SOFTPOWERPALACE. Festival about Independent Art Spaces in Europe

Do art spaces and artistic initiatives have social and political power? How do they influence their city, their region — or maybe even European thinking more broadly? In collaboration with the other partners of the Kunstgebäude network, Akademie Schloss Solitude invites the European community to a cultural exchange program unlike anything seen in Stuttgart before: Under the title »Soft Power Palace — Festival about Independent Art Spaces in Europe« five artistic initiatives, from five European cities, will be working in a publicly visible process on perspectives about trans-European cultural exchange. During a two week »laboratory«, the artistic initiatives will be working in an open studio, to enable everyone to engage in conversations with the attendees. Each day will conclude with a feature event on the open stage at 7 pm.

The open studios will lead up to a three-day festival from November 8th until 11th, which will include exhibitions, presentations and performances by the artists, a panel discussion, and an open dialog with the Stuttgart community. The mission of the festival aims to highlight the relevance of these kind of self-organized, independent carriers of culture, in addition to their transnational connections.