15-17 Oct: Beyond the Obvious 2015 (partner event)

beyond-the-obvious

Index on Censorship will be participating in Beyond the Obvious 2015, the annual conference of Culture Action Europe. Beyond the Obvious 2015 promises to be a thought-provoking gathering made of large scale and small scale dialogues, encounters, community-building, exchanges between local and other European cultural actors. BtO 2015 invites its participants to learn, reflect and debate on what balance shall be sought between the condition for a meaningful public sphere on one side, and private and commercial interests on the other, in order to fulfil cultural – thus: human – rights.

Index on Censorship magazine’s editor Rachael Jolley will be part of a discussion, from 11am to 12:30pm on Friday 16 October, with Kathrin Merkle (Council of Europe), Nir Boms (cyberdissident.org) and Rasoul Nejadmehr (Vastra Gotaland Region). The panel will be moderated by Birgitta Persson (Trans Europe Halles).

Participants in BtO 2015 will have the chance to engage in three streams of discussions around the main focus:

• EXPRESS explores the tensions that endanger the right to freedom of opinion and expression and identify the paths to protect and enhance it.
• CREATE explores the tensions between the right to create and enjoy culture and the right to fair remuneration in the digital sphere.
• PARTICIPATE explore the value of actively contributing to your community wellbeing and government by intently participating in the cultural life

The programme is built around three formats of discussion, with all them addressing the three lenses.

• IDEASROOM Through a tradition symposium style, participants will discuss the power of key ideas and concepts, engaging in active conversations.
• STORIESROOM In smaller groups, participants will hear and gather around stories and practices from all over Europe to deepen the understanding of possible [alternatives] ways of “doing culture”.
• SCENARIOROOM In highly collaborative lab-style sessions, small working-groups will explore the consequences and implications of some tomorrow’s scenarios that will be presented. In each room, different Discussion Activators will act as catalysts of conversations.

When: 15-17 October 2015
Where: Brewhouse in Gothenburg. [Åvägen 24, 412 51 Göteborg, Sweden]
Tickets: Available from the Beyond the Obvious website