Dialogue is tirelessly presented as ‘the’ solution to the problems of ‘our’ times – in art, war, love, democracy and even in the workplace. In fact, dialogue has been central to the ethos of Memefest since its inception back in 2002. But what if dialogue is not working? We were convinced that an urgent fresh look, an updated reflection on the current states of dialogue in an increasingly anti- dialogic culture is very necessary.
Curated by Alana Hunt and Oliver Vodeb, RADICAL INTIMACIES: DIALOGUE IN OUR TIMES was the theme of this year’s Memefest. We were trying to ask a difficult question in order to honestly explore all the complicated failures and the hopeful potentialities that feed our faith in dialogue – politically, creatively, laboriously and intimately.
People from 26 Countries around the world have responded to our call and have been working on many of the challenging aspects of Dialogue. More than 250 works in the categories Visual communication practice, Critical writing and participatory art have been submitted to this years Friendly Competition.
Your feedback is fantastic and your works are incredibly valuable and a huge contribution to this discussion! They are very inspiring and we all can learn a lot from them.
So, results for main Memefest Friendly Competition categories are known and we are very happy to announce them. It is time to open the forum to the public. Have a look at the best works here: http://www.memefest.org/en/gallery/works2014/ Read Memefest’s official feedback on them and let us know about your perspective.
Curating and editing this year’s submission was a tough job and a big warm thank you goes to everyone who has contributed in this process!! Feedback given on works is very strong and plays a essential role in nurturing a culture of communication that goes beyond the ideology of the market. The dialogic nature of our evaluation process is designed to create the potential of going beyond the image and towards communication. Here our curatorial and editorial board members: http://www.memefest.org/en/competition/curators/ We are happy and honoured to be working with them and with many of them for a long time, which makes our collaboration even more precious.
Congratulations to everyone who participated and submitted their works- especially the ones who ranked among the best!
Our special Award for Imaginative Critical Intervention given in collaboration with Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne will be announced November 15th. We will invite and fly in one author from each category to Melbourne, Australia, to participate in an extradisciplinary workshop for a critical intervention in to the public space in Melbourne.
This is a great and important Festival year. We are investigating crucial things. A lot has been done and it is inspiring to see how many people from around the world are now already involved in the process of developing Socially responsive communication/design and art.
Although everyone appears to want to be in ‘dialogue’, real, radical intimacies are harder to create than ever. Collaborations as this show not only the beautiful power of dialogue but also its inevitability. Thanks again to eveyone who participated and is participating in this process!
With love, conflict and imagination, Memefest Kolektiv
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