As part of the EU.TOPIA season at la Gaîté Lyrique, the media We are Europe is taking over the first-floor of the Parisian venue for a series of talks bringing together artists as well as cultural and media players from all over Europe. From Porto to Tbilisi, Kyiv or Budapest, the series of talks will present initiatives, stories and realities of different personalities in the European cultural and media sphere. Imagined as a geopolitical atlas of live culture, this cycle aims at outlining the contours of another Europe, embodied by projects and personalities with artistic visions and alternative narratives capable of addressing the major challenges of our time.
This live talk at la Gaîté Lyrique will gather both in-person and online speakers to share their local experiences remotely. All talks will be held in English.
➔ February 22nd - Ukraine: Cultural Life, Two Years Later
19:00 - 21:00
Two years after the start of the massive invasion of Ukraine by Russia, We are Europe gives a platform to the Ukrainian cultural and artistic scene to report on the state of the ecosystem that persists in carrying out projects despite the current context. From Lviv to Kharkiv, passing through Kyiv, this program reveals the realities in which artists and cultural actors operate during wartime.
In partnership with Institut ukrainien and Kometa
With :
- Ukrainian Institute (speaker to come)
- Anton Nazarko (Some People l UA) - online
- Bozhena Pelenska (Jam Factory Art Center l UA) - online : Bozhena Pelenska is the program and executive director of the Jam Factory Art Center, a contemporary art center based in Lviv, Ukraine.
- Haydée Sabéran (Kometa l FR) : Haydée Sabéran is deputy editor-in-chief of Kometa, a magazine looking towards the East to understand today’s world.
- Anastasiia SYRADOIEVA (∄ l UA) - online : Anastasiia Syradoieva is head of ∄, a cultural institution located in Kyiv, Ukraine and co-founder of the volunteer organisation fighting for sovereignty and freedom of Ukraine AIDx10.
➔ March 21st - The independence of the cultural sector and the media in Europe
19:00 - 21:00
At a time of massive takeovers in the cultural and media sectors and questions about the ideological intrusion of these buyers, the polysemy of the term independence makes it difficult to take a clear and complex stance. Whether economic or intellectual independence, practical or systemic dependence, the inner workings of what constitutes the independent cultural and media sector seem inaccessible and incomprehensible. We are Europe examines these realities within three specific and exemplary sectors: cinema, media, and music, between dependence, independence and interdependence.
In partnership with Reset! network.
- Julien Gathy (Magma | BE) - online : Julien Gathy is co-founder of Magma, a Brussels-based collective, label and management agency with which he promotes artists from a wide spectrum of alternative music.
- Yauheni Kryzhanouski (OPC) - en plateau : Yauheni Kryzhanouski is a searcher and Political Science professor. He also works for the Observatory of Cultural Policies, a national independent agency focused on cultural policy issues.
- Vesna Milosavljevic (SEEcult | Serbie) - online : Vesna Milosavljević is editor and director of the SEEcult.org portal for South-East European culture.
- Monica Sebestyen (Cinema Arta, RO) - online : Monica Sebestyen is the director of Cinema Arta, a historic independent cinema and cultural venue in Cluj, Romania.
➔ April 17th : Towards a more inclusive European cultural scene for people with disabilities?
19:00 - 21:00
What arrangements have been developed by players from Europe's cultural sector to welcome and include people with disabilities? Through showcasing practices from Belgium to Georgia, We are Europe wished to raise the topic of accessibility within our contemporary cultural scenes.
➔ May 23rd - Can festivals and environmental sobriety work together?
19:00 - 21:00
Can the artistic effervescence of a festival and the principles of sobriety work together? At Terraforma, in Milan, the issue of sobriety is at the very heart of artistic practice and the festival in itself is being rethought. The cooperation TIMES’s also considers environmental sustainability as one of its main objectives, by promote cooperations rather than competitive uses.
In partnership with TIMES
➔ June 20th - Hospitality and solidarity at work in the European cultural and artistic scenes for new comers
19:00 - 21:00
As part of International Refugee Day, We are Europe is opening a discussion on the role of the cultural and artistic spheres in welcoming new arrivals to Europe. By highlighting the contexts in which certain initiatives emerge, this exchange will showcase the solidarity mechanisms promoted by several players in the cultural sector.