The organiser of the event,
Kultiba, has during two years researched the conditions for setting up a regional network that can be of interest for cultural operators all over Spain and maybe also in neighbouring countries. For this reason, TEH Secretary General Birgitta Persson was invited as a keynote speaker to present TEH as an established network, to describe the activities and the benefits of being part of a network. The presentation generated a lot of questions and interest from the participants. Some of the questions centred around the relation between the city authorities and cultural collectives who squat buildings, having the recent eviction of
Kuktuza Social Centre in Bilbao in mind.
The conference took place at
ZAWP in the peninsula
Zorrotzaurre surrounded by the Nervión River that runs through Bilbao. Today the barrio is both a derelict industrial and residential area but this neighbourhood is destined to be the new Manhattan of Bilbao. The city has commissioned the famous architect
Zaha Hadid to produce a
Masterplan for the total re-conversion of the peninsula.
ZAWP as a cultural organisation was born out of the necessity to influence the process of this urban transformation for the neighbourhood. We hope to welcome Manu G. Blanco, director of ZAWP, to TEH Meeting 72 in Bordeaux 27–30 October 2011.