[spectre] Rough Guide to Amsterdam: Border Inquiries - live discussion between Dom Omladine, Belgrade & De Balie, Amsterdam, Saturday November 29, 19.00 - 21.00 hrs.

[Eric Kluitenberg]

A  N  N  O  U  N  C  E  M  E  N  T

ROUGH GUIDE TO AMSTERDAM | BORDER INQUIRIES

Saturday 29 November, 19:00 hrs


Border Inquiries is a live-connected public discussion between  
Belgrade and Amsterdam about the new and ever-changing borders on the  
Balkans, as part of the "Rough Guide to Amsterdam" festival, at Dom  
Omladine in Belgrade, November 28 - 30, 2008.

The discussion will take place simultaneously in the spaces of De  
Balie and Dom Omladine, connected live via internet. The event brings  
together researchers, activists and engaged citizens in both cities  
around issues of border control, border management and migration, to  
discuss how these issues reflect the precarious relationship of the  
Balkan region to the European Union.

Borders act as filters, not simply as inclusion and exclusion  
mechanisms. What the border filters out or lets through is dependent  
on who operates the border. A peculiarity of the Balkan condition  
however, is that there are so many overlapping spheres of interest and  
power that is deeply unclear who actually operates the border? What  
are the mechanisms deployed in the region to maintain and manage the  
borders (technological, policing, regulatory, legal, etc.)?

The aim of this gathering in two cities is to create an open forum  
where a first attempt is made to map the complex transnational  
presence of the multitude of agencies (OSCE, NATO, UNMIK, KFOR, SFOR,  
and various missions from the EU, USA and Russian Federation) involved  
in consolidating the volatile Balkan borders. The discussion could  
lead to a larger visualisation and mapping project.

With: writer and new media developer Florian Schneider (Kein.org),  
filmmaker Želimir Žilnik (tbc), artist and author of "Schengen  
without effort" Vahida Ramujkić, artist and researcher Zoran Pantelić  
(new media center Kuda.org), art and media explorer Kristian Lukić  
(new media center Kuda.org), Milenko Srećković (FreedomFight -  
Zrenjanin), artist Željko Blaće (Mi2 / Jan van Eijk Academy) (tbc),  
artist Darko Fritz (tbc) and researcher Paul Keller (Kein.org /  
Knowledgeland).

Moderated by Eric Kluitenberg in Amsterdam, Branka Ćurčić and  
Richard de Boer in Belgrade.

This discussion is organised by De Balie in collaboration with  
Kuda.org (Novi Sad), Dom Omladine (Belgrade) and with support of  
Kein.org, and is part of the three-day program Rough Guide to  
Amsterdam, 28-30 November 2008 in Dom Omladine.


Where & when?

Saturday 29 November, 19.00 - 21.00 hrs

Belgrade: Dom Omladine, I. sprat
Amsterdam: De Balie, salon

Free entry

-----------------------

About A Rough Guide to Amsterdam:

De Balie, centre for politics and arts, presents from November 28  
through 30 the ROUGH GUIDE TO AMSTERDAM, a three day manifestation in  
Serbia’s capital Belgrade

De Balie produces a programme with video diaries, debates, music,  
films, photography, theatre, video art and graphic design in co- 
operation with several partners. Through art and discussion, De Balie  
wants to attack the existing clichés. Not the differences, but the  
similarities between Serbia and the Netherlands are the main focus.  
Both countries show cracks in their national self-image and in both  
countries, ‘national identity’ is currently a hotly discussed  
topic, as is the question of how to relate to one’s country’s past.


* Check the Rough Guide to Amsterdam blog for impressions and updates  
of the program:
   http://roughguideamsterdam.wordpress.com