Europe of the Regions or Province Europe

research project

Workshop 28.08. 16:00 –18:00 / 29.08. 11:00 –13:00 +15:00 –17:00
Lecture and discussion in English 30.08. 18:00
KIBLA, Ulica kneza Koclja 9, Maribor

We are all aware of the phrase „Europe of the regions”. It stands for a Europe which consists not only of several national states, but also of the geo-cultural areas, these states transcend into. While such a European region is often perceived as a region with a specific and unique cultural identity, such segmentation of Europe is not compatible with the ever-persistent regime, bound to nationalistic sovereignty. Maribor – isn’t this also the name of a European region with a hybrid cultural identity that still needs to be defined, especially on the base of language practice and its cultural and political implications? Which is the spoken language of Maribor as a region? The answer can be neither a single homogeneous national language, nor a simple plurality of such languages. The best assumption is the existence of multiple translation processes whose specific cultural and social effects always break the cultural and political framework of Europe apart. A Europe of the regions only makes sense in a Europe, perceiving itself as a region of a global ever-changing World.

Participants:

Boris Buden (Berlin), Helene Breitenfellner (Maribor), Josip Rastko Mocnik (Ljubljana), Mate Kapovič (Zagreb), Birgit Mennel (Vienna), Stefan Nowotny (Vienna), Saso Furlan (Ljubljana), Alenka Pirman (Ljubljana), Lidija Radojević (Ljubljana)
Assistent Kris Merken (Berlin)



“Europe of the Regions or Province Europe” is part of AS WE SPEAK - a project by Goethe-Institut within the framework of the European Capital of Culture “Maribor 2012”
Curator: Heike Albrecht
http://www.aswespeak.eu

The project AS WE SPEAK features artworks, which focus on the transformative and translational processes of different languages and sounds. Its goal is to formulate different ways of communication and articulation, which always represent a direct consequence of political dimensions and historical events. How do language areas develop in rapidly changing societies, in a world, in which 80 per cent of its population speaks the 50 most common languages? Is communication being simplified? Or will this lead to fragmentation and black holes, caused by individual peculiarities of different languages? Communication itself is challenged by the spoke system and the notation in a global world. How do language areas change in the centre of an ever changing European public society with open borders? Can Ludwig Wittgenstein’s statement “The borders of my language are the borders of my world” be proven wrong? Maribor, the second largest city in Slovenia, lost its leading role as the industrial centre of former Yugoslavia after the declaration of independence of Slovenia. Losses in economy resulted in a rise of unemployment and population loss in the whole of Europe. After Slovenia became member of the European Union in 2004, signed the Schengen Agreement in 2007 and introduced the Euro in the same year, new possibilities for Maribor and the whole region emerged – and remain open-ended.


http://eipcp.net/projects/heterolingual/files/workshop3-en
Europe of the Regions or Province Europe