25.08.2018, 4.30 p.m.

Seasonal Neighbours night

An afternoon of screenings of films and the presentation of artist projects dealing with labour migration. Everyone is invited to gather around the screen, and later around the dining table near the ‘House for Seasonal Neighbours’ at Aldi Borgloon (BE).

4:30 p.m. Screening of “Pride and Concrete”, photographic documentary by Petrut and Ioana Calinescu
Language: Romanian, subtitles in English

One in six Romanians lives and works abroad. Most of the migrants come from rural areas and the money sent back home has irreversibly transformed their native villages. Unlike in the city, where economic competition is a more subtle affair, in the villages changes are highly visible and the main street acts as an open stage for ostentatious display. Pride and Concrete is a project about the recent transformations occurring in rural communities, especially around Tara Oasului and Maramures in Northern Transylvania, following decades of migration abroad for work.

Petrut Călinescu is a freelance photographer that has travelled the world and has been working for all main journals of Romania. Recently he chose to focus on issues closer to his home, where he can understand better the cultural context and is able to spend time with the people he photographs. Ioana Călinescu is a trained etnographer that has accompanied Petruț in almost all of his documentation trips and is responsible for the editorial part of the project.

5:15 p.m. Screening of “Housewarming”, artist movie by Effi and Amir + aftertalk with the artists
Language: Albanian, subtitles in English

Housewarming is a proposition of an inverse immigration, from a place perceived as abundant to one seen as lacking. A movement from the full to the empty, from excess to need. Borrowing the language of tales, it evolves around these and other oppositional terms - inside/outside, host/guest - that shift positions and meanings throughout the work.

The film is shot in half-built abandoned private houses in ex-communist Albania. The artists, a contemporary version of Goldilocks from the tale of the Three bears, invade the houses and occupy their emptiness and 3 missing furniture: chair, table, bed, while the local community comments in song and speech on the new arrivals and their enterprise.

Effi & Amir are visual artists who live and works together since 1999. Studied at the Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem and the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. Their work is not confined to a specific discipline but often involves video, performance and participatory elements. In their work they are interested in collective or symbolic identities and the way they are constructed. Apart from their own artistic projects, they collaborate with other artists as editors, cameramen and effects designers. They facilitate video workshops worldwide, destined to diverse audiences