The idea behind the Mobile Studios project is that, using modular structures, the artists involved build their own studios in a city square; these studios become a place for creation, discussion with the public, and reflection on the art system. This nomadic community temporarily possessed the public space in Serbia, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria - accompanied by a Mobile Webcast Studio in Poland. Acting as a theme satellite the Mobile Webcast Studio is in continuous exchange with the travelling Studios - via webconferences, livestreaming and broadcasting.

Mobile Studios follows the same principles as a previous project called Mobile Museums. Both were financed within the EU's Culture 2000 programme.

Mobile Studios - http://www.mobile-studios.org

Public Art Lab - http://www.publicartlab.com/en/pal/

In 2004, the German institution Public Art Lab proposed the 'Mobile Museums' project. Artists were invited to build their individual museum space out of a modular structure with a floor area of 10 square metres in public spaces in Germany, Austria and Spain. ‘Mobile Studios’, which took place in 2006, traveled as a multi media production laboratory to the countries Serbia, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. Public Art Lab invited the NGOs Remont (Belgrade), 13kubikov (Bratislava), A38 (Budapest), Brainstoreproject, Interspace (Sofia) and Laznia Center for Contemporary Art (Gdansk) to co-curate the programme.

The key feature of both projects is nomadism: the full titles in fact are 'Mobile Museums – a travelling artists’ museum' and 'Mobile Studios: a nomadic production laboratory'. Nomadism featured in the buildings used (temporary structures) and the projects as a whole (museums and studios touring different countries).

Mobile Museums explored the issue of the contemporary function and role of museums, especially in countries such as Germany, Austria and Spain, where the art market is active and saturated. The project developed the artistic approach of a 'travelling artists' museum', and asked the artists to build their individual museum spaces, real walk-in space sculptures which the public could enter and exit, experiencing the artists’ own self-conceived museum.

Mobile Studios recycled the 'artists’ museums' from the previous project, which were reconstructed into open exhibition modules that could be used in three different ways:

- as a 'Live Studio' for artistic interventions and performances

- as a 'Talk Studio' for public discussions

- as an 'Editorial Studio' in which the outcomes of the artists’ projects and talks could be edited and documented in various media formats and sent via the Internet to different media partners.

The studios were thus used as socio-political tools, a neutral ground where artists and the public could meet and discuss the conditions of production and distribution that prevail in the contemporary art scene within the various cultural-political systems.

The issue at the project's core is the necessity of artistic mobility, especially in countries where the art market is still under construction.

A very important role was played by local NGO partners. These discussed with the project leader (PAL) the need for temporary communication platforms to test out new forms of art exhibition and provide a neutral ground for dialogue between different local institutions. Moreover, the local partners were responsible for the co-curation of artists and programmes in their respective countries.

Mobile Museums and Mobile Studios provided a COMMUNICATION PLATFORM in the public sphere for dialogue between representatives of social, cultural and cultural-political fields (NGOs, public institutions, Ministries of Culture, etc.).

Mobile Studios as a PRODUCTION LABORATORY in the public sphere created a CATALYSING PROCESS for artistic productions.

Local cultural processes have been made visible and communicated via the Internet and Skype to international media partners.

The participants of the Mobile Studios project (around 600 active artists, speakers, cultural politicians and operators, international media partners, etc.) form part of a NETWORKING STRUCTURE resulting from this experience.

New collaborations between the participants have already started.

In some of the participating cities (Belgrade, Sofia, Gdansk), the experimentation field and spirit of Mobile Studios will be continued in another form (workshop, conference, etc.).

COMMON PROBLEMS EAST/WEST

'We learnt through Mobile Studios that the Eastern European and Balkan countries share similar problems in disseminating and promoting artists’ work outside of these regions. These difficulties may be due to the lack of well functioning art market structures, implicating a lack of international interest in the local art scenes.'

- Susa Pop

BALKAN CHANCES & CHALLENGES

In the Balkan countries Mobile Studios acted as a NEUTRAL GROUND where seemingly impossible dialogues have been made possible.

Moreover, in Balkan countries that still lack cultural-political structures, Mobile Studios provided a temporary RESEARCH and EXPERIMENTATION FIELD in which artistic productions could be tested and discussed publicly within a short space of time.

'We experienced that the participating post-socialist countries have not been so keen on collaborating with each other due to a cultural dissociation, and search for identities and values; rather, they have been more oriented towards the "strong other of the West".'

- Maja Ciric, curator of Mobile Studios Belgrade

WEAVING NETWORKS

'It became clear that what we had were weaving networks while moving around. The role as a traveller implicates the role as a guest who is introduced into the local scene and network. At the same time, the traveller provides his/her own network for corresponding projects and ideas.

During the tour of the Mobile Studios we established a connected community through exchange programmes, artistic collaboration projects, wireless conferences and so on.'

- Susa Pop

MOVING NO MAN’S LANDS

The nature of the Mobile Studios’ structures (modular structures with a maximum of 10 square metres of floor space) enabled them to be installed in different urban settings and be used as a socio-political tool.

This moving 'no man's land' provided a networking platform for the participating partner institutions and artists, helping them to get an inside view on the production conditions and art scenes of their neighbouring countries.

Mobile, extended exhibition formats such as Mobile Studios and Mobile Museums provide a very useful tool for artists and cultural operators to communicate, exchange and participate in the international art scene.

FOCUS ON MOBILITY

Advantages of mobility

Mobility provides extremely useful tools to artists and cultural operators, e.g.:

- sharing and exchange of skills and experiences

- building up a common production situation

- producing within the framework of local and international conditions

- exchange and enlargement of the networking structure

- information and exchange regarding ongoing cultural projects and processes

- shifting the activity of the local zone increasingly towards the transnational

- enhancing the collaboration opportunities of cultural operators.

Mobility and working internationally also bring certain 'intangible' advantages, e.g.:

- approaching other cultures, people and their values

- intuitive navigating

- storytelling and exchange regarding customs and habits

- change of perspective

- understanding of the historical coherence and its influence on the presence

- exchange of interests and visions

- building up value communities

- confidence building

- working on a common vision.

Mobility challenges

Mobility places artists face-to-face with some tangible obstacles:

- building up a mobile working station / environment

- limited know-how regarding local production conditions (invoices, laws, transport restrictions, etc.)

- conjunction of local and global markets

- lack of language skills when involved in interactive dialogue with a broad audience within the framework of a public art project

- creating multiplying formats for cultural cooperation and exchange

- setting up a working structure with regular meetings and feedback to avoid misunderstanding

…and also with intangible challenges, e.g.:

- clarification of expectations

- clarification of responsibilities

- communication strategies and tradition

- 'weaving the network'

- exchange regarding living conditions, customs and habits

- language learning

Mobility aid

'Mobile projects are temporary and often characterised by an open process. On a local level there should be a fund for mobility which allows the spontaneous inclusion of further artists, speakers, cultural politicians, etc., in reference to the local context. Often the budgets are already fixed and have no space for spontaneous interventions....

The communication, documentation and evaluation of mobile projects are very important for working efficiently on the improvement of the local cultural political structures. Platforms such as LabforCulture, the Budapest Observatory, on-the-move.org, etc., play a very important role. It would be great if they had a special fund for the evaluation process as well as the support in terms of know-how and experience for the scientific execution of the evaluation.

"What should we know about your country?” This question was very helpful for cooperation with our partners, to avoid misunderstanding in terms of values, history and habits.

National institutions such as the Goethe Institute and internationally networked NGOs should offer a kind of “mobility aid” service – a department within their framework which consults on the production conditions and gives insight into the cultural background.'

- Susa Pop

NETWORK COMMUNITIES

'Could it be that the religious communities dominated until the 18th century; then, with the Enlightenment, communities defined by nationality; and now we are moving towards networked value communities?'

- Susa Pop

MOBILE FORMATS

'I think it is very important to develop mobile exhibition formats that are multiplying for the artists. Today an art piece is not only the presentation of an object or a performance. The exhibition process starts much earlier and ends later: in the preparation period it is important to develop communication strategies, to generate an audience and to make the context visible. As well as documentation and evaluation, exchange with media partners, development of various media formats of the art piece, finding the corresponding interest communities - all play a key role. In this context we should think about new exhibition formats that are mobile and create a process of networking, exchange and interactive participation.'

- Susa Pop