Magic Carpets is a platform uniting 15 European partners, with the intention for traveling emerging artists to work in socially engaged and responsible art fields (visual art, public art, community art, exhibitions, performances, documentary theatre, online art, etc) and to research and implement new productions together with local artists and local communities with aims such as:
– to enlarge a mutual understanding between the local population and ‘strangers’ (‘others’) through innovative ways of story-telling and co-creation;
– to boost the skills of emerging artists to work ‘outside the institution’ and research deeper into the sociocultural context of the host city or ‘unknown land’;
– to increase the visibility of emerging talents through transnational mobility of artists and artworks and through the broad visibility of partners’ international profile;
– to trigger intercultural and interfaith dialogue, and facilitate the integration of displaced people and refugees;
– to develop new and deepen existing contacts with various audiences and target groups in many European cities and countries through the inclusive cultural programme and extensive use of information, communication, digital technologies, and innovative approaches;
– to ensure the visibility of European values and different cultures;
– to guarantee the European quality of the project and the legacy of the partnership as well as the branding strategy beyond the project period.
From August 2017, Kaunas Biennial is leading a 4 year-long Creative Europe platform titled “Magic Carpets” which involves 15 wonderful cultural organisations from EU and candidate countries. Together with EVA International (Ireland), Folkestone Fringe (United Kingdom), Ideias Emergentes - Imerge(Portugal), LAB 852 (Croatia), Latitudo S.r.l. (Italy), META Cultural Foundation(Romania), New Theatre Institute of Latvia(Latvia), Novo Kulturno Naselje (Serbia), Prague Biennale (Czech Republic), Tbilisi CCA(Georgia), KUNSTrePUBLIK e. V. / ZK/U - Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik (Germany), Openspace Innsbruck (Austria), Trempolino(France), Jam Factory Arts Center (Ukraine), and Tbilisi Photo Festival(Tbilisi / Georgia). We will create the platform for emerging artists to start their magical journey, collect local stories and carry them across Europe.
2018
Hosted by Folkestone Fringe
Aistė Jančiūtė (Kaunas Biennale, Lithuania)
Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín (EVA International, Ireland)
2019
Hosted by Folkestone Fringe
Ana Dana Beroš (LAB 852, Croatia)
Patrick Hubmann (Ideias Emergentes, Portugal)
Daniel Tollady (Folkestone Fringe, UK)
2020
Hosted by Folkestone Fringe
Mary Conroy (EVA International, Ireland)
Craig Gell (Folkestone Fringe, UK)
Black History Month Folkestone (Aida Silvestri, Leah Thorn, Lee Desai) (Folkestone Fringe, UK)
MySquare (Mitchell Bloomfield & Hannah Prizeman) (Folkestone Fringe, UK)
The AntiDiary (Nico Dunsbee) (Folkestone Fringe, UK)
2021
Hosted by Folkestone Fringe
Mary Conroy (continued) (EVA International, Ireland)
Craig Gell (Folkestone Fringe, UK)
Nominated by Folkestone Fringe
Hermione Allsopp (Ideias Emergentes, Portugal)
Jacob Bray (Kaunas Biennale, Lithuania)
Jon Law (National Theatre Institute of Latvia, Latvia)
Daniel Tollady (Prague Biennial, Czech Republic)
Nominated by Folkestone Fringe
Gemma Riggs (LAB 852, Croatia)
