GRUNDTVIG D.I.Y. MANIFESTO

Grundtvig D.I.Y. on MS Stubnitz  Baakenhafen 
Hamburg  4 - 8 Januar 2011

MS Stubnitz is an ex fish trawler and factory ship built in Stralsund, in former East German in 1964. The ships homeport is Rostock on the Baltic coast and in 1992 the ship was bought for its scrap value by a group of European artists and designers who began the slow process of reconstruction which has led to Stubnitz becoming a  fully functioning moving cultural platform , having visited more than than ten European ports and having hosted thousands of live events, exhibitions and seminars. A perfect setting for the second Grundtvig D.I.Y. Meeting!

Ninety nine per cent of our Learning Partnership was represented, beginning with the initial "settling in" (the ship has around forty cabins for crew and guests) and informal discussions about the next days activities. Also, as the Stubnitz ship is very much a do-it-yourself project .. coordinating the help with cooking and cleaning!

There were three organised meetings. At the first , there were also small delegations from FSK (www.fsk-hh.org) the Hamburg free culture radio station, Jean-Hervé Péron from the legendary cult experimental “krautrock” band Faust together with his colleagues who organise the long-established Shiphorst Avant Garde Festival (www.avantgardefestival.de). Also, present was Thierry Jaussoin representing the Lebanese avant-garde and experimental music association Acousmatik System / Stubnitz in MED (http://acousmatiksystem.blogspot.com/)

This was a good opportunity for both Grundtvig DIY and the drop-in guests to explain a little more about their respective organisations. Some memories from the last (first) Grundtvig meeting were refreshed and for Ville Karel (Non Grata) it was an opportunity to meet and greet the partners for the first time. We also checked the steel container on the Stubnitz “Vordeck” to think about if we like the idea to fix it up and use it as a mobile object for the partnership.

At a second, smaller meeting in the “Offiziers Messe” we discussed website functionality preparing us for the final meeting where Noel (Stubnitz/Czentrifuga) presented our new Do-It-Yourself cms Web-zine idea , that all partners can use and develop, but first we had to agree on a domain name. Imagining end of February for the “launch”, this meant the name should be decided soon. A few names and ideas were discussed and, as no particular idea stood out , “Grundtvig D.I.Y.” which is a shortened version of our official partnership title became defacto the name for the Partnership. Noel proposed to give every Partner their own password and login information for the new website but his process didnt work out, mainly because of distractions due to preparation work for the coming activities and workshops so, instead, it was decided that every partner be given this info per email, giving everybody the chance to change passwords by themselves if necessary.

Towards the end of the Grundtwig two years period it is hoped that all partners will have had the chance to try the website functionality and upload infos themselves. As envisioned in our collective project description, there should be a “Web Report“ section on the website , which every hosting partner could make themselves and also a blog. (One year later, here it is!) Also important: to keep everybody updated between meetings so that workflow can be maintained which we hope the website will help to achieve.

Meanwhile, Gabba has started an open source Grundtvig foto platform which we can link to the website: http://foto.poetaster.de/grundtvig.

So far there are two folders of fotos on this site - from the first Berlin meeting and also @ Stubnitz. Thanks to Gabba, Marko (Czentrifuga) and Nina (Slam).

Open Workships on Stubnitz

-Czentrifuga Sticker Design Workshop: Results (Products) were presented at the next meeting in Kolin.

-Czentrifuga Screenprinting Workshop: Stubnitz-calendar being one of the results.

-Bastel Workshop: Costumes and accessoires from recycled plastic (for the following days performance)

-Stubnitz AV Workshop: This was split over two days , where partner members and interesetd members of the Rostock public were given the possibility to help in the process of live audio video production , including live camera and video mix plus a general overview how the A/V production works. The second part of the workshop on the following day, gave the participants the chance to check the previous days documentation and see how the post production and archiving functions .

The Stubnitz crew also presented their newly re-launched website and on-line archive (http://ms.stubnitz.com).

Conclusions

Actions speak louder than words and site-specific improvisation and smaller group interactions seem to be the natural direction in which the Partnership is heading with a “work in progress” philosophy.

–Focus: It's difficult to keep the concentration focused in larger groups, especially as the main language spoken is English and not everyone attending understands whats being discussed. In this sense, we concluded that its not essential that everyone attend, just one or more persons that can speak for their respective group and communicate the results of the meeting(s) back to their organisations.

–Timing: its important that the host partner is not busy with setting up an event or busy with other commitments. The host should allow time for this in their schedule and set the agenda so that it suits them the best. Also, its important to watch that none of the Partner artists have commitments to rehearsals, performance or whatever, at the same time when the meeting is set.

When setting the agenda its good when the host can allow/suggest a time when its possible that the Partners get a chance to visit other projects or some local sight seeing etc. Also, not every partner organisationcan be represent for the entire programme of activities so its important to fix one main day for important Grundtvig matters with  one main meeting for example and  also the chance to get involved with at least one or more of the skill sharing activities/process.

Financial Plan:

In keeping with Grundtvig recommendations, it was again confirmed ,that Czentrifuga care for the ongoing management (including website) of the Partnership and to check that the Grundtvig requirements are being taken care of, for which each partner allocates a % from its budget.

Evaluation Forms:

This point was not talked about although. It become more and more important that we find a way to evaluate how the Partnership is working (or not). Instead of filling out a standard questionaire, perhaps its better to find a more creative and intuitive way to adress this point. For example, make a kind of game out of this – a multiple choice questionaire perhaps? Also, we imagine  our screenprintworks to represent and  describe  some of our collected experiences.

Future Plans:

Czentrifuga has initiated working on a collective screenprint magazine / manual “Cosmic Hospital”. As the idea develops and pages are prepared all Partners will have a chance to join in the process either at meetings, via internet or through smaller group travels and interactions over the next months. Divo Mark suggested the idea to buy a large tent in which we can collectively present the partnership through exhibition, music and performance. Its essential to seek to make exchanges with local public and present our achievements to the public (sharing our knowledge and skills) and something like a large tent could be used as a platform to present what we do and include interested local people, groups and organisations. 
Of course we are still in the process of reaching a common understanding between Partners, but its good to focus on this point now for when we make future activities. The idea to use the industrial  metal container we spotted on the Stubnitz for this purpose would require more funding so we decided to keep that idea as a seperate issue for later.

Next Meeting(s) 2011

May 7 Kolin /Czech Republic, hosted by Divo.

July 18 Gizycko/Poland.hosted by Stowarzyszenie Wspolnota Mazurska,

Autumn 2011: As Košice / Slovakia with the possibility to make a stop en route at Zilina where its possible to meet an interesting local D.I.Y styled organisation ("Stanica-Zarecie" – www.stanica.sk). Košice is an interesting location as, like two of our Partners, Giżycko and Dublin, its near to the EU Border. This area is particularly interesting as there is a large Roma population, and one gets a feeling of being out of time or in a different world...

Events:

There was a lot of music and performance over these “Manifesto” days . The production of a live event helps give a basis and form to the Grundtvig meetings and promote chances for immediate "zusammenarbeit". The Stubnitz ship can hold around 700 people and has four areas in which to make events. The Stubnitz crew documented the events as usual and the Slam organisation and their invited guests were busy with their own documentaion - the comic and brutal truth behind a new partnership  in the process of finding an identity!  The 14 minute film  was later presented at the next meeting in Kolin and now here in this blog!

7+8 Januar 2011 "Grundtwig D.I.Y. Manifesto" Programme:

Exhibition: Palo Cejka (SLO) linoleum cut prints & Czentrifuga screenprint exhibition

7.01

The Family Waraksa Band (PL) folk rock

KOMO (Bavaria)

Bruce Lee & Masha (SK/PL) hip hop + slam poetry/rap

DJ Reverend (SK) eclectic style

Stubnitz Sealectors (Y4HK) ships crew djs

8.01

Czentrifuga All Stars (Berlin)- performance live printing, music and costume  featuring

Gogo Trash, Fake Mistress, Beat me X, Gabba Reifenstihl,Damien Tran, Coost Lardy Cake & members of the public .

Fake & Reifenstihl - experimental noise and loops performance

Ed n Ed n Piper - punk jazz

Grundtvigians Jam Band (open stage , open mic.)

Yximallo (JAPAN) - strange sound world
Lydia Lunch & Philippe Petit (USA/FRA) - performance : "Twist of Fate"

International Rave Up!

Djs-Destooy A.K.A. Dubdub ( Japan), Yaya 23 (Cyberrise/Berlin),

Rumplesteel (A.P.A. /Berlin) 

Live Sets :D.D.R. a.k.a. Triphazard (Stay Up Forever Recs./UK) Olive (France)
Teknoseeker (Italy).