European Art Commissioners

European Art Commissioners is a site-specific project finalized to create a strong connection between the artists, the professionals and the citizens of local communities through co-commissioning practices. Every year, 2 communities in 2 cities of the network, will work together for commissioning an art piece, that could be a performance/show/exhibition. 8 will be the communities involved (4 art works in 4 years), in the following European cities: Sansepolcro (IT), Zagreb (HR), Sibiu (RO), Prague (CZ), Kortrijk (BE), Wien (AT), Dublin (IE), Nitra (SK).

Inspired by the program “Les Nouveaux Commanditaires”, Be SpectACTive! launches the European Art Commissioners, a site-specific project finalized to create a strong connection between the artists, the professionals and the citizens of local communities through co-commissioning practices. A bottom-up and trans-local project based on processes of cultural democracy, that intends to involve, at the same level, citizens with different social and cultural backgrounds to express their thoughts and feelings, sharing contents, needs and problems in a public arena.

How does it work?

Every year, 2 communities in 2 cities of the network, will be in contact through the ICT technologies and will work together for commissioning an art piece, that could be a performance/show/exhibition. 8 the communities involved (4 art works in 4 years), in the following European cities: Sansepolcro (IT), Zagreb (HR), Sibiu (RO), Prague (CZ), Kortrijk (BE), Wien (AT), Dublin (IE), Nitra (SK). Each community is moderated by a local community manager whofacilitates the relationships between citizens, artists and other professionals of the network.

Starting from the choice of a common topic, important for the politic and social issues of the local context, the two communities will select, in collaboration with the artistic directors, the artist and the artistic work to commission. They will choose both a performing or a visual artist. They will be also co-responsible for the budget for producing the art-piece. Coordinated by the community managers, citizens and communities will address the work and will follow the creative process, step by step, during the period of residency until the debut/opening.