Amsterdam, 10 July 2007

LabforCulture.org, the essential online tool for everyone involved in arts and culture across borders in Europe, and documenta 12 magazines, the international media platform of documenta 12, the world’s most prestigious exhibition of contemporary art, collaborate to present two dynamic workshops during the hundred days of documenta 12.

documenta 12 carries on the rich documenta tradition. Its artistic director, Roger M. Buergel, and curator, Ruth Noack have spent three and a half years gathering work from around the world to present in documenta’s host town Kassel. documenta 12 is concerned with the world at large, the endless possibility of discourse that flows between art and life in this time. Through the 500 works of art that comprise documenta 12, Buergel and Noack have shaped an aesthetic that creates a productive exchange between work, space and audience.

documenta 12 magazines, a network of over 90 publications worldwide, discussed documenta 12’s questioning leitmotifs: Is Modernity our antiquity? What is bare life? What is to be done?. The work generated by this process initiated a cascade of dialogue and debate. LabforCulture.org is honoured to be part of creating literal and figurative space for the continuation of this living debate, in collaboration with documenta 12 magazines.

Workshops, blogging, podcasts from documenta 12

In the spirit of collaboration, two workshops have been designed by documenta 12 magazines that reflect the latest debates in publishing and online developments. LabforCulture.org provides a complementary online platform for documenta 12 magazines where the insights and debates of these workshops are brought into an even wider public domain.

The workshops will be held in mid July and mid August respectively. The attendees include internationally renowned editors, artists and experts. During these two weeks, public Lunch Lectures will also be held covering issues raised during the workshops. The Lunch Lectures take place in documenta Halle (a unique open production space for the Advisory Board, documenta 12 magazines and the documenta mediation) and are designed to bring the insights generated in the workshops to a wider audience. From within the workshops, participants will be blogging thoughts live on LabforCulture.org. Reports will be posted daily to stimulate debate and invite questions.

The first workshop will be co-organised by experienced editor Alessandro Ludovico from Neural.it and Nat Muller, a Netherlands-based writer and curator. It will explore the nature of censorship in independent print, the validity of publishing online, open content systems, forums and much more. The second workshop, organised by art critic and curator Simon Sheikh, will examine issues of representation and the position of the speaker.

LabforCulture.org extends an open invitation to contribute to live debate with participants from documenta 12 magazines workshops, starting on July 16, 2007.

Get online with some of the world’s best artistic minds participating in the workshops at www.labforculture.org and documenta 12 magazines, Kassel.

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www.labforculture.org
18 Roemer Visscherstraat
1054 EX Amsterdam
The Netherlands
T +31 - 20 412 1017

Communications
Nicola Mullenger
nicola@labforculture.org

www.documenta.de
Friedrichsplatz 18
34117 Kassel
T +49 - 561 7072 782

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