Neighbouring

Dominika Belanská & Nomadic Arts Festival team

Born of the curiosity to explore and a wish to understand, the project looks for the qualities of neighbourhood relationships in the diverse area around the busy crossroads of Šancová, Karpatská and Žilinská streets. It aims to nourish the necessary social ties to strengthen the discrete networks in this interesting neighbourhood. To engage with the local residents, the vibrant artistic scene and NGOs, it braids a rope of subsequent actions in both public and private spaces in the area. In the framework of three different formats, these are meant to provide the members of the diverse communities with opportunities to meet and to exchange information and skills and share ideas and emotions. The Small/Big World project was preceded by the informal skills exchange at the local Žilinská market (Exchanges, May 7) and the collective workshop at the Mobile Garden Karpatská community garden (Connections, May 17). The action called Visits, a walk in the neighbourhood with visits and discussions in selected public and private places will take place on June 11. These events should encourage a variety of participants to join and co-define the common ground of the “neighbourhood.”

BIO:

Dominika Belanská (b. 1988) is an architect, placemaker and urban innovator based in Bratislava. She applies participatory planning and cross-sectoral collaboration in city-making, and helps local communities to transform urban spaces into meaningful places. Together with Mads Floor Andersen, Lucia Dubačová, Viktorija Ilioska, Philo van Kemenade, Petra Nagyová and Anna Ulahelová, she organizes the Nomadic Arts Festival, whose third yearly event will take place in September 2016 in Bratislava. The focus of the event is the topic of Neighbourhood and Territory. The festival itself, and also the process of its interdisciplinary and inclusive co-making, provides an opportunity to strengthen and celebrate the social and cultural relations in the neighbourhood, engaging local actors, artists, curators, NGOs and the local community.

www.nomadicartsfestival.com