WINTER SCHOOL 2019

Working, eating and discussing together: that is the RITCS Winter School. The annual event brings together artists and arts students from across Europe around a central theme for a two and a half-week interdisciplinary research module. This years edition of the RITCS Winter School will focus on the topic 'Any Change Calls for Resistance'. In the course of the Winter School workshops and an evening program with discussions and lectures will be held at various locations in Brussels. Discover more information on the workshops, the collaborating artists and the public events.
 

Theme: Any Change Calls for Resistance

This years edition of the RITCS Winter School will focus on the topic Any Change Calls for Resistance. During almost three weeks, we will investigate how we, as individuals and collectives respond to the changes which take place in and around us: the changes we fear, those we dream of, the changes we stimulate, those we try to resist, or those we intend to initiate ourselves…

What can artistic practices do in the face of the unprecedented scale and speed of the present cultural, political, technological and geological transformations? Is there a role for art to play in a situation where so many seem to feel so powerless? Should art at all hold itself busy with such questions? The Winter School will engage with these issues in a very hands-on fashion, following the paths and strategies proposed by three experienced arts practicioners.

During the Winter School students will be able to attend workshops organized by a series of artists. After the opening weekend at Kaaitheater with the introductory workshop 'The Thing', participants of the Winter School will be invited to join one of the 3 workshops as part of the Winter School program. 

The RITCS Winter School will be introduced by 'The Thing' - an automatic workshop in every day disruption, a hybrid format developed by Ant Hampton and Christophe Meierhans, taking its participants on a four episode exploration of the overlap between things which matter to the world, and a thing each of us could set into motion at any moment. The workshop 'Le Space' will be lead less by a person than by a place. A workshop in - and with - a specific location in Brussels. Le Space is founded by writer, activist, and fashion designer Rachida Aziz and is located the Dansaert street, just a couple of hundered meters away from the RITCS.

As a contribution to the RITCS Winter School, the workshop 'The Streaming Hypothesis' by Constant will focus on the shape-shifting nature of streaming media. 'The Really Green Fantasy' invites its participants to collectively develop the fiction of a carbon neutral Belgium. But there will be no science fiction. The only fantasy here consists in imagining a government which would have taken climate change seriously and did everything it possibly can to become immediately 100% sustainable.

Public program

The RITCS Winter School will be introduced by 'The Thing' - an automatic workshop developed by Ant Hampton and Christophe Meierhans. The evening program, organized at Viavia Café, involves guest speakers and collective discussions around a large pot of soup. Each evening opens up the topic of one of the Winter School's workshops to a broader conversation.

Participation to the public program is free of charge, but registration is required for THE THING (write to: tim.martens@ehb.be ).