Change? 26th-31st January 2009, Project Arts Centre Cube

Change? at Project Arts Centre aims to examine and dissect our perceptions of ‘change’ as a concept. From this we hope to encourage a lively discussion around the topic, with a focus on young people and what this realistically means for them and how they see their role in an uncertain future. We want to inspire and encourage each other to engage with our immediate environments –our cities and towns.

Change? will comprise a series of events structured around this theme. Prior to the week of events an exhibition will be compiled from submissions by photography students on the theme of ‘unused potential in the city’. This will be exhibited and form the starting point for further group work.

During the daytime groups will form comprised of students from third level colleges, transition year students and selected members of the public. Each group will choose or be assigned an image from the exhibition and their task will be to discuss its context and design an action, performance or art piece to realise the potential of that space. This will then be documented and displayed in the Cube. The groups’ experiences may form a basis for the audience discussion that night.

In the evenings there will be panel discussions with distinguished and special guests sharing their experiences in a discussion with the audience. The panel guests will be seated among the audience to encourage debate. The event intends to create a momentum of thought and a dialogue between the city and its new generations. We hope that participants will gain a sense of empowerment and enlightenment from the events and develop this in different directions, beyond the Change? event.

-Dylan Haskins, 10th Dec 2008