Alexandria Newsletter 1

Alexandria (Re)activating Common Urban Imaginaries launching Newsletter

Published 19/01/2022

From all Alexandria’s partners, we wish you a Happy New Year!

May 2022 be a year of solidarity, joy and inspiration.

This year, some exciting events will take place in the scope of the project: opening of the exhibition ‘Alexandria: Past futures’ in Brussels, residencies around Europe and Egypt, scientific symposiums…

Keep tuned!

Alexandria at night, Creative Commons

Organised with the support of the European Union’s Creative Europe programme, the project ‘Alexandria: (Re)activating Common Urban Imaginaries‘ (ALEX) aims to take a fresh look at the relation between arts, heritage and urban life in the Mediterranean and in Europe, through the prism of the ancient and modern cities of Alexandria, their creativity and cosmopolitanism.

Looking back at 2021 – recap of the year

The Alexandria project was launched in November 2020, in the middle of the Covid-19 global pandemic. However, despite difficult times and the slowdown of cultural activities, the 11 partners of the project managed to fundamentally progress thanks to their determination, hard work and fruitful discussions.

Partners have been able to meet in person in November in Athens for a consortium meeting, leading to productive exchanges around Alexandria’s residencies, upcoming workshops, and the production of the exhibition ‘Alexandria: Past Futures’ to be held both at Bozar (Brussels) next Autumn and at Mucem (Marseille) in the Spring of 2023.

Successful open-call for residencies participants with around 850 applicants for both residencies. The School for Sonic Memory residency gathering 6 artists has been launched with a first week in Athens where its 6 participants were able to meet with local artists and get inspired by the city. The Caravan residency will be starting next February, in Biella, gathering 16 artists.

In terms of communication, Alexandria’s website and social networks along with this newsletter were implemented in Autumn 2021.

Public symposium: ‘The global cosmopolis. Past, present and future of the city of Alexandria’

The academy building of Leiden University, Creative Commons.

Public symposium – January 20-21, 2022
Leiden – Old Observatory and online

This public symposium presents a (selective) overview of the development of the city in these cosmopolitan terms. The first day will focus on the period of Antiquity; the second on the era after Antiquity and Alexandria’s future.

Discover the full programme!

School for Sonic Memory – Athens 2021 Residency report

Local residents session at Communitism

As part of the ALEX Creative Europe project coordinated by Mucem, Theatrum Mundi and Onassis Stegi are producing a pluri-disciplinary nomadic residency
program exploring sound, memory and trans-Mediterranean resonances called the School for Sonic Memory. Together, and in collaboration with local artists, urbanists and researchers, the 6 participants will form a ‘school’ for sonic memory, investigating the ways that three cities across the Mediterranean resonate with one another, how elements of a connected and conflictual
past are made audible within them.

Read the full report

Interview about the School for Sonic Memory residency – with Andrea Cetrulo and John Bigham-hall

Watch the video

Discover one artwork from the exhibition:

‘Ring with intaglio’

Ring with intaglio. Gold and jasper. 2nd -3rd centuries. ©Royal Museum of Mariemont.

In each newsletter, discover one artwork that will be displayed during the ‘Alexandria: Past Futures’ exhibition. This month, discover the antique artwork ‘Ring with intaglio’.

The scene engraved on this jasper immerses us in the religious world of Roman Egypt. On the left, the patron god of the city of Alexandria, Serapis, is seated on a backless throne, facing right, holding a long sceptre in his raised right hand…Read more here

School for Sonic Memory in Alexandria – curatorial generic

Discovering old water paths together with urbandig (week in Athens)

Following the successful residency week in Athens, the nomadic residents will have the chance to further explore the themes of circulation, migration, water, and shared Mediterranean resonances and mythologies in Alexandria, the second stop of the itinerant residency. From listening sessions that explore community radios and iskandarani folk rhythms to an in-depth presentation of the hydraulic system in Alexandria, the artists will get to delve deeper into some of the lesser-known aspects of these Mediterranean routes.

Calendar

Conference and Consortium Meeting

Leiden and online,

19-20-21/1/22

Public symposium: ‘The global cosmopolis. Past, present and future of the city of Alexandria’.

Discover the full programme

School for Sonic Memory residency – week 2

Alexandria, Egypt

6-13/2/2022

The six participants of the SSM residency will spend a week in Alexandria to continue their creative research.

More on the School for Sonic Memory residency

Caravan residency – week 1

Biella, Italy

02/22

The sixteen participants of the Caravan residency will gather for the first time in February in Biella at Cittadellarte.

Recommends

In this section, we gathered recommendations related to the project from our partners. Enjoy!

“Alexandria, Why?”, movie available on Netflix
“Alexandria, Climate Change, and the Mediterranean Narrative”, essay
The Alexandria Quartet, tetralogy by Lawrence Durrell. Also available in the form of a Podcast series by France Culture (French)
“Hear you Athens”, series of photographs
‘The City Talks Back’, research residency by Theatrum Mundi and Onassis Stegi

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