SYMPOSIA

With the aim of stimulating direct communication between artists, designers, architects and other professionals, the ECC organises lectures, public debates and symposiums on various range of topics.

In 2005 the European Cultural Centre started a series of Symposia around the topics; Time-Space-Existence. 

In Amsterdam: TIME
Time always implicates movement or change. The way we experience, think, and perceive time is in constant flux, i.e. depends on time. The possibilities for visualizing time using artistic means unavoidably change over the course of time. ”Personal Structures“ focuses on art which favors a concentrated, but subjective, form language. Hereby, directly or indirectly, time-concepts play an important role. Participating artists were a.o.: Roman Opalka, Rene Rietmeyer, Jo Baer, Henk Peeters, Joseph Kosuth and Lawrence Weiner.

In New York: SPACE
Space, space is so unknown that a discussion of it would have to begin with a rock. Basic artistic questions related to space and spatiality still need to be discussed. On the one hand, “space-relatedness” means the three-dimensional body of the artwork itself or its aesthetic interaction with the actual space in which it is placed. On the other hand, “space-relatedness” means the various notions of space depending on personal, cultural, and social circumstances. These become visible in the artist’s specific choice of his or her means of expression. Participating artists were a.o.: Richard Tuttle, Rene Rietmeyer, Robert Barry, Jessica Stockholder, Peter Halley and Keith Sonnier.

In Tokyo: EXISTENCE
Existence, in the strictly philosophical sense, is the “kind of being” that exclusively applies to humans. “To exist” does not merely mean being present but rather “self-design”, being open for possibilities, and freedom. We live in a thoroughly-organized world under constant pressure – the pressure to perform, the pressures of time and conformity – as well as pressures stemming from the influence of the mass media. Given these circumstances, art can bear, regardless of purpose, the function to articulate existential topics and create the possibility for moments of intensified self-awareness. Therefore, one’s own existence, with its particular terms and conditions, can become an artistic subject and thus, serve as model for the self-encounter of the viewer.Participating artists were a.o.: Saburo Ota, Rene Rietmeyer, Masao Okabe, Joseph Kosuth and Toshikatsu Endo 

In Venice: MATTER
Matter, Participating artists were a.o.: Marina Abramovic, Rene Rietmeyer and Jean-Michel Ottoniel.

In Venice: Made in Europe
A symposium in cooperation with the Mies van der Rohe Foundation

In Venice: Chinese Art and Architecture
Participating artists were a.o.: Karlyn De Jongh, Rene Rietmeyer, Sarah Gold, Ying Tianqi and Fang Zhenning