The Imaginary Republic

https://theimaginaryrepublic.wordpress.com/

The  Imaginary  Republic  is an artistic research project addressing  questions  of  civic  culture  in  today’s  global environment, and how recent economic, social, and political unrest across Europe and elsewhere have led to an intensification of grass-roots initiatives, artistic activism, and forms of commoning. As a collaborative framework, the project positions itself as a creative and critical dialogue within this context, and aims to investigate strategies for autonomous instituting and independent (and interdependent) social configurations. Within this framework, questions about what constitutes public power, sovereignty, and citizenship are brought forward and tested, leading to experiments in disobedient form, labors of love, and pirate practices.

Active partners in the project include: Tatiana Fiodorova, Hélène Frichot, Luis Guerra, Marianne Heier, Georgia Kotretsos, Brandon LaBelle, Marysia Lewandowska, Diego Rotman, Lise Skou, Joulia Strauss.

The project was active from 2015-2019, resulting in a number of exhibitions, seminars and related events, mostly held in Bergen, where the project was launched. Over the years it maintained an active relation to the city, and its local institutions and communities, leading to collaborations with the Bergen Assembly, Kunsthall 3,14, and the Bergen Art Academy. A final publication was launched in 2020, documenting the project, integrating key texts by contributing scholars and activists.

For more information on the publication, see here.

Download a pdf here.