec

on

om

ies

or

soci

etie

s. F

or

exam

ple

, th

e co

nce

pt o

f ‘Fr

ee C

oo

per

atio

n’ b

y C

hris

top

h S

peh

r o

r an

inte

rvie

w w

ith

Jo

hn H

ollo

way

on

chan

gin

g th

e w

orl

d

wit

ho

ut t

akin

g p

ow

er. T

he

idea

of m

y p

roje

ct is

to p

rese

nt a

var

iety

of d

if-

fere

nt p

roje

cts,

co

nce

pts

an

d m

od

els.

S

om

e o

f th

em c

om

e fr

om

a m

ore

an

ar-

chis

t bac

kgro

und

, oth

ers

fro

m a

mo

re

soci

alis

t bac

kgro

und

, bu

t all

of t

hem

ai

m to

co

ntr

ibu

te id

eas

for

org

aniz

ing

so

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me

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the

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of t

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and

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hav

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con

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tho

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was

re

aliz

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ver

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PM

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: Yo

ur v

ideo

wor

ks a

re a

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ble

fo

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urch

ase

on

your

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n w

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whi

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con

cep

t dif

fere

nt t

o

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itio

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way

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f dis

trib

utin

g ar

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wee

n yo

ur w

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an

d

bro

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au

die

nce

s o

uts

ide

the

gal

lery

sy

stem

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oliv

er r

essl

er: I

try

to k

eep

the

pri

ces

of m

y vi

deo

s lo

w s

o th

at m

any

ind

i-vi

du

als,

lib

rari

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nd

univ

ersi

ties

can

af

ford

to b

uy

them

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ork

tog

eth

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wit

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me

dis

trib

uto

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the

DV

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are

sold

for

bet

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an

d 35

eur

os.

S

o it

’s p

oss

ible

to b

uy

a D

VD

just

like

a

bo

ok.

It’s

imp

ort

ant f

or

me

no

t to

lim

it th

e vi

deo

s o

r m

y ar

t pro

du

ctio

n

in g

ener

al to

a v

ery

smal

l gro

up,

bu

t to

mak

e th

em a

cces

sib

le to

a b

road

er

aud

ien

ce. E

spec

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sin

ce th

e vi

deo

s ar

e o

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rel

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ovem

ents

oliver ressler

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ern

ativ

e E

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e S

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xhib

itio

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roje

ct, 2

003-

on

go

ing

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ezu

ela

fro

m B

elo

w

Oliv

er R

essl

er &

Dar

io A

zzel

lini,

vid

eo, 6

7 m

in.,

2004

, sti

lls

186

187

Tran

sien

t Tra

ffic

ista

nb

ul T

op

kap

ı

188

189

Info

rmal

mar

ket a

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g th

e co

nst

ruct

ion

site

s o

f tra

nsp

ort

pro

ject

s, Is

tan

bu

l To

pka

pı,

2005

190

191

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rmal

mar

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lon

g th

e B

yzan

tin

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ty w

alls

an

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sfal

tı,

an a

rter

ial r

oad

to

the

wes

t, Is

tan

bu

l To

pka

pı,

2005

192

193

Visi

ting

Stal

inM

osc

ow iz

mai

lovo

Ver

nis

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ck R

uss

ian

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ge

wit

h ar

ts a

nd

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ts m

arke

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g fo

r in

tern

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nal

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lym

pic

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age

of t

he

1980

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mm

er G

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202

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inTroducTion: living on frAcTures

How does the actual lived experience of increasingly heterogeneous and networked urban spaces redefine core assumptions about urbanization? What happens to the idea, the practice and the limits of the city when it appears, as is the case across much of the Global South, not as a planned convergence of productive forces, but a disjunction of disparate forces? As the city becomes a place where different kinds of actors are grabbing what opportunities they can, how is it possible to concretize col-laboration among ‘citizens’ and constitute a shared set of references? The objective here is to begin to conceptualize an urban politics able to deal with the intensifying ambivalence generated by urban life – where possibilities and vulnerabilities are thoroughly entangled, and where there are no unequivocally clear trajec-tories of development or change. Thus, it focuses on the notion of ‘the deal’.

Cities are largely fractured spaces. In the domains of regulation and govern-ance, cities encompass areas where the

prevailing practices of production, exchange and financial management

are exempt from the law and regulations that would otherwise be applied, using either a specific geographical position (offshore), economic designation (export processing zone, special use area); or tem-poral period (state of emergency) to mark the exception.1 There are also areas where state administrations and civil institutions lack the political and economic power to assign the diversity of activities taking place within cities – i.e. buying, selling, exchanging, collecting, dissembling, steal-ing, importing, fabricating, residing, etc. – to specific bounded spaces and rules of operation, or the responsibility of clearly designated actors.2

Much urban planning and regulation is simulated planning and regulation. In other words, these practices serve as a veneer for masking what are often high-ly speculative and unmonitored interven-tions into built and social environments. For example, at the outset, the massive redevelopment across Southeast Asia of centrally located industrial areas, ports, rail stations, warehouses, commercial districts and the residential districts arti-culated to them has no certain econom-ic disposition. It is difficult to assess the terms through which the implantation of large residential and commercial complexes, research and development centres and entertainment zones could be considered economically viable, parti-cularly as occupancy rates, sales volumes and outputs are interwoven with more ephemeral or symbolic considerations of value. Additionally, these developments are ensconced in a calculus of fungibles, where what they can be used for and spa-tially or financially connected to is poten-tially converted into something else than the original intent. As such these develop-ments don’t so much ‘exist for themselves’ as they aspire to become increasingly valuable facets of larger packages that bundle together real estate, varied finan-cial instruments and shifting trajectories and forms of investments from which new conditions of management, urban politics and taxation schemes will become inevit-able. At the same time, the massive size of some developments not only reflects the conjoining of new construction technolo-gies and finance, but also practically and symbolically constrains what surrounding land and infrastructure could be used for in any foreseeable future.3

In other words, architecture, infrastructure and land development are being used as

instruments to compel, some might say extort, new urban institutional and social relations, from how decisions get made, what is viewed as possible or useful to do in cities, how financial responsibilities are to be defined and risks assessed.4 In most instances, low-income as well as many middle-income residents are pushed to the peripheries of the city, which once serviced and connected to major trans-portation grids themselves become objects of speculation as cheap land is acquired by those with the aspirations to build big in ways prohibited by more centralized locations. Where the presence of heterogeneous residents within the central areas of cities enabled a kind of mutual witnessing of how each implanted themselves in and operated in the city, if not elaborating various complementa-rities among them, the push to the periph-ery, while not necessarily stopping an inflow of low-income residents, at least in their pursuit of occupations, renders it an often opaque place.5

Surrounding the core of the city, the periphery, with its intersection of the scat-tered remains of old projects and those of the new in various states of completion – from factories, shopping centres, housing developments – persistent rural econ-omies, informal and formal low-income settlements, poses an uncertain future for this core.6 If the massive redevelopments of the centre compel new logics of urban regulation, they also imply an increas-ingly difficult process of attempting to understand and manage relationships between the core and a periphery whose social dynamics are increasingly difficult to understand and predict. If the resultant economic motivations operative within the central areas produce more substan-tial connections to exterior economies and cities, with heightened dependence on dynamics upon which any individ-ual city exercises limited control, then the additionally resultant disjuncture between central and peripheral urban areas, as well as different categories of urban actors, introduces a large measure of vulnerability to these redevelopments in the long run.7

In the Global South, many so-called megacities are usually thought about in terms of an urban fabric that has been overwhelmed, of a sociality that no longer is subjected to coherent forms of articu-

lation and aspiration, and of insti-tutions that no longer are capable

of exercising authority over the use of materials and space. But this convention-al view might be productively tempered by instead thinking of urban capacity in terms of the ways in which all cities are things in the making by virtue of the speed and intensity of diverse positions and practices of inhabitation that are not, or at most weakly, channelled by clearly demarcated trajectories of operation, spa-tial use, resource appropriation and social interchange.8 In other words, at the heart of city life is the capacity for its different people, spaces, activities and things to interact in ways that exceed any attempt to regulate them. While the absence of regulation is commonly seen as a bad thing, one must first start with the under-standing that no form of regulation can keep the city ‘in line’.

Complex municipal politics of everyday regulation prevail, where different actors who share communities, quarters or dis-tricts attempt to work out incessantly troublesome connections between land, housing, services and livelihood that are not held in any stable and consistent re lationship with each other. In much of the urban world, this process still wards off power being fixed in the hands of nar-row interest groups or sectors. This does not mean that ‘big men’ or ‘big women’ don’t exist, nor does it mean that there are no boundaries between, for example, religious authorities, technical expert groups, political parties or civic associa-tions. But through multiple and shifting memberships, overt and covert alli ances across business and family activities, it is never crystal clear just what hat any actor or group may be wearing (operat-ing through) at any given time. The pro-cess, then, of trying to figure out just what is going on requires people to expand the field of whom they talk and pay attention to – a game that in turn makes working relationships more complicated.9

But unless these working relationships are attempted in ways more capable of engaging the plurality of social mecha-nisms in operation, the bulk of formal economic, political and administrative interventions will spend too much of their money and time attempting to disentan-gle populations from the particular ways in which they organize relationships with materials, places and infrastructure that are often either weakly visible and com-prehensible or dismissed as illicit and unproductive.

The

polit

ics

of‘c

ityne

ss’ a

nda

wor

ld o

f dea

lsA

bd

ou

Mal

iq s

imo

ne

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als put together small islands of security or order from which they can better deal with the unhealthy or insecure conditions that surround them. For example, the way in which the inside of a one-room cardboard squatter’s shack is meticulous-ly maintained in the midst of overflowing refuse at the exterior, or the way in which so-called marginalized populations attempt to secure a predictable territory of operation and hold onto it tenacious-ly. But in circumstances where effective mediations capable of connecting urban residents to predictable sources of pro-visioning, meaning and collaboration disappear, the ‘bareness’ to which resi-dents are left is the city in its ‘cityness’. Here, people ‘let go’ of any prospects for consolidating a sense of stability, and instead disperse themselves across discrepant urban spaces. They become scavengers of any small opportunity.

After all, ‘cityness’ is a world of senti-ments, gestures, gazes, talk and move-ment, all of which potentially could be intersected, interrupted and redirected in ways that draw the attentions of those who otherwise would not pay attention, or conversely, let people ‘slip under the radar’. So the job of urban life is to main-tain a heightened sense of engagement with all that could ensue from applying a barely indiscernible gaze, of overhear-ing a conversation, of securing an almost invisible yet strategic proximity to others, of interrupting the flow of events ever so slightly but powerfully so as to move something in another direction.

Of course such thickening engagements with the ‘raw materials’ of urban life – its sheer densities of affect, bodies, and action – is not necessarily virtuous. Increasingly, residents have to cope with an incessant preying upon their own vul-nerabilities. For cities are environments of trickery and deception as well as the forging of solid relationships of mutual dependency. Because such dependency is often relied upon in order to make ends meet, residents are all the more vulner-able to deception. Fellow residents who otherwise might look out for each other can also give information to thieves about who may not be in their apart-ments at certain times. Sexual partners are especially held in suspicion as the rights each individual in the couple would normally grant also leave them

vulnerable to being taken advan-tage of. Residents may be conscious

about displaying any weakness, and continuously watch what they say about themselves, what they wear, the routes they travel, and the company they are seen with. Even in cursory relationships with neighbours or associates, a person cannot be construed as having significant relationships, in the event that others to whom these associates may owe money or are perceived to have harmed in some way decide to hold that person as somehow culpable. Chances must be taken without the availability of a reliable means of calculation or with calculations that are intensely singular.

Yet, as urban systems are placed under more complex and comprehensive regimes of calculation, the question becomes the following: to what extent are those residents who always have to come up with new tactics for living through these vulnerabilities acquiring important proficiencies for circumventing the efforts by various economic elite to make the city more secure just for them? As cities must manage the events relevant to their well-being across larger scales of consideration, there is a tendency to privilege new forms of calculation, modelling and surveillance. These re inforce the notion of cities as patch-works of impersonal and atomizing institutional controls applied to frag-mented uses of particular places and services which, in turn, enforce a sense of normative consumption – where people are subject to institutionalized codes about what constitutes legitimate behaviour and over which they have little possibility of direct negotiation.13

How should actual or possible inter-relationships between what are, on the surface, disparate forms of urban virtuality be conceptualized? Are there ways in which informatics, networks, practices and capacities produced from different materials and relations of power intersect to keep urban spaces open and available to different actors and aspira-tions? For example, in the historical com-mercial districts Sukhumvit-Petchaburi (Bangkok) and Deira (Dubai), a deterio-rated yet still functioning infrastructure of urban services and built environment is appropriated by a wide range of African actors often working in different forms of syndicated arrangements with others of the same and divergent nationalities. Entrepreneurial groupings can be both well-defined, with stable participants

Additionally, residents then spend too much time preparing themselves for ways in which the application of new laws, policies, regulations and rules increases disorder because they impose specific mandates on who, where, and how urban residents are to legitimately gain access to space, opportunities and resources. Such disorder can be tripped up if individuals are already operating, knowing themselves, or taking livelihood through many different ‘places’ and ‘roles’ at once. But instead of the energies, intel-ligence and time of residents being spent trying to put together new forms of col-laboration, these defensive manoeuvres sometimes reiterate the salience of the prevailing definitions of identities, ter-ritories, occupations and sectors – and residents simply try to ‘distribute’ them-selves across as many of them as pos-sible. Instead of overturning categories such as patron and client, leader and follower, artisan and worker, man or woman, people will attempt to split the conventional categories in multiple sub-categories and find opportunities to fit into them at different times.

Instead of operating as a way individuals come to act decisively and creatively within the public realm, these informal-ities can actively de-link more and more aspects of everyday life from the possi-bilities of generating a larger, common interest.

Still, it is clear that in many of Europe’s most ethnically, economically and cultur-ally mixed urban districts, the necessary articulations among different occupa-tions, networks, and resources needed in order for such mixtures to be sustained emanated from often highly peculiar local initiatives that melded aspects of religios-ity, carnival, recreation, guerrilla mobi-lization, showmanship, public relations and even illicit financial schemes.10 Such platforms are not necessarily or even frequently organizations like political parties, voluntary associations or com-munity based organizations. A written set of agreed upon rules and procedures seldom exists, nor do identifications of membership. In fact, such platforms are sometimes barely discernible as ‘organ-izations’ at all, but still exist as an almost invisible form of collective action – where people regardless of whether they con-sciously know it or not are acting in con-

cert with others to make something happen. There is no one identifiable

agenda, no consensus, not even clear results to which everyone could agree.

But the capacity many residential quarters demonstrate to do what they can to make some kind of viable urban life cannot be imagined, let alone do ‘its job’ without finding ways to draw lines – make con-nections – among the scores of gather-ings, consultations, reciprocal favours, improvised work crews and business ventures, group prayers, publicly shared meals, clandestine exchanges of goods and hastily pieced together solutions to extended family or neighbourhood crises that take place in a wide range of settings across the urban terrain – from markets, abandoned hotel ballrooms, deserted factories and crowded inter-sections. Urban activists and planners must always look out for these more invisible, provisional or improvisational occasions for collective action that enable participants to try out new ways of acting and collaborating.11

urbAn virTuAliTies

The progressive impoverishment and deindustrialization of many cities, coupled with the enormous demands made upon urban space, engenders a reliance on the sheer density of inhabitants, actions and their associational possibilities. The focus on the ‘second-hand’, on piracy, repair and the improvisational re-assemblage of cannibalized objects and information creates specific ways for people to feel and think in the city. Additionally, cities give rise to capacities to participate in specific networks specializing in their own forms of translocal flows and exchanges – for example, the vast trade in illicit goods or the extensive spread of religious economies.12

To speak of the virtuality of urban resi-dents with limited means remains a necessary but dangerous task, under-taken without the confidence of clear political or ethical guidelines. It is clear that urban life is becoming more pre-carious for the poor, as their worlds are reduced to the basic confines of a ‘bare life’. We conventionally understand this bareness as the narrowing of one’s every-day conditions and spaces of operation to a minimal domain of safety or efficacy. In physical or social environments that are highly disordered, unhealthy or dan-gerous, it is usually assumed that individu-

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contiguities and relations of resi dences, offices, warehouses, roads, factories, entertainment halls, plazas, parks, stations, and ports constitute a ‘combi-natorial richness’14 capable of generating various effects and scenarios that exceed being the imposition of an organizational frame.

The absence of such a frame is not chaos or unpredictable fluidity. Each emergent element – each concrete spatial arrange-ment that ensues as a particular crystal-lization of energetic encounter – can be held together by intercalary entities that enable these elements to be connected.15 Although these dynamics can be elaborat-ed across the different languages of phys-ics, chemistry and the social sciences, the point I want to emphasize here is that in urban politics the intercalary element is that of the deal. The deal is the connecting tissue or the catalyst that brings together the different scenarios and dispositions continuously produced and transformed by the intersecting intensities of urban life – its different speeds, reactions, rhythms and affects.

Of course urban history is full of the evidence of deals of all kinds, and the purported maturity of urban political systems is signalled by the capacity to curtail, regulate and tame the nature of deal making. Yet attempts to domesticate the deal have often produced contractions in spaces of combinatorial richness that limit who and what can interact in any given circumstance or location.

While the struggles for concrete rights to shelter and livelihood for all urban residents remain critical to viable urban futures, whatever guarantees and sup-ports that are accomplished by them remain insufficient to working with increasingly complicated entanglements of economies and transactions among spaces of the city that have become more segregated. For the social categories we use to understand specific ways of life and the identities of urban actors are not the political ones through which varying constellations of residents come to or will come to the stage – i.e. configure ways of acting, forms of recognition and styles of deliberation capable of engineering specific kinds of changes in the city.16 Thus, notions of the poor, middle class, elite, and so forth, while designating real

differences in interests and capaci-ties, are insufficient to charting out

the entanglements of agendas, identi-ties and positions that residents, without secure footholds in the city, themselves incessantly try to bring about.

Thus, urban politics must go beyond its often facile appeals for inclusiveness or for making up a variety of lacks and speak to the ways in which residents continu-ously try to be different kinds of actors to different kinds of residents at differ-ent times and in different spaces. Slums are both exemplary of social detritus and cutting-edge assemblages suited for effec-tive flows of information in relationship to larger service economies; the poor are not only driven by desperate opportunism but also by a proficiency at hedging pos sible livelihoods. Those that are apparently kept out of an increasing number of gated communities, shopping complexes and industrial developments can have a much broader knowledge of the city and its dynamics than those equipped with the most sophisticated monitoring systems.

Again, this is not to overestimate the capacities and resilience of the majority, but to open up large, previously under-apprehended swathes of urban life to their ‘proper’ consideration. This is largely a matter of timing, since it assumes that no differences are prohibitive of inter-action. Anything can be intersected or transacted; it is just a matter of finding an opportune time, following the rhythms of urban relations, as different actors move toward and away from each other. This is a matter of small and fine attunements, of finding ways to continuously engage schools, housing projects, corporations, public arenas – not with a definitive, once-and-for-all attitude, but in continu-ous and small improvisations, where all parties are challenged to see what work they can do with each other. It is a method of generating evidence about what could be possible and when. Urban politics has to be about the choreography of rhythms – how to speed up and slow down, accel-erate and delay, seize and delay, of inter-vening and letting things ‘take their course’ – as much as it is about the com-position of organizations and territories.

‘Real urban governance’, de-centred from stable institutional relationships, increasingly takes place in much more provisional arrangements between shifting constellations of local political power brokers and their relations to an also shifting set of external players,

and sectors, and also highly fluid and malleable, with different forms of colla-boration and trade being constantly re negotiated. Each has to work out ways of operating in dense commercial spaces, forging competitive but often comple-mentary relationships with local retailers, landlords, transportation agents, com-mercial brokers and local officials in order to support the transactions necessary to move goods, services and people along specific trajectories of exchange. While structured commercial associations and companies have been established, most of these transactions operate under the radar and move opportunistically across different kinds of goods and markets.

The AnAToMy of The deAl

Access to land, under-priced yields of power and water, extensions of grids and service roads, vertical construction rights and exceptions to regulations of all kinds are the purview of deals that, if not directly countervailing the rules and normative planning procedures, often stretch them. Municipal regulations and planning systems do avail themselves of a wide range of participatory mecha-nisms, technical proficiencies and data bases. Yet, the ability to respond to polit-ical and economic exigencies and to get things done within the temporal frame-works of specific administrations and budgetary cycles frequently requires procedural short-cuts and the appropria-tion of potentially synergistic effects that stem from the capacities of particular ‘operators’ to mobilize labour, finance and other services that cut across sectors and territory.

Competencies and jurisdictions are often demarcated and institutionalized in ways that entail clear limits to what any given agency, organization or company is entitled and available to do. Therefore, projects and programs that require the application of many different kinds of entities at various times often require administratively complex negotiations and scheduling pertaining to the way these entities work together and apply their abilities to a particular site of inter-vention. Organizational structures tend to emphasize the efficient replication of responses through standardization. For what they do has to be applied to many

different kinds of clients and situ-a tions. So those who can offer, for

example, the ability to put together con-struction crews, cartage, waste removal, cut-rate overtime, supplementary finance, political connections and media spin in one – on the surface – seamless package are vital to municipal administrations and have to be rewarded in ways that are often difficult to accommodate within prevailing rules and norms.

This ability to mobilize certain potenti-alities inherent in the heterogeneity of the city is usually incumbent in those operations that are able to manipulate the networked effects that scale enables. Yet frequently, such operations emerge from highly localized yet intensive posi-tions within specific sectors or neigh-bourhoods that capitalize on apparently incommensurable relations – i.e. the intersection of social identities, functions, and domains that usually wouldn’t be expected to work together. So that those who can connect, for example, religious leaders, gangsters, financiers, profession-als, journeyman and civic associations begin to cover a lot of ground and spread out across other territories. While big players such as multinational consultant firms, technicians, contractors and property developers may have the size and coverage to deliver unrivalled effi-ciencies, they may not have sufficient local knowledge to expedite getting things done.

So the terrain of the city, its enclosures and publicities, its variously configured channels of movement, its organization of different venues where people are assembled in different densities and forms of association and its applications of work and attention emerge as specific compositions of agitation, stillness and receptivity. Points that intersect different energetic possibilities – what Deleuze has labelled ‘topological points’ – then can produce many different kinds of physical arrangements, so that embedded in differ-ent urban sites is the capacity to produce different scenarios and knowledge that are present all along but may never yet have been actualized. The frenzy of mar-ket trading grounds next to the recesses of quiet conversations over tea next to the receptions of official delegations next to the openings for the inflows and out-flows of people and goods all produce a productive volatility that continuously re opens the relationships that everything has with everything else. It reworks the forms of stability and interchange. The

208

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Th

e p

olit

ics

of ‘

city

nes

s’ a

nd

a w

orl

d o

f dea

ls

209

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Th

e p

olit

ics

of ‘

city

nes

s’ a

nd

a w

orl

d o

f dea

ls

including, for example, both transnational corpor ations and more mafia-type syn-dicates. Critical relationships also exist among a host of management agencies dealing in corporate intelligence, strategic management, security, urban resource provisioning, public relations and ‘cap -acity building’. Each of these domains has its own oscillating local, regional and transnational networks that intersect in various ways at different times. While the nature of their operations may be beyond the inputs of the majority of urban resi-dents, they nevertheless are and can be subject to multiple interventions of various durations that alter the basis on which assessments – of profitability, viability or security – are made.

This is a political time when populations are increasingly ‘held up’ and ‘delayed’ in order to be scrutinized and viewed, and when populations are calculated to be guilty in advance of any action simply on the basis of such scrutiny. As Gustav Massiah has said, the poor must con-stantly prove their innocence in advance. Therefore, how differences between actors, localities and aspirations can co-exist and act with capacity in any given context, as well as how to steer the inter-section of diverse peoples and contexts toward and through each other, become urgent matters of concern. We are quite familiar with processes of representing specific urban populations and activities, accounting for what they are doing, tar-geting those with special needs or those who pose particular threats and forging multicultural policies and partnerships. In terms of spatial allocations and distri-butions, these practices tend to re inforce the dismissal or exclusion of certain pos sibilities and ways of being in the city. In other words, they tend to take out of consideration numerous ways in which different locales and peoples could make use of each other. Theoretically, the expansive intelligences of diasporic movements, the experiences of cross-sectoral planning, the cultural circulations along increasingly globalized circuits of exchange, as well as inter active media transmission, could be mobilized to generate new forms of collaboration, institutional practices and popular senti-ments about critical questions of justice and efficacy. Again, these considerations are too often perceived as matters of engin-

eered spatial mosaics, rather than considerations of how the duration

of impacts, the intensity of memory, the prolonging of contingency and the slowing down or speeding up of how things are viewed can be critical mat-ters of intervention. What can be brought together and made to operate in a con-certed and collaborative way is not just a matter of scale and composition but also a matter of timing, volatility and calm. Particularly in the rush to stabilize and regulate cities in Africa, many of the provisional projects undertaken by resi-dents to feed, house and to remake them-selves are not given the necessary time to unfold and connect with each other, to see what synergies might work.

Schools have to connect with localities, localities have to connect with consulting firms, consulting firms have to connect with media engineers, media engineers have to connect with the sentiments of the streets, the streets have to connect with regulatory agencies, and so forth. There are complicated pathways among all of these sites, and each harbours a wide range of intelligences and capaci-ties that are not used and are, at the same time, not explicitly blocked or prohibited. There are many different ways any par-ticular setting could ‘do its work’, could make things happen, and for creating dif-ferent registers of consideration – from the almost invisible and incipient to the publicly debated. For the act of affecting events and situations, of making some-thing happen, requires different ways of doing things, visible and invisible, at different times – as the common sense results of media manipulation and behav-ioural shaping have long demonstrated. In other words, persuasion, inducement, compulsion, seduction and resistance all work at different times – not all the time. As such, interventions have to combine reflections on efficacy, ethics, politics, justice and creativity at the same time, even though these processes may be at work in and through different times.

1 Rolan Palen, The Offshore World: Sovereign Markets,

Virtual Places, and Nomad Millionaires (Ithaca, NY:

Cornell University Press, 2003); Derek Gregory,

The Colonial Present (Oxford: Blackwell, 2004).

2 Asef Bayat, ‘Uncivil Society: the politics of the

“informal people”’, Third World Quarterly 18

(1997): 53-72; Daniel Goldstein, The Spectacular

City: Violence and Performance in Urban Bolivia

(Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press,

2004); Claire Robertson, Trouble showed the way:

women, men and trade in the Nairobi area 1890-1990

(Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1997).

3 M.K. Ng, ‘Political Economy and Urban Planning:

A comparative study of Hong Kong, Singapore,

and Taiwan’, Progress in Planning 51 (1999): 1-90;

C. Hamnett, ‘Gentrification, postindustrialism,

and industrial and occupational restructuring in

global cities’, in A Companion to the City, eds. G.

Bridge and S. Watson (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000),

331-41; K. Olds, Globalization and urban change:

capital, culture, and Pacific Rim mega-projects

(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001); R. Grant

and J. Nijman, ‘Globalization and the Corporate

Geography of Cities in the Less-Developed World’,

Annals of the Association of American Geographers

92 (2002): 320-340; R. Marshall, Emerging Urbanity:

Global Urban Projects in the Asia Pacific Rim (New

York and London: Spon Press, 2002); T. Rohlen,

‘Cosmopolitan Cities and nation States: Open

Economies, Urban Regions, and Government in

Asia’, Working Paper of the Asian Pacific Research

Center, Stanford Institute for International Studies,

2002; U. Kaothien and D. Webster, ‘The Bangkok

Region’, in Global City Regions: Their Emerging

Forms, eds. R. Simmonds and G. Hack (New York

and London: Spon Press, 2000); H. Savitch and

P. Kantor, ‘Urban strategies for a global era: A

cross-national comparison’, American Behavioral

Scientist 46 (2003): 1002-1033.

4 Neil Brenner and Nik Theodore, ‘Cities and the geog-

raphies of actually existing neoliberalism,’ Antipode

34 (2002): 349–379; E. Swyngedouw, F. Moulaert,

and A. Rodriguez, ‘Neoliberal Urbanization in

Europe: Large-Scale Urban Development Projects

and the New Urban Policy’, Antipode 34 (2002):

543-77.

5 Mike Davis, ‘The Urbanization of Empire: Megacities

and the Laws of Chaos’, Social Text 22 (2004): 9-15.

6 Philip F. Kelly, ‘Everyday Urbanization: The Social

Dynamics of Development in Manila’s Extended

Metropolitan Region’, International Journal of

Urban and Regional Research 23 (1999): 283-303;

D. Webster and L. Muller, ‘The Challenges of Peri-

urban Growth in East Asia: The Case of China’s

Hangzhou-Ningbo Corridor’, in Enhancing Urban

Management in East Asia, eds. M. Freire and

B. Yuen (Hunt, UK: Ashgate, 2002).

7 Saskia Sassen, Global Networks/Linked Cities

(New York and London: Routledge, 2002).

8 Matthew Gandy, ‘Cyborg Urbanization: Complexity

and Monstrosity in the Contemporary City’,

International Journal of Urban and Regional

Research 29 (2005): 26-49.

9 James Ferguson, Expectations of Modernity:

Myths and Meanings of Urban Life on the Zambian

Copperbelt (Berkeley, CA: University of California

Press, 1999).

10 Joan Subirats and Joaquim Rius, From the Xino

to the Raval: Culture and Social Transformation

in Central Barcelona (Barcelona: Centre for

Contemporary Culture of Barcelona, 2006).

11 Yves Pedrazzini, Jean-Claude Bolay and Vincent

Kaufmann, ‘Social practices and spatial changes’,

in Social practices and empowerment in urban

societies, ed. NCCR North-South, IP5 (Lausanne:

IUED, 2005).

12 Richard Banégas and Ruth Marshall-Fratani,

‘Modes de régulation politique et reconfiguration

des espaces publics’, in L’Afrique de l’Ouest dans

la compétition mondial. Quels atouts possible, eds.

J. Damon and J. Igué (Paris: Karthala, 2003).

13 Paul Virilio, Ground Zero (New York and London:

Verso, 2002).

14 To use Manuel DeLanda’s term.

15 Manuel DeLanda, Intensive Science and Virtual

Philosophy (London: Continuum, 2002).

16 Dmitri Philippides, ‘Official city-planning and

para-urbanism’, in Athens 2002 Absolute Realism,

ed. Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Association

of Greek Architects. Catalogue for the Greek

participation in the 8th International Exhibition

of Architecture, Venice Biennale, 2002. Athens:

SADAS-PEA (Association of Greek Architects)

& the Commissioners; Jacque Rancière ‘Who is

the subject of the rights of man’, South Atlantic

Quarterly 103 (2004): 297-310.

210

211

Than

k Yo

u US

AP

rish

tin

a

Pri

shti

na,

Ko

sovo

, 200

6

212

213

Cen

tre

of P

rish

tin

a d

uri

ng

the

‘Th

anks

giv

ing

Day

s fo

r U

SA

’, 20

-23

No

vem

ber

200

6

Hill

ary

bo

uti

qu

e o

n B

ill C

linto

n B

ou

leva

rd, P

rish

tin

a, 2

006

Po

st-w

ar b

usi

nes

ses,

Pri

shti

na,

200

6

214

215

Ser

bia

n O

rth

od

ox

Ch

urc

h n

ext t

o th

e N

atio

nal

an

d U

niv

ersi

ty L

ibra

ry, b

egu

n d

uri

ng

the

1990

s b

y th

e M

iloše

vic

reg

ime;

th

e b

uild

ing

pro

ject

was

ab

and

on

ed b

ut t

he

shel

l sti

ll re

mai

ns

Ph

rist

ina,

200

6

216

217

Th

e N

atio

nal

an

d U

niv

ersi

ty L

ibra

ry, d

esig

ned

by

An

dri

ja M

utn

jako

vic

and

com

ple

ted

in 1

981;

d

uri

ng

the

1999

Ko

sovo

war

th

e b

uild

ing

serv

ed a

s h

ead

qu

arte

rs f

or

the

Ser

b m

ilita

ryP

rish

tin

a, 2

006

218

219

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

Marjetica Potrc

PM

/hM

: In

your

exh

ibit

ion

wo

rk

Tem

po

rary

Bu

ildin

g S

trat

egie

s yo

u

trac

e m

om

ents

of e

rup

tion

s o

f new

sp

atia

l rea

litie

s in

loca

tion

s as

dis

tan

t fr

om

eac

h o

ther

as

Latin

Am

eric

a

and

the

Wes

tern

Bal

kan

s. W

hat

is

your

inte

rest

in p

ursu

ing

this

kin

d

of fi

eld

wo

rk?

Mar

jeti

ca P

otr

c: I

am in

tere

sted

in

bo

tto

m-u

p in

itia

tive

s an

d, y

es, y

ou

ca

n sa

y th

at w

hen

I d

o th

is I

am a

lso

tr

acin

g th

e d

isso

luti

on

of t

op

-do

wn

in

itia

tive

s, s

uch

as

the

mo

der

nis

t p

roje

ct. T

he

mo

der

nis

t sta

te is

or-

gan

ized

top

-do

wn

and

is la

rge-

scal

e.

I bel

ieve

that

the

futu

re w

ill b

e o

n a

smal

ler

scal

e, a

nd

that

it w

ill d

epen

d

mo

re a

nd

mo

re o

n in

div

idu

als

wh

o

are

soci

ally

co

nsc

iou

s. F

or

inst

ance

, th

e p

eop

le in

the

Am

azo

nia

n st

ate

of

Acr

e, in

Bra

zil,

wh

o m

anag

e ex

trac

tio

n

rese

rves

, wh

ich

are

smal

l-sc

ale

terr

i-to

ries

, are

aw

are

of t

hei

r co

ntr

ibu

tio

ns

to th

e w

orl

d co

mm

un

ity.

Th

ey p

rop

ose

a

smal

l-sc

ale

eco

no

my

as a

wo

rkab

le

alte

rnat

ive

in a

n ag

e b

eyon

d th

e id

eolo

-gi

es o

f co

mm

unis

m o

r ca

pit

alis

m.

My

pra

ctic

e is

focu

sed

on

on

-sit

e p

roje

cts

as w

ell a

s o

n ex

hib

itio

n-b

ased

w

ork

s. T

hes

e la

tter

are

cas

e st

ud

ies.

I s

tart

ed to

exh

ibit

case

stu

die

s as

a

way

of p

oin

ting

to b

uild

ing

pra

ctic

es

acro

ss th

e w

orl

d th

at a

re a

bo

ut s

elf-

sust

ain

able

arc

hite

ctur

e an

d ar

e, t

ypi-

cally

, sm

all i

n sc

ale,

whi

ch m

ean

s th

ey

rep

rese

nt b

ott

om

-up

init

iati

ves.

As

an

exam

ple

, tak

e X

apu

ri: R

ura

l Sch

oo

l, w

hich

I sh

ow

ed a

t th

e S

ao P

aulo

B

ien

nia

l in

2006

. Thi

s is

a c

ase

stu

dy

of a

pri

mar

y sc

ho

ol t

hat

has

bee

n b

uilt

in

a r

emo

te a

rea

of t

he

Am

azo

nia

n

fore

st in

the

Bra

zilia

n st

ate

of A

cre.

Ty

pic

ally

, su

ch a

sch

oo

l is

equ

ipp

ed

wit

h ex

ten

sive

so

lar

pan

ellin

g an

d a

sate

llite

dis

h, in

oth

er w

ord

s a

sour

ce

of e

ner

gy

and

a m

ean

s fo

r co

mm

unic

a-tio

n w

ith

the

wo

rld

. Th

e sc

ho

ol s

tan

ds

for

kno

wle

dg

e, th

e so

lar

pan

els

stan

d

for

po

wer

, an

d th

e sa

telli

te d

ish

stan

ds

for

com

mun

icat

ion

. Th

e A

crea

ns

call

such

sch

oo

ls ‘p

ow

er k

its’

. I b

elie

ve th

at a

rchi

tect

ure

is a

livi

ng

la

ng

uag

e. Y

ou

can

read

it. B

y re

ad-

ing

arch

itec

ture

yo

u ca

n un

der

stan

d

the

valu

e sy

stem

s o

f th

e p

eop

le w

ho

b

uild

it. T

he

case

stu

dy

of t

he

Pris

htin

a H

ou

se is

a g

oo

d ex

amp

le. I

sh

ow

ed it

tw

ice,

on

ce a

t th

e Po

rtik

us

in F

ran

kfur

t an

d a

seco

nd

time

at th

e K

unst

vere

in

in H

amb

urg

. Its

dec

ora

tive

faça

de

and

the

way

it d

emar

cate

s it

s te

rrit

ory

p

oin

t to

the

cele

bra

tion

of e

xist

ence

by

the

mo

stly

rur

al p

op

ulat

ion

wh

o h

ave

lan

ded

in P

rish

tina

in r

ecen

t yea

rs.

Pri

shtin

a is

the

cap

ital

cit

y o

f Ko

sovo

, w

her

e cu

rren

tly

you

hav

e th

ree

dif

fer-

ent g

over

nm

ents

; thi

s m

ean

s th

at n

o

gov

ern

men

t rea

lly f

unct

ion

s p

rop

erly

an

d th

e p

eop

le th

emse

lves

are

co

n-

stru

ctin

g th

e ci

ty fr

om

the

bo

tto

m u

p.

We

say

that

in P

rish

tina

a ci

tizen

is

the

smal

lest

sta

te. P

rish

tina

Ho

use

al

so p

oin

ts to

su

cces

sful

sur

viva

l in

co

nd

itio

ns

wh

ere

the

stat

e in

fra-

stru

ctur

e h

as b

roke

n d

ow

n. A

t tim

es

wh

en th

ere

are

elec

tric

ity

ou

tag

es

and

the

stre

et li

gh

ting

do

esn

’t w

ork

, th

e Pr

ish

tina

Ho

use

pro

vid

es th

e

stre

et li

gh

t, w

hich

is p

ow

ered

fro

m

the

ho

use

itse

lf.

PM

/hM

: Tal

kin

g ab

ou

t sp

atia

l dev

el-

op

men

ts in

Pri

shtin

a an

d th

ose

new

hy

bri

d st

ruct

ures

that

are

em

erg

ing

in

Ru

ral s

cho

ol i

n th

e B

razi

lian

stat

e o

f Acr

eFo

rest

Ris

ing

Mar

jeti

ca P

otr

cT

he

Cu

rve,

Bar

bic

an A

rt G

alle

ry, L

on

do

n, 2

007

Pri

shti

na,

200

6

Cen

tre

of P

rish

tin

a d

uri

ng

the

‘Th

anks

giv

ing

Day

s fo

r U

SA

’, 20

-23

No

vem

ber

200

6

220

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

221

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

man

y o

ther

cit

ies

in th

is r

egio

n, t

her

e is

a la

ck o

f ter

min

olo

gy

to d

escr

ibe

the

new

ag

gre

gat

ion

s o

f peo

ple

an

d co

m-

mun

itie

s. A

re th

ey a

sid

e ef

fect

of g

lob

-al

ized

eco

no

mie

s, a

kin

d o

f glo

bal

ized

la

ng

uag

e al

ign

ed w

ith

mo

re p

erip

her

al

cult

ural

co

nn

ectio

ns?

Mar

jeti

ca P

otr

c: W

hen

I tr

avel

led

th

roug

h th

e re

gion

of t

he

Wes

tern

B

alka

ns

wit

h K

yon

g Pa

rk in

200

5, w

e fo

und

ther

e w

as o

ne

thin

g th

at w

as

real

ly o

bvi

ou

s w

hich

str

uck

me

dee

ply

: th

e sh

rin

kin

g o

f th

e id

eal r

esid

entia

l un

it in

the

regi

on. I

n th

e 19

80s,

yo

u

wo

uld

have

res

iden

tial n

eigh

bo

ur-

ho

od

s w

ith

may

be

10,0

00 r

esid

ents

. To

day

in th

e W

este

rn B

alka

ns,

ther

e ar

e n

ew a

rchi

tect

ural

typ

olo

gies

of r

esi-

den

tial a

rchi

tect

ure

that

are

dra

mat

i-ca

lly s

mal

ler:

the

Urb

an V

illag

e an

d

the

Urb

an V

illa.

Th

e U

rban

Vill

age

is a

co

mm

unit

y o

f ab

ou

t 2,0

00 p

eop

le,

whi

le th

e U

rban

Vill

a is

a c

om

mun

ity

of s

om

e 15

fam

ilies

. To

day

, th

e ex

ten

t o

f peo

ple

’s d

esir

ed c

o-e

xist

ence

is

smal

l in

scal

e. N

ote

that

15

year

s ag

o,

mo

der

nist

arc

hite

ctur

e, a

s w

ell t

he

mo

der

nist

sta

te, d

efin

ed th

e m

ain

-st

ream

way

of l

ife

bo

th in

the

Wes

tern

B

alka

ns

and

in th

e fo

rmer

Wes

tern

Eu

rop

e. T

he

new

typ

olo

gies

I’m

talk

ing

ab

ou

t are

en

teri

ng

the

arch

itec

tura

l la

ng

uag

e o

f th

e Eu

rop

ean

Uni

on o

nly

slow

ly a

nd

timid

ly. Y

ou

can

say

that

in

this

reg

ard

the

Wes

tern

Bal

kan

s is

a

fast

er r

egio

n an

d th

e Eu

rop

ean

Uni

on

is a

slo

wer

reg

ion

.

PM

/hM

: Yo

u ar

ticu

late

a s

tro

ng

bel

ief

in lo

cal g

over

nan

ce r

ath

er th

an h

ier-

arch

ical

ly o

rgan

ized

form

s o

f po

wer

, an

d th

e q

ues

tion

then

is h

ow

can

w

e ta

ke c

are

that

thes

e co

llab

ora

tion

s an

d fo

rms

of c

o-e

xist

ence

are

pla

yed

o

ut i

n a

sust

ain

able

an

d n

on

-op

pre

s-si

ve w

ay?

Mar

jeti

ca P

otr

c: I

com

e fr

om

the

form

er Y

ug

osl

avia

, wh

ere

the

frag

-m

enta

tion

of t

erri

tori

es o

ver

the

last

15

yea

rs w

as tr

aum

atic

an

d te

rrib

le

bec

ause

of t

he

war

s in

the

1990

s. A

ll th

e so

cial

str

uct

ures

co

llap

sed

. Dur

ing

th

is s

ame

per

iod

, in

Bra

zil’s

wes

tern

st

ate

of A

cre,

mo

re th

an h

alf t

he

stat

e te

rrit

ory

was

giv

en to

sm

all-

scal

e co

m-

mun

itie

s fo

r se

lf-m

anag

emen

t. T

hes

e ar

e ex

trac

tion

rese

rves

po

pul

ated

by

trad

itio

nal

co

mm

unit

ies

such

as

rub

ber

ta

pp

ers

and

Ind

ian

s. I

call

such

frag

-m

enta

tion

a h

app

y fr

agm

enta

tion

. It i

s al

so a

gre

at e

xam

ple

of c

olla

bo

ratio

n

bet

wee

n th

e st

ate

of A

cre

and

loca

l co

mm

unit

ies.

Th

e se

lf-d

isso

lutio

n o

f th

e st

ate

terr

ito

ry c

ame

abo

ut b

ecau

se

bo

th lo

cal c

om

mun

itie

s an

d th

e st

ate

reco

gn

ized

the

failu

re o

f lar

ge-

scal

e m

od

ern

ist p

roje

cts

in A

cre

in th

e p

ast

(su

ch a

s th

e la

rge-

scal

e ex

trac

tion

of

timb

er, t

he

larg

e-sc

ale

extr

actio

n o

f ru

bb

er, t

he

clea

rin

g o

f th

e fo

rest

for

catt

le p

astu

re, a

nd

of c

our

se in

fra-

stru

ctur

al p

roje

cts

such

as

the

railw

ay

and

hig

hw

ay).

Bu

t an

oth

er r

easo

n w

as

that

they

rec

og

niz

ed a

po

ssib

le f

utu

re:

succ

essf

ul te

rrit

ori

es s

uch

as

extr

ac-

tion

rese

rves

are

sel

f-su

stai

nab

le a

nd

sm

all i

n sc

ale.

It is

als

o ab

ou

t sur

viva

l. T

he

com

mun

itie

s in

the

Acr

ean

fore

st

say,

‘If w

e su

rviv

e in

the

fore

st, t

he

for-

est w

ill s

urvi

ve, a

nd

this

is g

oo

d fo

r al

l.’

In th

e W

este

rn B

alka

ns,

info

rmal

ity

too

k o

ff in

the

1990

s (w

ith

the

info

r-m

al c

ity,

the

info

rmal

eco

no

my,

the

info

rmal

co

nst

ruct

ion

ind

ust

ry, e

tc.)

b

ecau

se th

e st

ate

was

no

n-e

xist

ent.

A

t so

me

po

int,

the

info

rmal

eco

no

my

in B

elg

rad

e an

d T

iran

a ac

tual

ly a

llow

ed

thes

e ci

ties

to s

urvi

ve. I

nfo

rmal

ity

also

ex

pre

ssed

the

nee

d to

red

efin

e th

e so

cial

co

ntr

act.

On

e m

ust

un

der

stan

d

that

eve

ntu

ally

eve

ry k

ind

of i

nfo

rmal

-it

y d

esir

es to

bec

om

e fo

rmal

ized

in a

n

ew s

oci

al c

on

trac

t.

Exi

sten

ce a

nd

co-e

xist

ence

are

giv

ens,

b

ut h

ow

yo

u p

ract

ice

them

is n

ot a

g

iven

. In

my

wo

rk, I

po

int t

o th

e p

ow

er

ind

ivid

ual

s h

ave

wh

en th

ey tr

y to

bu

ild

thei

r liv

es, a

nd

in s

o d

oin

g re

-fo

rmul

ate

co-e

xist

ence

an

d ex

iste

nce

. I u

sed

to b

e u

nco

mfo

rtab

le w

hen

ta

lkin

g ab

ou

t th

e fu

ture

, un

til I

go

t in

volv

ed w

ith

the

Euro

pe

Lost

an

d

Fou

nd

pro

ject

an

d th

e Lo

st H

igh

way

Ex

ped

itio

n. I

alw

ays

tho

ug

ht i

t was

u

top

ian

to a

sk, ‘

Wh

at is

the

futu

re?’

I r

ealiz

e th

at I

am u

sin

g th

e w

ord

mo

re

and

mo

re. I

am

par

ticu

larl

y in

tere

sted

in

the

futu

re o

f ter

rito

rial

izat

ion

. I a

m t

alki

ng

abo

ut a

ccel

erat

ion

into

a

frag

men

tatio

n o

f ter

rito

ries

, bu

t I a

m

also

tal

kin

g ab

ou

t in

div

idu

als.

Wh

en

ind

ivid

ual

s ar

e so

cial

ly c

on

scio

us,

th

ey a

re a

war

e o

f, an

d ca

n p

urs

ue,

th

e co

mm

on

go

od

. I a

m n

ow

tal

kin

g

abo

ut a

co

nce

pt c

alle

d si

ng

ula

rité

. T

he

term

has

bee

n w

ith

us

sin

ce th

e 19

70s,

if y

ou

thin

k ab

ou

t th

eori

es o

f Yo

na

Frie

dm

an a

nd

Co

nst

ant’

s N

ew

Bab

ylo

n, t

he

Mo

bile

Cit

y, a

nd

so o

n.

In B

razi

l, yo

u se

e it

if yo

u lo

ok

at H

élio

O

itic

ica,

wh

o ta

lks

in ‘M

und

o A

bri

go

’ (‘

wo

rld

shel

ter’

) ab

ou

t th

e in

div

idu

al

wh

o is

so

cial

ly c

on

scio

us,

wh

o un

der

-st

and

s hi

mse

lf o

r h

erse

lf as

a p

art o

f th

e w

orl

d b

ut a

lso

as c

on

trib

utin

g to

it

. In

the

1960

s, th

is w

as p

acka

ged

as

a k

ind

of u

top

ia. N

ote

that

the

te

rm B

alka

niz

atio

n h

as b

een

rece

ntl

y

reth

ou

gh

t. It

use

d to

be

a n

egat

ive

term

, des

crib

ing

the

dis

solu

tio

n o

f a

un

ity.

Th

ese

day

s, it

is r

eco

gn

ized

as

a fo

rce

for

dem

ocr

acy.

It’s

ab

ou

t fa

mili

es, c

lan

s, c

om

mu

nit

ies,

gro

up

id

enti

ties

, bo

tto

m-u

p in

itia

tive

s, n

ew

citi

zen

ship

s an

d se

lf-r

ule

, all

bu

ildin

g

up

to a

larg

er s

oci

ety.

Pri

shti

na

Ho

use

Mar

jeti

ca P

otr

cTh

is P

lace

is M

y P

lace

– B

egeh

rte

Ort

e, K

un

stve

rein

in H

amb

urg

, 200

6

Ho

use

in t

he

Pey

ton

area

of P

rish

tin

a

Pri

shti

na,

200

6P

rish

tin

a, 2

006

222

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

223

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

PM

/hM

: On

the

web

site

of x

urb

an_

colle

ctiv

e, th

ere’

s a

man

ifes

to w

ith

11

po

ints

, an

d in

on

e o

f th

ese

you

men

-tio

n th

at a

s lo

ng

as E

ng

lish

con

tinu

es

to b

e th

e co

mm

on

lan

gu

age,

the

inte

rnet

will

rem

ain

the

last

an

d

on

ly tr

ansn

atio

nal

terr

ito

ry...

gu

ven

inci

rlio

glu

: Thi

s re

late

s to

glo

bal

re

stri

ctio

ns

imp

ose

d up

on th

e ci

rcul

a-tio

n o

f bo

die

s. S

om

e o

f our

pro

ject

s in

volv

e a

kin

d o

f tra

nsf

er, a

nd

this

is

a to

pic

now

hig

h on

our

ag

end

a. W

hat

is b

ein

g gl

obal

ized

is c

apit

al a

nd

its

circ

ulat

ion,

as

wel

l as

com

mo

dit

ies.

Ye

t at t

he

sam

e tim

e, w

e in

crea

sin

gly

see

peo

ple

lock

ed u

p w

ithi

n th

eir

own

te

rrit

orie

s an

d n

ot f

ree

to tr

avel

at a

ll.

Inte

rest

ingl

y en

oug

h, in

Tur

key,

whi

ch

is g

ettin

g cl

ose

r to

bec

om

ing

par

t of

Euro

pe

– at

leas

t in

neg

otia

tion

s –

it is

ev

er m

ore

dif

ficu

lt fo

r Tu

rkis

h ci

tizen

s to

get

vis

as, e

spec

ially

Sch

eng

en v

isas

. O

n th

e on

e ha

nd,

Ista

nbul

rec

eive

s m

ore

and

mor

e p

eop

le fr

om

ab

road

, es

pec

ially

fro

m W

este

rn E

uro

pe;

on

the

oth

er h

and,

peo

ple

fro

m T

urke

y ar

en’t

n

earl

y as

free

to tr

avel

as

they

wer

e b

efor

e th

e S

chen

gen

Agr

eem

ent.

So

th

is id

ea o

f th

e ‘t

ran

snat

ion

al’ a

ctu

-al

ly r

elat

es m

ore

to th

e w

eb, t

ho

ugh

th

ere’

s al

so a

lot o

f new

s ab

ou

t how

th

e in

tern

et m

igh

t no

t, in

fact

, be

tota

lly

acce

ssib

le to

eve

ryb

od

y ei

ther

. Rec

ent

new

s fr

om

Chi

na,

for

exam

ple

, rep

orts

that

– in

co

llab

orat

ion

wit

h G

oo

gle

–

the

gove

rnm

ent c

an tr

ack

sear

ch w

ord

s an

d p

rose

cute

peo

ple

wh

o ar

e su

rfin

g

cert

ain

net

wor

ks a

nd

web

site

s, e

tc.

Of c

our

se, f

or

us

the

situ

atio

n is

dif

fer-

ent.

We

get

invi

ted

to d

o ex

hib

itio

ns

abro

ad a

nd

can

trav

el m

ore

eas

ily.

Bu

t th

at’s

no

ind

icat

ion

of t

he

situ

atio

n.

Let m

e, fo

r ex

amp

le, t

alk

abo

ut t

he

pro

po

sal w

e h

and

ed in

for

the

Ista

nb

ul

Bie

nn

ial i

n 20

05 w

hen

it h

ad a

sec

on

d

ven

ue

in E

ind

hov

en a

nd

it ex

hib

ited

w

ork

s fr

om

Ista

nb

ul th

ere.

Fo

r th

is

spac

e w

e fo

rmul

ated

a p

rop

osa

l th

at p

roce

eded

fro

m th

e id

ea o

f th

e Eu

rop

ean

Un

ion

and

the

Turk

ish

bid

for

EU m

emb

ersh

ip. W

e ca

me

up

wit

h a

kin

d o

f alle

go

ry o

f mat

rim

ony

bet

wee

n

our

co

untr

y an

d th

e EU

. Act

ual

ly, w

e d

on

’t kn

ow

if th

is ‘w

edd

ing

’ is

ever

g

oin

g to

hap

pen

, th

ou

gh

eith

er w

ay

on

e o

f th

e fe

ars

of E

uro

pea

n co

nse

r-va

tive

s an

d n

atio

nal

left

ists

is c

on

tam

i-n

atio

n. T

his

has

to d

o w

ith

the

Turk

ish

p

op

ulat

ion

livin

g in

Eur

op

e, w

ith

thei

r n

ot b

ein

g in

teg

rate

d o

r re

fusi

ng

to

be

nat

ural

ized

. So

in th

e Eu

rop

ean

su

bco

nsc

iou

s th

ere’

s al

way

s th

is

ster

eoty

pe

abo

ut t

he

Turk

ish

Mu

slim

. T

his

has

to d

o w

ith

the

situ

atio

n in

Eu

rop

e ri

gh

t no

w a

s w

ell a

s hi

sto

ry.

For

the

exhi

bit

ion

, we

sug

ges

ted

taki

ng

th

is id

ea o

f co

nta

min

atio

n an

d u

sin

g

it to

pro

voke

. We

pro

po

sed

pic

kin

g u

p

the

gar

bag

e fr

om

bro

thel

s in

Ista

nb

ul

and

taki

ng

it to

Ein

dh

oven

to b

e p

ut o

n

dis

pla

y th

ere,

an

d th

en d

oin

g si

mila

r re

sear

ch in

the

nei

gh

bo

urh

oo

d, a

s th

e br

othe

ls in

Ista

nbul

wer

e al

so v

ery

clos

e to

the

ven

ues

of t

he

Bie

nnia

l. T

he

idea

ha

d to

do

wit

h tr

ansf

erri

ng

mat

eria

ls

fro

m T

urke

y an

d d

ealin

g w

ith

this

tran

s-fe

r ac

ross

tran

snat

ion

al b

ord

ers.

PM

/hM

: In

ligh

t of y

our

exp

erie

nce

s w

ith

xurb

an’s

pro

po

sal f

or

the

9th

Is

tan

bul

Bie

nn

ial,

ho

w d

o yo

u p

erce

ive

the

curr

ent p

oss

ibili

ties

and

per

ils o

f p

olit

ical

art

?

gu

ven

inci

rlio

glu

: I th

ink

we’

ve m

ore

to

do

wit

h th

e id

ea o

f ‘ar

t’ th

an p

olit

ics.

O

f co

urse

po

litic

s p

lays

a v

ery

big

ro

le. I

n an

y ca

se w

e tr

y to

co

me

up

w

ith

spec

ific

con

ten

t an

d d

eal w

ith

sp

ecifi

c is

sues

. Bu

t in

the

end

, wh

at

we’

re p

rod

uci

ng

is a

rt, a

wo

rk o

f art

. It

alw

ays

has

so

met

hin

g ve

ry p

arti

cula

r,

and

a lo

t of t

imes

it c

an b

e ve

ry p

oet

ic.

It’s

no

t ju

st a

bo

ut w

ritin

g o

r ab

ou

t m

anif

estin

g so

met

hin

g, n

or

is it

just

ab

ou

t co

mm

entin

g. A

ph

oto

gra

ph

or

a vi

deo

is s

om

ethi

ng

com

ple

te in

itse

lf,

and

alth

ou

gh

it m

igh

t hav

e a

po

litic

al

Th

ere

are

man

y su

cces

sful

an

d

arti

cula

te b

ott

om

-up

init

iati

ves

tod

ay.

Th

ere

mu

st b

e a

reas

on

for

this

. On

e ty

pic

al e

xam

ple

that

co

mes

to m

ind

is

‘Bar

efo

ot C

olle

ge’

in In

dia

, a p

roje

ct

that

sta

rted

30

year

s ag

o b

ecau

se o

f th

e fa

ilure

of t

he

stat

e th

ere.

To

day

the

gro

up

is s

ucc

essf

ul n

ot o

nly

bec

ause

th

ey c

an m

anag

e th

eir

ow

n lit

tle

sett

le-

men

t, b

ut a

lso

bec

ause

thei

r st

ren

gth

ac

tual

ly c

om

es fr

om

the

fact

that

they

co

llab

ora

te w

ith

oth

er r

ural

co

m-

mun

itie

s ac

ross

the

wo

rld

– in

Ken

ya,

Erit

rea,

Afg

han

ista

n, s

ou

ther

n In

dia

, N

epal

an

d so

on

. Th

e n

etw

ork

they

p

rod

uce

d is

cro

ss-n

atio

nal

an

d

a ve

ry g

oo

d ex

amp

le o

f th

e st

ren

gth

o

f a n

etw

ork

.

xurban

VO

ID: A

Vie

w fr

om

Acr

op

olis

An

xurb

an c

olle

ctiv

e in

stal

lati

on

pro

ject

at P

latf

orm

Gar

anti

Co

nte

mp

ora

ry A

rt, I

stan

bu

l, 20

06

Tir

ana,

200

6V

isio

nar

ies

of t

he

‘60s

Mee

t Do

ers

of 2

006

IIM

arje

tica

Po

trc

224

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

225

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

agen

da,

it’s

als

o an

en

tity

of i

ts o

wn

–

and

this

is im

po

rtan

t fo

r u

s.I’v

e al

way

s th

ou

gh

t th

e tu

rnin

g p

oin

t w

as p

rob

ably

in th

e 19

90s.

Un

til th

en,

man

y ar

tist

s w

ere

inte

rnal

izin

g is

sues

fr

om

thei

r ex

per

ien

ces.

In th

e 19

90s,

it

seem

s –

at le

ast w

ith

som

e ex

hib

itio

ns

– th

at th

e id

ea o

f en

gag

ing

on

esel

f in

p

olit

ical

issu

es a

nd

tryi

ng

to g

et th

e lo

cal c

om

mun

ity

invo

lved

or

wo

rkin

g

wit

h it

was

par

t of t

he

agen

da.

Eve

n a

loo

k at

the

mai

n th

eme

of t

he

Ista

nb

ul

Bie

nn

ial r

evea

ls th

at th

e is

sues

shi

fted

in

the

1990

s. T

he

Bie

nn

ial i

n 20

01 w

as

enti

tled

Eg

ofu

gal

, ‘E

scap

e fr

om

the

Ego

’, w

hich

sur

e m

ade

sen

se!

In a

ny

case

, th

at’s

wh

at w

as n

eed

ed. S

o, th

is

tren

d st

arte

d in

the

1990

s. T

ho

ug

h in

ce

rtai

n w

ays

I see

wh

at’s

hap

pen

ing

n

ow

to b

e so

met

hin

g lik

e a

dec

line

in

art;

at t

he

sam

e tim

e th

ere’

s a

rise

in

po

litic

s an

d d

issi

den

ce, a

nd

a si

din

g

wit

h g

lob

al r

esis

tan

ce.

For

exam

ple

, thi

s d

eclin

e in

art

was

ve

ry a

pp

aren

t in

the

Ista

nb

ul B

ien

nia

l 20

05. N

ot t

hat

wo

rks

hav

e to

be

per

-fe

ctly

cra

fted

an

d ex

hib

ited

, bu

t I th

ink

the

po

litic

al c

on

ten

t of m

any

artw

ork

s d

oes

n’t

get

acr

oss

du

e to

the

po

or

exec

utio

n o

f th

e p

ho

tog

rap

hs,

vid

eos

and

/or

mat

eria

ls u

sed

. Th

e o

ther

p

rob

lem

has

to d

o w

ith

con

fusi

ng

mis

-si

on

ary

or

soci

al w

ork

wit

h ar

t. T

hes

e ar

e co

mp

lete

ly d

iffe

ren

t fiel

ds:

peo

ple

h

ave

bee

n w

ork

ing

in th

e T

hird

Wo

rld

in A

fric

a an

d A

sia

for

man

y ye

ars;

th

ey h

ave

org

aniz

ed lo

cal c

om

mun

itie

s to

ach

ieve

cer

tain

en

ds

and

imp

rove

p

eop

le’s

live

s, a

nd

so o

n. T

his

is a

form

o

f vo

lun

tary

act

ivis

m, b

ut a

t no

time

hav

e th

ese

ind

ivid

ual

s cl

aim

ed th

ey a

re

do

ing

art.

In a

ny c

ase,

wh

at w

e se

e in

a

lot o

f art

wo

rks

is a

gro

win

g te

nd

ency

to

ble

nd

soci

al a

ctiv

ism

wit

h ar

t, w

hich

is

als

o p

rob

lem

atic

, I s

up

po

se.

PM

/hM

: Do

you

thin

k th

at b

y w

ork

ing

w

ith

thes

e p

aram

eter

s th

ere’

s a

risk

of

pro

du

cin

g co

lon

ial g

estu

res

in w

hich

o

ne

sim

ply

ava

ils o

nes

elf o

f po

litic

al

or

soci

al r

ealit

ies

in s

earc

h o

f ‘ar

tist

ic’

feed

sto

ck?

gu

ven

inci

rlio

glu

: Yes

an

d, n

ow

that

yo

u m

entio

n th

e co

lon

ial,

may

be

I sh

oul

d g

o b

ack

to th

e co

nte

xt o

f Tu

rkey

, or

Ista

nb

ul s

pec

ifica

lly. F

or

exam

ple

, Ed

war

d S

aid

was

for

a lo

ng

tim

e ve

ry w

elco

me

in T

urke

y, in

sch

ol-

arly

cir

cles

, an

d w

hat

he

wro

te in

his

b

oo

k O

rien

talis

m w

as v

ery

rele

van

t,

or

at le

ast i

t see

med

to b

e re

leva

nt f

or

Turk

ey a

t th

e tim

e. A

s yo

u kn

ow

, th

ere

are

also

man

y in

dic

atio

ns

of t

his

coun

-tr

ie s

‘Ori

enta

lizat

ion

’, d

esp

ite

its

bei

ng

a

form

er e

mp

ire

and

mu

ch p

rou

der

(!)

of i

ts p

ast t

han

oth

er c

olo

nia

l or

po

st-

colo

nia

l co

untr

ies.

No

w ti

me

has

pas

sed

, an

d to

day

I t

hin

k th

e id

ea o

f co

lon

izat

ion

is n

ot

very

rel

evan

t at a

ll. I

do

n’t

con

sid

er

an a

rtis

t wh

o co

mes

to Is

tan

bul

an

d

wo

rks

in Is

tan

bul

a n

eo-O

rien

talis

t.

Th

at’s

no

t ho

w th

ing

s w

ork

any

mo

re:

peo

ple

are

mo

re m

ob

ile, a

nd

a lo

t of

thei

r ex

per

ien

ces

hav

e b

eco

me

very

ep

hem

eral

. Man

y o

f us

Turk

s ar

e to

uris

ts, t

oo

: we

can

do

sim

ilar

thin

gs

wh

en w

e g

o to

Ber

lin, t

hat

is, s

tay

for

a co

up

le o

f wee

ks, d

o st

uff

an

d ex

hib

it.

In th

is c

on

text

, I s

ee th

is a

s n

orm

al.

Ad

mit

ted

ly, e

xper

ien

ces

are

oft

en

mo

re s

up

erfi

cial

, bu

t thi

s is

tru

e o

n

all s

ides

. Wh

at’s

mo

re, t

he

view

is n

o

lon

ger

un

idir

ectio

nal

, fro

m th

e W

est

to th

e E

ast,

fro

m c

olo

niz

er to

the

colo

ny. T

he

ph

eno

men

on

of s

up

erfi

cial

ex

per

ien

ce is

glo

bal

. Yet

I w

oul

dn

’t sa

y I s

ee s

om

e ki

nd

of c

on

spir

acy

beh

ind

th

is, i

n te

rms

of n

eo-c

olo

niz

atio

n.

If an

ythi

ng

, th

e co

nsp

irac

y is

bro

ader

; fo

r in

stan

ce y

ou

hav

e th

e U

S, t

he

mili

tary

ind

ust

rial

co

mp

lex

and

mul

ti-

nat

ion

als

invo

lved

in a

co

untr

y. T

he

con

spir

acy

is n

ot o

n th

e le

vel o

f id

eas

or

view

s o

f a c

erta

in p

lace

. It’

s m

ore

ab

ou

t ho

w, f

or

exam

ple

, th

e m

icro

-ec

on

om

y o

f Ist

anb

ul is

ch

ang

ing

ve

ry fa

st, a

lot o

f sh

op

s ar

e cl

osi

ng

, an

d a

gre

at d

eal o

f lo

cal p

rod

uct

ion

an

d ex

chan

ge

is g

ivin

g w

ay to

glo

bal

b

ran

ds,

mul

tinat

ion

als

and

thei

r su

bsi

dia

ries

.

VO

ID: A

Vie

w fr

om

Acr

op

olis

An

xurb

an c

olle

ctiv

e in

stal

lati

on

pro

ject

at P

latf

orm

Gar

anti

C

on

tem

po

rary

Art

, Ist

anb

ul,

2006

xurb

an c

olle

ctiv

e h

as r

esea

rch

ed, o

bse

rved

an

d

inve

stig

ated

th

e fr

amew

ork

of d

ialo

gu

es b

etw

een

the

two

nei

gh

bo

uri

ng

site

s o

f Ber

gam

a an

d th

e ar

ea’s

go

ld

min

es. I

n th

eir

inq

uir

y th

e id

ea o

f ‘a

dig

’ has

bee

n ap

plie

d

liter

ally

an

d co

nce

ptu

ally

to

extr

act a

nd

colle

ct e

vid

ence

o

f sp

aces

bet

wee

n th

e ar

chae

olo

gic

al f

orm

atio

n an

d

the

con

tex

tual

fra

mew

ork

th

at t

he

site

res

ts o

n. E

arth

ta

ken

fro

m t

he

area

of B

erg

ama

and

tran

spo

rted

to

Is

tan

bu

l res

ts in

a m

ou

nd

in t

he

win

do

w o

f Pla

tfo

rm

Gar

anti

as

a sy

mb

ol o

f dig

gin

g, t

ran

sfer

ral a

nd

void

. La

rge

form

at p

ho

tog

rap

hs

dep

ict i

n m

inu

te d

etai

l th

e p

lan

ts t

hat

bla

nke

t th

e ar

chae

olo

gic

al r

uin

s in

a p

ro-

tect

ive

laye

r.

VO

ID: A

Vie

w fr

om

Acr

op

olis

Det

ail

VO

ID: A

Vie

w fr

om

Acr

op

olis

Inst

alla

tio

n vi

ewV

OID

: A V

iew

fro

m A

cro

po

lisD

etai

l

226

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

227

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

as n

ot b

ein

g ju

st a

bo

ut i

nfo

rmat

ion

, b

ut a

lso

abo

ut l

egit

imiz

ing

info

rmat

ion

, o

r em

po

wer

ing

info

rmat

ion

, I th

ink

‘ed

uca

tion

’ mig

ht b

e ab

le to

sta

nd

in

a q

uit

e ab

stra

ct s

ense

for

a ve

ry

po

wer

ful s

oci

al p

roce

ss o

f kn

ow

led

ge

dis

trib

utio

n. T

her

e is

a k

ind

of g

rou

p

or

con

text

, a b

ig o

r sm

all a

ud

ien

ce o

r p

ub

lic s

ph

ere

wh

ere

this

info

rmat

ion

is

sh

ared

, an

d w

her

e it

has

a c

erta

in

pla

usi

bili

ty, o

r is

leg

itim

ized

in th

e p

roce

ss o

f sh

arin

g it

. Of c

our

se, o

ur

Cam

p fo

r O

pp

osi

tion

al A

rch

itect

ure

w

as p

rim

arily

ab

ou

t bu

ildin

g u

p a

soci

al b

asis

for

shar

ing

info

rmat

ion

. T

her

e is

a c

erta

in o

ffen

sive

nai

vety

rela

ted

to th

e id

ea o

f th

e p

latf

orm

an

d

its

soci

al d

imen

sio

ns,

the

crea

tion

of

kno

wle

dg

e, o

r th

e p

roje

ctiv

e d

imen

-si

on

of s

uch

a m

eetin

g. I

t was

no

t eas

y at

all

to fi

gur

e o

ut w

hat

our

co

mm

on

p

ositi

on in

rel

atio

n to

mai

nst

ream

arc

hi-

tect

ure

mig

ht b

e. S

o to

giv

e it

as W

e er

e q

uit

epeo

ple

the

call

and

wer

e ev

en

inte

rest

ed in

.Tw

her

e lo

t of .

Th

e m

ere

idea

of t

his

cam

p g

ener

ated

mea

nin

g:

on

e un

der

sco

rin

g th

e ex

iste

nce

of a

ki

nd

of o

pp

osi

tion

al a

rchi

tect

ure.

Thi

s m

igh

t so

und

stra

ng

e, b

ecau

se s

uch

ar

chit

ectu

re is

reg

ard

ed a

s im

po

ssib

le,

bu

t th

at w

as e

xact

ly th

e p

oin

t. A

fter

the

seco

nd

Op

po

sitio

nal

Cam

p in

Utr

ech

t la

st y

ear,

and

pre

par

ing

on

e in

Vie

nn

a/

Bra

tisl

ava

and

in Is

tan

bul

, thi

s se

ems

to h

ave

bee

n a

go

od

star

ting

po

int

for

div

erse

theo

reti

cal a

nd

pra

ctic

al

dis

cuss

ion

s.

PM

/hM

: Ho

w w

oul

d yo

u d

escr

ibe

the

rela

tion

ship

bet

wee

n yo

ur w

ork

ing

m

eth

od

s an

d th

e p

olit

ical

an

d ec

on

om

-ic

rea

litie

s o

f Ber

lin to

day

, wh

ere

ther

e is

no

t mu

ch o

ffici

al w

ork

for

arch

itec

ts,

yet a

n ab

und

ance

of e

xper

imen

tal

pro

ject

s o

n in

ters

titia

l sp

aces

?

Jesk

o fe

zer:

Th

ere

are

new

res

tric

tion

s an

d n

ew p

olit

ical

co

nce

pts

of i

ncl

usi

on

, b

ut t

he

qu

estio

n o

f ho

w a

rchi

tect

ure

wo

rks

in th

e fi

eld

of p

olit

ical

eco

no

my

is in

a w

ay s

till t

he

sam

e. T

he

eco

n-

om

y an

d th

e p

olit

ical

sys

tem

mo

dif

y th

emse

lves

all

the

time,

bu

t ho

w th

ey

rela

te to

the

bu

ilt e

nvir

on

men

t is

still

ve

ry p

rob

lem

atic

, an

d it

is o

f co

urse

ex

trem

ely

imp

ort

ant t

o th

ink

abo

ut

ho

w a

rchi

tect

ure

mig

ht r

edefi

ne

its

rela

tion

to th

e p

olit

ical

an

d ec

on

om

ic

sph

ere.

Wh

at is

its

role

in th

e d

om

inan

t co

nce

pts

in u

nd

er p

eop

le O

n th

e o

ther

h

and

, arc

hite

ctur

e h

as to

dis

cuss

the

role

eco

no

mie

s p

lay

in th

e fo

rma-

tion

of a

cit

y o

r ev

en a

loca

l sp

ace.

T

he

on

ly c

han

ce w

e h

ave,

as

I un

der

-st

and

it, i

s to

inve

nt c

erta

in s

pac

es o

f fr

eed

om

aw

ay fr

om

ove

rwh

elm

ing

ec

on

om

ic p

ress

ures

an

d p

olit

ical

in

stit

utio

nal

izat

ion

.

Thi

s ca

n o

nly

be

achi

eved

by

step

-p

ing

acti

vely

an

d co

nsc

iou

sly

into

th

e fl

exib

le r

ealm

s o

f th

e ec

on

om

ic

sph

ere,

an

d th

e st

able

hie

rarc

hies

an

d

dis

cour

se o

f th

e p

olit

ical

. As

a ru

le th

is

has

bee

n un

der

take

n ei

ther

as

a n

eo-

liber

al p

roje

ct th

at u

ses

and

red

uce

s th

e st

ate

and

thu

s p

olit

ics

in o

rder

to

let t

he

eco

no

my

unfo

ld it

s p

ow

ers,

o

r as

a m

ore

or

less

so

cial

ist p

roje

ct

that

trie

s to

res

trai

n th

e ec

on

om

y b

y st

ren

gth

enin

g th

e st

ate.

Un

fort

unat

ely

this

was

wh

at a

rchi

tect

s d

id th

rou

gh

-o

ut t

he

last

cen

tury

– th

ey b

rou

gh

t in

a b

it m

ore

sta

te a

nd

a b

it m

ore

eco

no

my

than

they

had

ori

gin

ally

inte

nd

ed. B

ut

ho

w a

bo

ut a

co

nce

pt o

f po

litic

s th

at

is n

ot i

n n

eed

of a

nat

ion

stat

e an

d

its

reg

ulat

ion

s, o

ne

that

get

s ri

d o

f n

eolib

eral

co

nsi

der

atio

ns

entir

ely?

Ye

t to

thin

k ab

out t

his

and

how

it w

ould

al

low

arc

hite

cts

to p

osi

tion

soci

al li

fe

in s

pac

e, to

reo

rgan

ize

the

econ

om

y in

sp

ace

and

to o

pen

po

lit ic

al d

isco

urse

s in

sp

ace,

wo

uld

be

an in

tere

stin

g

op

po

rtun

ity

to s

tart

re d

efin

ing

such

co

nsi

der

atio

ns.

Of c

our

se, i

n m

om

ents

o

f sh

ifts

in p

ow

er, b

e it

in th

e co

nce

p-

tio

n o

f th

e se

lf, th

e ec

on

om

y o

r th

e p

olit

ical

sp

her

e, th

e en

suin

g co

nfu

sio

n

is –

to p

ut i

t op

tim

isti

cally

– a

lway

s a

gre

at c

han

ce.

PM

/hM

: Yo

u w

ork

wit

h a

vari

ety

of

very

dif

fere

nt f

orm

ats

in th

e fi

eld

of

arch

itec

ture

: yo

u ar

e p

art o

f th

e co

llec-

tive

beh

ind

Pro

qm

bo

oks

ho

p, y

ou

are

co-e

dit

or

of A

n A

rch

itekt

ur

mag

azin

e as

wel

l as

a p

ract

isin

g ar

chit

ect.

Ho

w

do

all t

hes

e d

iffe

ren

t fo

rmat

s in

tera

ct

wit

h o

ne

ano

ther

?

Jesk

o fe

zer:

I th

ink

it is

qu

ite

imp

os-

sib

le to

pra

ctic

e ar

chit

ectu

re w

ith

ou

t ta

lkin

g ab

ou

t po

litic

s an

d it

is im

po

s-si

ble

to w

ork

as

in th

e cu

ltur

al s

ph

ere

wit

ho

ut r

eflec

ting

on

the

soci

al d

yna-

mic

s o

f urb

an li

fe. I

t is

also

imp

oss

ible

to

thin

k ab

ou

t th

ese

thin

gs

wit

ho

ut

rela

ting

to o

ther

peo

ple

wo

rkin

g in

th

e fi

eld

and

wit

ho

ut t

ryin

g to

bu

ild a

re

lati

on

ship

wit

h th

e p

ub

lic, n

o m

atte

r h

ow

su

ch a

pu

blic

mig

ht b

e. S

o th

e fo

rmat

s –

for

exam

ple

, do

ing

a m

aga-

zin

e, h

avin

g a

bo

oks

ho

p, w

ork

ing

as

an a

rch

itec

t or

as a

n ar

tist

– a

lway

s h

ave

to d

o w

ith

the

qu

esti

on

of a

ud

i-en

ce a

nd

use

rs, w

ith

the

qu

esti

on

of

dis

cip

line

and

self

-refl

ecti

on

in te

rms

of a

po

litic

al u

nd

erst

and

ing

of w

hat

cu

ltu

ral p

rod

uct

ion

mea

ns.

For

me

this

has

alw

ays

bee

n a

step

-b

y-st

ep th

ing

: yo

u w

ork

on

a ce

rtai

n

pro

ject

an

d th

en y

ou

real

ize

that

yo

u

nee

d a

cert

ain

form

at to

ful

fil w

hat

yo

u w

ant t

o d

o o

r sa

y, a

nd

you

nee

d

to c

oo

per

ate

wit

h ce

rtai

n p

eop

le, a

nd

fin

d o

ut a

bo

ut t

her

ire

inte

rest

s an

d

agen

das

. Or

you

real

ize

that

cer

tain

q

ues

tion

s co

me

up

in th

e p

roce

ss o

f a

pro

ject

, an

d th

en y

ou

occ

up

y yo

urse

lf

wit

h th

e is

sue,

yo

u re

ad a

bo

ok

abo

ut

it, o

r yo

u m

eet s

om

e p

eop

le. O

n th

e o

ther

han

d, o

f co

urse

, th

ere

are

the

fi-

nan

cial

dyn

amic

s b

ehin

d al

l thi

s, w

hich

m

ean

s yo

u h

ave

to h

ave

a jo

b to

mak

e m

on

ey fo

r th

e n

ext h

alf y

ear.

Su

ch a

jo

b, fo

r ex

amp

le, a

job

in th

e ac

adem

ic

con

text

, wh

ere

I hav

e h

ad d

iffe

ren

t te

achi

ng

po

sitio

ns,

can

en

able

yo

u to

d

evel

op

a p

roje

ct. O

n th

e o

ther

han

d,

the

idea

of t

he

bo

oks

ho

p d

evel

op

ed

in th

e co

nte

xt o

f do

ing

pro

ject

-bas

ed

wo

rk o

ver

seve

ral y

ears

, lik

e ex

hib

i-tio

ns

or

oth

er c

ultu

ral s

pac

es fo

r p

olit

-ic

al d

isco

urse

s. It

evo

lved

ou

t of t

he

dile

mm

a th

at y

ou

nee

d, f

or

inst

ance

, a

bar

or

clu

b th

at is

wo

rkin

g w

ell i

n

ord

er to

mak

e yo

ur fi

lm. I

tho

ug

ht i

t w

oul

d b

e ea

sier

to c

reat

e th

at k

ind

of

bas

ic e

con

om

ic s

tru

ctur

e w

ith

a b

oo

k-sh

op

. So,

in a

way

, it h

as b

een

a ve

ry

auto

bio

gra

phi

cal d

evel

op

men

t, an

d it

w

oul

d b

e d

iffi

cult

for

me

to fi

nd

a m

ore

g

ener

al li

ne

in th

is p

roce

ss.

PM

/hM

: Ho

w d

id A

n A

rch

itekt

ur

en

ter

the

equ

atio

n?

Jesk

o fe

zer:

Th

e m

agaz

ine

An

A

rch

itekt

ur

was

a c

on

tinu

atio

n o

f an

arc

hite

ctur

e st

ud

ent p

roje

ct w

e es

tab

lish

ed in

the

mid

-199

0s a

t

the

Un

iver

sity

of A

rts

in B

erlin

. We

foun

ded

an

op

en g

rou

p o

f 15

or

20

peo

ple

cal

led

Frei

es F

ach

– it

was

a

kin

d o

f sel

f-tr

ain

ing

cour

se o

n p

olit

ical

an

d ec

on

om

ic q

ues

tion

s in

the

fiel

d

of a

rchi

tect

ure

and

urb

an d

esig

n. I

t w

as a

lso

an a

ctiv

ist g

rou

p ag

ain

st

the

reva

nch

ist r

edes

ign

of B

erlin

in a

n

eo-t

rad

itio

nal

man

ner

that

em

ph

a-si

zed

eco

no

mic

, bu

dg

etar

y m

atte

rs.

We

had

a lo

t of s

emin

ars,

rea

din

gs,

d

iscu

ssio

ns

and

reg

ular

dem

on

stra

-tio

ns

and

pu

blic

act

ion

s in

Ber

lin. J

ust

w

hen

we

sto

pp

ed w

ork

ing

as F

reie

s Fa

ch, w

e w

ere

invi

ted

to th

e ex

hib

itio

n

Vio

len

ce is

at t

he

Mar

gin

of A

ll Th

ing

s o

rgan

ized

by

An

dre

as S

iekm

ann

and

A

lice

Cre

isch

er. W

e to

ok

the

occ

asio

n

to r

ethi

nk

our

wo

rk, t

ho

ug

h n

ot s

ole

ly

in a

Ber

lin-b

ased

co

nte

xt, b

ecau

se

this

was

bec

om

ing

in m

any

way

s to

o

con

fined

for

us:

all

the

issu

es o

f its

dul

l co

nse

rvat

ive

arch

itec

ture

, th

e o

ng

oin

g

pri

vatiz

atio

n o

f th

e p

ub

lic r

ealm

an

d

the

raci

st d

iscr

imin

atio

n th

at a

re s

till

very

imp

ort

ant t

o d

iscu

ss in

this

cit

y.

Esp

ecia

lly o

ur b

ein

g cr

itic

al o

f wh

at

was

hap

pen

ing

in B

erlin

arc

hite

ctur

ally

b

ecam

e to

o n

arro

w o

r to

o b

ori

ng

or

was

no

t co

nn

ecte

d to

qu

estio

ns

that

w

e fo

und

imp

ort

ant.

An

d w

e th

ou

gh

t it

wo

uld

be

inte

rest

ing

to h

ave

a fo

rmat

lik

e a

mag

azin

e th

at c

laim

s to

be

a re

al

arch

itec

ture

mag

azin

e an

d cl

aim

s to

h

ave

a re

al a

ud

ien

ce –

a b

road

au

di-

ence

, or

let’

s sa

y a

bro

ad a

ud

ien

ce fo

r ar

chit

ectu

re. I

n a

way

, we

con

tinu

ed o

n

wit

h th

e sa

me

und

erst

and

ing

of a

rchi

-te

ctur

e as

we

had

had

in F

reie

s Fa

ch,

bu

t no

t on

the

leve

l of a

ctiv

ism

bu

t of

dis

cour

se. W

ith

this

exh

ibit

ion

, we

had

a

bu

dg

et to

res

earc

h th

e is

sue

of s

ecu

-ri

ty a

nd

its

imp

act o

n ar

chit

ectu

re, s

o

we

tho

ug

ht:

let’

s st

art u

p a

mag

azin

e w

ith

that

mo

ney

an

d co

ntin

ue

on

.

PM

/hM

: Man

y o

f th

e th

ing

s yo

u ar

e in

volv

ed in

hav

e to

do

wit

h ed

uca

tion

o

r se

lf-ed

uca

tion

, su

ch a

s th

e C

amp

for

Op

po

sitio

nal

Arc

hite

ctu

re. W

hy d

id y

ou

d

evel

op

this

par

ticu

lar

app

roac

h an

d

wh

at w

ere

your

exp

erie

nce

s?

Jesk

o fe

zer:

Th

e q

ues

tion

of e

du

ca-

tion

is v

ery

inte

rest

ing

, th

ou

gh

I had

n

ever

tho

ug

ht a

bo

ut i

t in

the

way

yo

u

just

use

d it

– as

an

und

erly

ing

con

cep

t;

bu

t I c

an r

elat

e to

it a

s so

met

hin

g th

at

is a

bo

ut t

he

dis

trib

utio

n o

f in

form

atio

n

and

kno

wle

dg

e. If

we

defi

ne

edu

catio

n

Jesko fezer

‘Hie

r en

tste

ht’

Jesk

o Fe

zer

& M

ath

ias

Hey

den

, Vo

lksb

üh

ne

am

Ro

sa-L

uxe

mb

urg

-Pla

tz a

nd

Ers

atzS

tad

t, B

erlin

, 200

3

Cam

p fo

r O

pp

osi

tio

nal

Arc

hit

ectu

reS

leep

ing

acco

mm

od

atio

ns,

Ber

lin, 2

004

An

Arc

hit

ektu

r 16

Mat

eria

l on

Dav

id H

arve

y Fl

exib

le A

kku

mu

lati

on

du

rch

Urb

anis

ieru

ng

, co

ver,

200

6

228

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

229

Trad

ing

Pla

ces

Inte

rvie

w

stru

ctur

e. U

rban

min

ori

ty s

ex w

ork

ers

are

amo

ng

tho

se e

xclu

ded

. Th

ey h

ave

no

bas

ic c

ivil

or

hu

man

rig

hts

. In

man

y co

untr

ies

thei

r w

ork

is n

ot r

eco

gn

ized

as

wo

rk a

t all.

Th

ey a

re s

tigm

atiz

ed,

vict

imiz

ed a

nd

bru

taliz

ed. T

hey

mu

st

org

aniz

e an

d ra

ise

thei

r vo

ices

if th

ey

wan

t to

surv

ive.

Aft

er th

e fa

ll o

f th

e B

erlin

Wal

l, w

e ex

per

ien

ced

a m

assi

ve fl

ow

of m

igra

nt

pro

stit

utio

n in

to W

este

rn E

uro

pe.

Th

e W

este

rn c

oun

trie

s w

ere

no

t pre

par

ed

for

this

new

sit

uat

ion

. Co

untr

ies

that

h

ad d

evel

op

ed a

n ad

van

ced

po

licy

to-

war

ds

sex

wo

rk o

ver

the

pre

vio

us

dec

-

ades

foun

d th

emse

lves

in a

dile

mm

a:

du

e to

the

chan

ged

co

n d

itio

ns

of t

he

new

glo

bal

eco

no

my,

thei

r le

gis

latio

n

turn

ed o

ut t

o b

e o

utd

ated

an

d u

sele

ss

– a

situ

atio

n th

at b

rou

gh

t on

a n

ew

stat

e o

f ch

aos.

Th

e W

orl

d C

on

gre

ss o

f Sex

Wo

rker

s an

d N

ew P

aras

itis

m in

200

1 w

as

the

first

pu

blic

man

ifes

tatio

n o

f th

e C

OD

E:R

ED p

roje

ct. T

his

pro

ject

em

erg

ed a

s a

con

seq

uen

ce o

f our

co

-op

erat

ion

wit

h C

om

itat

o p

er i

Dir

itti

C

ivili

del

le P

rost

itu

te fr

om

Po

rden

on

e,

on

e o

f th

e le

adin

g o

rgan

izat

ion

s fo

r th

e p

rote

ctio

n o

f sex

wo

rker

s in

Ital

y.

It to

ok

pla

ce w

ithi

n th

e fr

amew

ork

of

the

49th

Ven

ice

Bie

nn

ale

in a

pu

blic

sp

ace,

a te

nt,

at G

iard

ini a

nd

was

cal

led

P

rost

itu

te P

avili

on

(Pad

iglio

ne

del

le

Pro

stit

ute

). T

he

con

gre

ss w

as c

on

-ce

ived

as

a cr

eati

ve p

latf

orm

for

con

-n

ectio

ns,

exc

han

ge

and

info

rmat

ion

. T

he

list o

f th

e p

arti

cip

atin

g g

rou

ps

and

o

rgan

izat

ion

s in

clu

ded

gro

up

acti

vist

s an

d in

div

idu

als

fro

m T

aiw

an, T

hai

lan

d,

Cam

bo

dia

, Vie

tnam

, Ita

ly, G

erm

any,

th

e U

S a

nd

Au

stra

lia. A

no

ther

rec

ent

inte

rest

ing

join

t pro

ject

is C

OD

E:R

ED

Bra

zil,

Das

pu,

initi

ated

in

colla

bor

atio

n

wit

h D

avid

a. D

avid

a is

a n

on

-pro

fit

orga

niza

tion

foun

ded

in R

io d

e Ja

neir

o

in 1

992

to p

rom

ote

the

incl

usi

on

of

pros

titu

tes

as c

itize

ns.

The

mai

n to

ols

of

the

Dav

ida

grou

p ar

e ac

tion

s an

d in

ter-

ven

tion

s in

to th

e fie

lds

of e

duca

tion,

hea

lth,

do

cum

enta

tion

, co

mm

unic

a-tio

n an

d cu

ltur

e. In

200

5 it

esta

blis

hed

a

fash

ion

bra

nd

calle

d D

asp

u. I

n le

ss

than

a y

ear

this

fash

ion

bra

nd

bec

ame

fam

ou

s, n

atio

nal

ly a

nd

inte

rnat

ion

ally

. B

esid

e p

rost

itu

tes,

yo

ung

des

ign

ers

and

inte

rnat

ion

ally

ren

ow

ned

mo

del

s jo

ined

to c

olla

bo

rate

on

the

pro

ject

. T

his

is a

tru

e su

cces

s st

ory

. Sin

ce th

en

we

hav

e d

on

e p

roje

cts

wit

h d

iffe

ren

t g

rou

ps

fro

m N

ew Y

ork

, Tir

ana,

Mad

rid

, G

raz,

Po

rden

on

e, B

erlin

, etc

.

PM

/hM

: Ho

w d

o yo

u fe

el a

bo

ut t

he

stra

ng

e b

len

d o

f op

timis

tic

inte

rest

in

tran

sitio

nal

sp

aces

that

are

ch

arac

ter-

ized

by

self-

org

aniz

ed n

etw

ork

s o

n th

e o

ne

han

d, a

nd

the

resu

rgen

t ob

sess

ion

w

ith

spec

ific

geo

gra

phi

es o

n th

e o

ther

?

Tad

ej P

og

acar

: In

the

her

oic

ag

e o

f th

e

Inte

rnet

, op

timis

m s

urg

ed. l

jud

mila

(l

ub

ljan

a d

igit

al m

edia

lab

) in

Lju

blja

na

was

an

imp

ort

ant p

lace

for

the

inte

r-

nat

ion

al n

et a

rt c

om

mun

ity.

Yet

rea

lity

on

ce a

gai

n ca

ug

ht u

p w

ith

us:

we

wer

e b

ein

g to

o id

ealis

tic

wh

en w

e ig

no

red

the

bas

ic r

ules

of g

eog

rap

hy

and

po

litic

s un

der

lyin

g su

ch lo

catio

ns.

T

he

art m

arke

t is

hun

gry

an

d n

eed

s to

re

dis

cove

r R

uss

ia, C

hin

a, F

inla

nd

and

ev

en th

e B

alka

ns.

Wit

ho

ut e

xcep

tion

, re

cen

t sh

ow

s fr

om

the

Bal

kan

s h

ave

refl

ecte

d W

este

rn s

tere

oty

pes

an

d

pre

jud

ices

; th

ey d

o n

ot g

ive

a p

rop

er

pic

ture

of c

ultu

ral p

rod

uct

ion

in th

e B

alka

n re

gio

n. Y

et th

ere

are

still

sm

all,

ind

ivid

ual

an

d se

lf-o

rgan

ized

init

iati

ves

in S

ou

th A

mer

ica,

the

Un

ited

Sta

tes,

E

aste

rn E

uro

pe,

Asi

a...

Th

ey h

ave

n

ot f

org

ott

en w

hat

no

tion

s lik

e co

-o

per

atio

n, t

he

pas

t or

solid

arit

y m

ean

. W

hat

is m

ore

, th

ey w

ork

loca

lly a

nd

th

is m

akes

it p

oss

ible

to c

han

ge

and

im

pro

ve lo

cal c

on

dit

ion

s. O

nce

mo

re

I’d li

ke to

em

ph

asiz

e: fo

r u

s st

rate

gie

s o

f mo

bili

ty a

nd

ado

pta

bili

ty a

re v

ery

imp

ort

ant –

like

par

asit

es in

nat

ure,

w

e h

ave

to b

e sm

all a

nd

clev

er to

re

cog

niz

e hi

dd

en c

han

nel

s an

d p

ath

s th

rou

gh

div

erse

terr

ito

ries

.

PM

/hM

: P.A

.R.A

.S.I.

T.E

. Mu

seu

m is

a

virt

ual

mu

seu

m a

nd

was

init

iate

d

in 1

993,

at a

tim

e w

hen

phy

sica

l sit

es

in th

e B

alka

ns

wer

e hi

gh

ly c

on

test

ed.

You

pro

po

sed

som

ethi

ng

that

hap

pen

s w

ith

ou

t pro

per

phy

sica

lity.

Wh

at w

as

the

con

cep

t beh

ind

this

mov

e?

Tad

ej P

og

acar

: We

can

des

crib

e P.

A.R

.A.S

.I.T.

E. M

useu

m a

s a

notio

nal,

para

llel a

rt in

stit

utio

n, a

mob

ile s

piri

t-u

al e

nti

ty th

at e

stab

lish

es s

pec

ific

inte

rrel

atio

nsh

ips

amo

ng

a va

riet

y o

f su

bje

cts,

so

ciet

ies,

inst

itu

tion

s,

soci

al g

rou

ps

and

sym

bo

lic n

et-

wo

rks.

Th

e P.

A.R

.A.S

.I.T.

E. M

use

um

o

f Co

nte

mp

ora

ry A

rt d

oes

n’t

hav

e it

s o

wn

pre

mis

es o

r st

aff,

bu

t rat

her

ad

op

ts te

rrit

ori

es, c

ho

ose

s d

iffe

ren

t sp

aces

an

d fe

eds

on

the

juic

es o

f oth

er

inst

itu

tion

s. A

s a

‘par

alle

l art

inst

itu

-tio

n’ i

t ser

ves

as a

cri

tica

l mo

del

for

anal

ysin

g th

e sy

stem

s an

d th

e in

stit

u-

tion

s w

ithi

n it

, an

d as

a fr

amew

ork

for

the

intr

od

uct

ion

of a

lter

nat

ive

form

s o

f co

mm

unic

atio

n an

d th

e es

tab

lish

men

t o

f new

co

nn

ectio

ns.

Its

op

erat

ion

s ar

e n

ot b

ased

pri

mar

ily o

n th

e p

rod

uc-

tion

of o

bje

cts,

bu

t on

the

crea

tion

o

f sit

uat

ion

s an

d th

e cu

l tiv

atio

n o

f re

latio

nsh

ips.

O

ur e

arly

inte

rven

tion

s in

mu

seu

ms

rais

ed q

ues

tion

s ab

ou

t ord

er a

nd

kn

ow

led

ge:

Ho

w a

re th

ey p

rod

uce

d

and

stru

ctur

ed?

Ho

w a

re th

ey p

os-

sess

ed, t

ran

smit

ted

, an

d u

sed

? A

no

ther

, clo

sely

rel

ated

issu

e w

as th

at

of s

oci

al v

isib

ility

: we

qu

estio

n w

hat

w

e se

e an

d w

hat

we

fail

to s

ee, w

hat

w

e co

nsi

der

‘nat

ural

’ an

d w

hat

we

fin

d d

istu

rbin

g. W

e’ve

inte

rven

ed in

ar

t mu

seu

ms,

per

man

ent a

nd

pri

vate

co

llect

ion

s as

wel

l as

hist

ory

an

d

nat

ural

his

tory

mu

seu

ms,

etc

.

Ove

r th

e ye

ars

we

hav

e ev

olv

ed o

ur

ow

n o

per

atio

nal

str

ateg

y, c

alle

d ‘n

ew

par

asit

ism

’. It

can

be

des

crib

ed a

s a

sub

tle

dec

on

stru

ctio

n o

f th

e h

ori

zon

s o

f th

e ev

eryd

ay a

nd

a re

len

tles

s ch

al-

len

gin

g o

f th

e so

cial

sys

tem

s u

sed

to

esta

blis

h ce

ntr

aliz

ing

forc

es, d

om

in-

ance

, an

d p

ow

er in

eve

ryd

ay li

fe, a

rt

and

soci

ety.

We

rem

ix, a

pp

rop

riat

e,

red

irec

t an

d co

nfo

und

rece

nt s

tate

s an

d o

rder

s. S

om

e in

terv

entio

ns

hav

e q

ues

tion

ed th

e o

rder

an

d hi

erar

chy

of

inst

itu

tion

s; o

ther

s, th

eir

ideo

log

ies

and

the

hid

den

log

ic o

f th

eir

colle

c-tio

ns.

An

exam

ple

: in

a cu

ltur

al in

stit

u-

tion

in L

jub

ljan

a (w

hich

was

tem

po

rary

d

ecla

red

a P.

A.R

.A.S

.I.T.

E. M

use

um

si

te) w

e p

rep

ared

– in

ad

dit

ion

to a

n

exhi

bit

ion

– an

offi

cial

mee

ting

wit

h

the

entir

e st

aff i

n o

rder

to in

tro

du

ce m

e as

thei

r n

ew d

irec

tor.

Th

ey w

ere

also

in

form

ed th

at fo

r th

e n

ext m

on

th th

ey

wo

uld

hav

e to

follo

w n

ew r

ules

an

d

ord

ers,

for

they

wer

e n

ow

em

plo

yees

o

f P.A

.R.A

.S.I.

T.E

. Mu

seu

m. O

f co

urse

th

ey fo

und

this

co

nfu

sin

g...

PM

/hM

: Yo

u h

ave

pro

du

ced

a se

ries

o

f wo

rks

on

hu

man

traf

fick

ing

and

sex

wo

rk in

whi

ch y

ou

colla

bo

rate

wit

h fa

r le

ss in

stit

utio

nal

ized

gro

up

s. H

ow

did

th

is e

ng

agem

ent w

ith

mar

gin

aliz

ed

com

mun

itie

s co

me

abo

ut?

Tad

ej P

og

acar

: In

the

mid

-199

0s

our

inte

rest

shi

fted

mo

re to

the

city

, es

pec

ially

to u

rban

min

ori

ties

and

p

ub

lic s

pac

e: u

nco

ded

sp

aces

, n

on

-sp

aces

, ap

pro

pri

atio

n o

f pu

blic

sp

ace,

etc

. We

intr

od

uce

d co

llab

ora

-ti

ve w

ays

of w

ork

ing

bas

ed o

n eq

ual

p

artn

ersh

ips.

In 1

999

we

init

iate

d t

he

pro

ject

C

OD

E:R

ED a

s an

on

go

ing

co

llab

-o

rati

ve, i

nte

rdis

cip

linar

y p

latf

orm

for

dis

cuss

ion

and

rese

arch

into

mo

del

s

of s

elf-

org

aniz

atio

n o

f urb

an m

ino

r-it

ies,

glo

bal

sex

wo

rk, a

nd

hu

man

tr

affi

ckin

g. T

his

pla

tfo

rm u

ses

bo

th r

eal

and

virt

ual

sp

aces

, an

d ta

kes

the

form

o

f an

op

en d

ialo

gu

e b

etw

een

arti

sts,

se

x w

ork

ers

and

the

pu

blic

in s

elec

ted

ur

ban

env

iro

nm

ents

. CO

DE

:RED

em

-p

loys

var

iou

s fo

rms

of p

ub

lic a

ctio

n,

acti

vism

an

d su

bve

rsio

ns

in m

edia

. It

is c

lear

that

co

nte

mp

ora

ry s

oci

ety

still

d

raw

s a

shar

p lin

e b

etw

een

the

gro

up

s it

sees

as

insi

de

soci

ety

and

tho

se it

vi

ews

as o

uts

ide.

In o

rder

to s

urvi

ve,

tho

se e

xclu

ded

are

forc

ed to

org

an-

ize

them

selv

es a

nd

ho

w th

ey d

o so

is

rad

ical

ly d

iffe

ren

t fro

m th

ose

wh

ose

id

enti

ty is

par

t of a

‘leg

itim

ate’

so

cial

Tadej Pogacar

CO

DE

:RED

Ven

ice

Red

Um

bre

llas

Mar

ch, V

enic

e, 2

001

CO

DE

:RED

US

AS

tree

t med

ia, N

ew Y

ork

, 200

2

CO

DE

:RED

Ban

gko

kLe

ctu

re b

y A

na

Lop

es, S

par

was

ser

HQ

, Ber

lin, 2

005

mo

nA

po

ly –

A H

um

an T

rad

e G

ame

Ed

itio

n o

f 50

sig

ned

an

d n

um

ber

ed g

ames

, 200

4