NEOutopia

November 26th and 27th 2011, Centre for Creative Collaboration (C4CC)

Information for speakers and applicants (PDF): NEOutopia – application pack

NEOutopia is a collaborative research project centring on the problems of urban regeneration and utopia in the contemporary city. Initiated by City-bound – a cross-disciplinary collective of writers, artists and curators – the project exists as a collection of wall-based images, archival material and short films that relate to a fictional development plan for the area of Elephant & Castle in London.

As part of a 2-day event at the Centre for Creative Collaboration (C4CC), NEOutopia will be presented alongside a programme of talks and film screenings that complement, develop or challenge the ideas put forward by the project. With a focus on collaboration and discussion, City-bound’s aim is to create an informal, yet intellectually engaged, event in which a variety of voices – from artists and academics, to writers, industry professionals and community activists – coalesce to consider the problems and possibilities of cities in today’s neoliberal societies.

Working Time Schedule

Saturday 26^th November

• 12noon – exhibition opens at C4CC
• 6pm – 8pm – invited participants present a series of talks/short lectures/film screenings (schedule will include a short break with light refreshments provided)
• 8pm – 8.30pm – open discussion
• 8.30 – 9.30pm – complimentary drinks

Sunday 27^th November

• 12noon – 6pm – ‘open house’ at C4CC – exhibition open to the public
• 3pm – 6pm – selected film screenings accompanied by tea/coffee & informal discussion

NEOutopia will mark the culmination a 2-month research residency at C4CC where City-bound members were offered a flexible space in which to develop this unique, multi-faceted project. Initiated during the course of a Masters programme in Contemporary Art Theory at Goldsmiths College, NEOutopia was inspired by a collective desire to create a theoretically grounded project that privileged collaboration, accessibility and experimentation over cultural and academic conventions. Complemented by C4CC’s focus on open innovation and cross disciplinary creativity, this collaborative event promises to provide a welcoming and unpretentious forum for debate, discussion and informal intellectual engagement.

Key themes of the event include, but are not restricted to: urbanism, utopia, space, the city, urban regeneration, housing (public and private), neoliberal capitalism & the global economy, critical spatial theory, mapping & ‘counter cartographies’, fictional narratives, writing & ‘performativity’, visual culture, collaboration, contemporary visual arts practices, the creative economy & the ‘creative class’, boroughs and developments in London, the Heygate Estate, NEObankside, academia, community activism, ruins & the contemporary city