Between 12th and 14th October the partners involved in the project met for the first of the Partner Gatherings. After almost two years of working online together (as the project was developed during the Covid epidemic) it was extraordinary for everyone to finally meet each other! Hosted with generosity by Trieste Commune, the group met in the Victoria Hotel, Letterario – one of the buildings in Trieste in which James Joyce’s lived when he started to write Ulysses.
The Partner Gatherings are designed as networking events with a focus on learning, sharing and consortium decision making. Additionally the Arts & Society contemporary European theme of the city is discussed and in Trieste the partners considered the theme Weight of History, exploring pivotal moments in each of their city’s histories, moments which either changed the course of the city’s history or marked a new insight into the city and its citizens.
After almost two years of digital meetings the in-person gathering produced some fascinating discussions, challenging questions and inspiring insights into each other’s projects. Much discussion also took place around the concept of the mini-symposia and how the traditional symposium form could effectively be reshaped to reach the broad audience targeted for input into the Arts & Society contemporary European themes.
The partners also had a coffee break at Pasticceria Pirona, the café where Joyce used to take his morning break from writing – eating his favourite cake in this timeless café.
Main image:
Back row: L – R: Sean Doran; Liam Browne (Arts Over Borders IE), Jarkko Halunen (Lumo Light Festival FI), Electra Karatza (Onassis Stegi GR), James Joyce, Steven Sander (Rimini Protokoll DE), Rasa Antanavičiūtė ( Vilnius Museum LT), Myles Quinn (gethan&myles FR), Kees van der girls (Noorderlicht NL), Virginia Vassilakou (Chorus GR), Maté Gáspár (Budapest Brand HU), Maja Ries (Blaagaard Teater DK), Mariana Brandão (Arena Ensemble PT), Ben Schlepper-Connolly (Museum of Literary Ireland IE)
Front row: LR: Riccardo Cepach (Museo Joyce Trieste IT), Andreea Iacob (Act.Create.Enjoy RO), Claudia Woolgar (Brave New World Productions NL), Yannis Pappas (Chorus GR), Marco Martin (Arena Ensemble PT), Gethan Dick (gethan&myles FR).
(photo taken in the Museo Joyce, Trieste and our Turkish partner was present online)
ULYSSES European Partners:
Arena Ensemble (PT)
ARTS OVER BORDERS (IE)
Blaagaard Teater (DK)
Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Theatre and Film (RO)
Brave New World Producties (NL)
Budapest Brand nZrt (HU)
Commune di Trieste (IT)
CHORUS (GR)
Create.Act.Enjoy (RO)
Critical+Xwhy Agency (LT)
Fundación Uxío Novoneyra (ES)
gethan&myles and Collectif ildi ! eldi (FR)
Lumo Light Festival (FI)
Museo Joyce Trieste (IT)
Museum of Literature Ireland, MoLI (IE)
Noorderlicht (NL)
ONASSIS Stegi (GR)
Rimini Protokoll (DE)
Teatrul National Lucian Blaga din Cluj-Napoca (RO)
Vilnius City Museum (LT)
Yalan Dünya Films Ltd. (TR)