Join us at the Eleventh Plateau Festival, an annual international exhibition held from July to October at the Hydra Historical Archives Museum on the island of Hydra and in four cities (Berlin, London, Osaka, Prague).
This year the festival is being held under the auspices of Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and Medies (Mediterranean Education Initiative for Environment & Sustainability) and supported by the Ministry of Culture 'Culture and Environment Programme 2011'.
The Eleventh Plateau aims to practically address the role of art in promoting new and critical ecological thinking and in creating innovative social ecosystems in Europe. From a post-environmentalist perspective, the project considers the intrinsic connection of nature to the wider social, political and economic forces and does not isolate the environment from other aspects of life.
The Eleventh Plateau project examines a meticulous kind of compositional practice in which the 'machinery' of nature and the 'machinery' of art become one in eleven different 'sites-terrains' on the island of Hydra. With the collaboration of architects, environmentalists, archaeologists, artists and community involvement, an interdisciplinary practice and discourse on the subject of eco-aesthetics, ecosystems, landscape reconstruction and its meaning for traditional cultural heritage will be instigated.
Hydra is unique in the world as a vehicle-free oasis, thanks to the timeless presence of mule and donkey culture on the island. The preservation of the distinct historical and architectural landscape has been achieved as a result of community involvement, however, tensions arise between the community and investors who want to alter this traditional landscape.
The project outlines the ways in which the collaborators of Out of the Box Intermedia draw on scientific and eco-philosophical developments to explore temporal and spatial interrelations, new forms of art interventions and to unfold the wide range of disciplines, theoretical, and artistic positions that comprise the relationships between spectator and artist/scientist.