Pilsen to Pilsen Exchange |
Saturday, June 9, 2007 11:00 AM |
Place: Pilsen neighborhood, Chicago: Polvo gallery, BUSKER, around former Slavic buildings AND Pilsen city, Czech Republic in the desolate waterworks factory.
Pilsen, one of the most popular neighborhoods in Chicago, is located southwest of downtown. Czechs and Slovaks (who used to be known here as Bohemians) began to settle in this location in the 1870s while some sparse settlement existed there before (the first inhabitants were reputedly Irishmen in the 1850s). The neighborhood gained its name Pilsen (alias Plzeň which is a city in the Czech Republic) after the pub called “At the city of Pilsen” which used to be here. Soon after its founding, Pilsen became the largest Czech settlement not only in Chicago but also in the USA. Today it is the center of the local (mostly) Mexican community. A/ “There is No Place Like Home” screeningsThe slightly ironical title suggests that of course there can be various places which can become home, for various reasons, and under various circumstances. We are looking for moving images about the transformations of (not only) Chicago neighborhoods, travelogues, urban study videos, diaries, documentaries, and whatever alike; also moving images on these and similar subjects: déjà vu, floating ideas of what does it mean to be/feel at home, patriotism inside out. We will show these together with the works by students who work and/or live in the Czech Republic, who often feel that the process of coping with their own identities as well as living space includes the necessary time spent abroad. B/ “Animate Pilsens”The idea is that the people from Chicago (not only Pilsen residents) will use the imagery from Czech Pilsen (images, moving images, sounds) and people from Czech Pilsen on the other hand will work with the imagery from Pilsen in Chicago and make a short animation creatively dealing with probably never-visited-place of the same name. We would like to present about 5 short (3-10 minutes) animations from both Pilsens and screen it together in both places. The imagery for misuse will be put on the web (www.itsfuntobebohemian.net) but feel free to look for whenever you want. C/ “Pilsen to Pilsen” streaming as well as “real” performancesHelp us invent ways how to interchange ideas, photos, sounds, objects, communicate with the B/bohemian ghosts, making simultaneous performances, etc. We are looking for the people who would like to help us with the streaming performances. We can interconnect people from both Pilsens and help provide the technology assistance. Every idea will be highly appreciated. Make a performance in front of the former Slavic buildings in Pilsen (Chram Sv. Vita just around the corner CTA stop “18th” / St.Vitus Church, or C.S.A.S. building on the opposite from Jumping Bean café on the 18th Street), or just make some little visual interference in the space of Pilsen, playing with b/Bohemian thematic. |