| TRAMA: El Encuentro
Regional Conference for the Exchange of Views
on Art Management and Cultural Cooperation Networks
Buenos Aires, October 29 – November
5
For the past three years, Trama has operated as a space for containment
of and research into artists’ initiatives in Argentina. By
“artists’ initiatives” we mean projects that have
been self-managed by artists, whether jointly or individually but,
in every case, with a view to achieve goals addressed to the community.
These organizations, projects, and undertakings play a crucial role
in the local production of thought and of artistic work, in artists’
training, and in the distribution of culture as a whole. This is
particularly so in those areas where the State is not able to provide
for the community in matters of culture and in cases in which the
visual arts are not a profitable business for the private sector.
The conference gathers the experience, information, and knowledge
capitalized on by Trama between 2001 and 2004 through a number of
activities geared to cooperation, development and training of artists’
organizations in fields such as cultural management, sustainability,
legitimization of artistic thought, and social accountability.
The first step consisted in an attempt to reckon how many of us
there are, who we are, and what we need. This reconnoitering process
was articulated through diverse activities: we recorded artists’
initiatives in our web site, held several workshops and encounters
where artistic management was analyzed, and went on field trips
in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador
and Colombia.
Once this essential stage had been completed, we began to wonder
whether it was desirable to foster a space that might encompass
all the said initiatives and, if so, how it should be conceived.
We did not need to think for long: the network encouraged by Trama’s
activities had already begun to operate. Little by little, and slowly
gaining articulation, the parties concerned found identifications
that were only to be expected. There came the possibility of exchanges
among provinces, distribution channels of publication about issues
of common interest, co-curatorships, itinerant exhibitions, and
ways of shortening the distances that had kept us apart for so many
years.
This encounter is our way to thank all those who believed in this
shared space, supporting our efforts by taking an active part in
them throughout the five years of our existence.
The best way we have found to repay their support is to bring them
together in order to share with them our desires and readiness by
means of an open dialogue.
TRAMA, Octuber 2005
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