How did this grant contribute to the realization of your project in regard to artistic exchange, local cultural development and/or the promotion of cultural diversity?

Thought as a laboratory for co-production and co-reflection, the Zona Sessions promotes the creation of a temporary collective as a structure for cross-disciplinary exchange and collaborative research. For this first iteration of the project, the Zona Sessions brought together eight cultural practitioners from Amman and Berlin to reflect on the intersection between public space and private sphere in Amman. The project led to an intensive week of research and the production of nine interconnected works, each looking at the visibility and fragility of certain gestures, masculinities, femininities, sensibilities, and othernesses in Amman public spaces. The works were showcased during an happening at the Mohammad and Mahera Abu Ghazaleh Foundation (MMAG Foundation), while the project as a whole was later publicly discussed and presented at the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts. The Zona Sessions was the occasion for us to strengthen our relationship with the Ammani burgeoning art scene and to prepare the next iteration of the Zona Sessions, the upcoming session in Berlin in June 2019, with our partners. Without the Roberto Cimetta Fund grant, the project would have had to be temporarily—and perhaps permanently—postponed.

How does exchange, networking and international contacts contribute to the development of your artistic and cultural project?

Exchange, networking, and international contacts—the supportive and informal network of same-minded professionals I have come to built through the years have been vital to the development of my artistic and cultural practice. For example, in 2013, I was invited by Zona Dynamic to take part in the group exhibition “MOLT! Speculative Identities” in Berlin. This exhibition marked the beginning of a meaningful and fruitful collaboration between me and Zona Dynamic which still is ongoing. Throughout the years, our collaboration gave birth to various projects based on ideas of co-creation, community, and collective-building of which the Zona Sessions is only the last development. The Zona Sessions initiative followed my participation in 2016 to the Spring Sessions, and the invitation Zona Dynamic and I extended to two artists from Amman to present their work in Berlin and participate to the Berlin Art Week 2017. The Zona Sessions resulted from the will of Zona Dynamic and the Spring Sessions to deepen their collaboration and create a development opportunity for artists from Berlin and Amman. Ripple effects, the Zona Sessions is now proving to be a generative ground for professional development for all participants as new collaborative projects—within and outside of our temporary collective—are materializing. Within Zona Dynamic, our experience in Amman has become a starting point, the seed for other similar exchange programmes between us and our international network.

Can you elaborate on the learning and knowledge you have gained and shared throughout this experience?

The experience was the occasion to further our ongoing research on collaborative formats and structures. It helped us to validate the collaborative format of the future Zona Sessions, in particular regarding how collaboration can be fostered and enabled in a completely egalitarian space. Based on the idea of the temporary autonomous zone described by Hachim Bey, the project created a non-hierarchical system concentrating on the production of socially critical works sustained by pooling our individual knowledge, skills, and practices. The Zona Sessions were an incredibly positive experience, and we are now looking at how to “export” the format and develop new exchange programmes.

Please indicate a link to your current work (website/facebook page)

Zona Dynamic
http://www.zonadynamic.com/
http://www.facebook.com/zonadynamic/

Eliza Goldox
www.elizagoldox.com