lie
ate r
1/12
Atelier Limo
limo
www.atelier-limo.eu / www.detour2011.eu / www.border-speaking.eu
Simon Brunel +49(0)15773906274 / Nicolas Pannetier +49(0)15772633664 /contact@atelier-limo .eu / Weisestr 59, 12049 Berlin (D)
A touring multimedia project by Atelier Limo
in collaboration with the “Frontières” festival of Thionville,
the “Institute for Applied History” and 20 other European partners.
?
Praha
B
CZ
ČSSR
B
CZ
?
Bratislava
1993
1989
B
SK
SK
2013
Bistro
Bistro
Bistro
t
Bis ro
1973
WWW...
CZ / SK
B
Hoi!
Ahoi!
www.atelier-limo.eu / www.detour2011.eu / www.border-speaking.eu
2/12
SUMMARY
Along the linguistic border that separates the Walloon (French
speaking) and Flemish (Dutch speaking) communities, regulars of bistros straddling the “two Belgiums” tell us of the sense of otherness
that they experience, speaking, with something between fear and
hope, about the possibility of one day seeing their country split in
two. 800 kilometres further east, the inhabitants of the Czech-Slovak border recall the anniversary of the “Velvet Divorce” that led,
20 years ago, to the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.
Through the exploration of border cafés and the memories attached to
them, “Border Bistro” compares two borders that are at once close
and distant, and that shed light on the past and on the future of
Europe. From anecdotes to personal stories via political analysis;
various testimonies and differing points of view reveal the issues
that concern citizens at a local, national and European level within
the context of the various crises currently faced by the EU. This
project creates an opportunity to bring together Brussels officials
and café regulars, politicians and ordinary citizens in a two-stage
journey across contemporary Europe.
“Border Bistro” will take the form of a rich and fun online resource.
The website used will serve as a basis for the creation of two interactive installations, which, during the spring and summer of 2013,
will travel simultaneously along the two “borders”. Before they
embark on this journey the project will be launched at the “Frontières” festival in Thionville (F). The project will be carried out
in cooperation with various local partners in Belgium, Slovakia and
the Czech Republic.
www.atelier-limo.eu / www.detour2011.eu / www.border-speaking.eu
3/12
+ Online resource and multimedia terminal
+ Touring installation
www.atelier-limo.eu / www.detour2011.eu / www.border-speaking.eu
4/12
Online resource and multimedia terminal
CZ / SK
B
Hoi!
Ahoi!
During the second half of 2012 various research trips will be carried out and a large quantity of audio and visual material will be collected along the Belgian linguistic border as
well as along the Czech-Slovak border. Inspired by methods used in similar projects (www.
detour2011.eu and database.atelier-limo.eu), the aim is firstly to identify and photograph
all of the bistros along these borders. The next stage will be to interview the inhabitants
of these unique areas about their lives and their relationship with their country and the
border. The aim is to gather a large number of testimonies in order to then enable us to
view the parallels between the different stories.
This audio and visual material will then be used to create an online multimedia resource.
The website will be interesting, fun and intuitive. Taking comic books, an important part
of Belgian culture, as inspiration, the use of drawings will reinforce the narrative aspect
of the project. The project will indeed look at actual places, people and interviews, but
the alternate use of drawings and photos will allow us to also focus on the fact that these
locations, faces and testimonies, when viewed in relation to each other, also describe a
sort of fiction.
As well as serving as a basis for the interactive installation that will travel the length
of the borders, this resource will be available online in various languages and will be
accessible to all.
the multimedia terminal in a Belgian bar
www.atelier-limo.eu / www.detour2011.eu / www.border-speaking.eu
5/12
Touring installation
Two interactive terminals will be created from this resource. They will take their inspiration from the games found in bistros, will be easily transportable and suitable for
use on a bar or table in a café. Both terminals will contain a touch screen, a telephone
handset allowing the user to listen to audio recordings and also a microphone and webcam
enabling the users to communicate with each other, to have their photograph taken and to
leave a message that can be recorded on the website. The collection of testimonies will
therefore grow over time.
The two installations will be previewed at the “Frontières” festival in Thionville in
April 2013. Each installation will then begin its journey along one of the two borders
and will simultaneously travel from west to east, making stops in dozens of bistros and
cafés. This trip will be carried out in cooperation with various partners from the Czech
Republic, Slovakia and the Walloon and Flemish regions of Belgium. The two final destinations will be Ostrava (CZ), as part of the “Deep Camp” festival that will be held in
August 2013 and, subject to confirmation, the cafeteria of the European Parliament or of
the Council of Europe in Brussels.
Ahoi!
Hoi!
Praha
Bruxelles
B
CZ
SK
Bratislava
www.atelier-limo.eu / www.detour2011.eu / www.border-speaking.eu
6/12
+ 20 years after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia
+ Border Cafés : Realms of memory
+ Europe: between questions of identity and economic crisis
www.atelier-limo.eu / www.detour2011.eu / www.border-speaking.eu
7/12
20 years after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia
Praha
B
CZ
ČSSR
?
B
CZ
SK
SK
1989
1993
B
?
Bratislava
2013
Only a few months after the collapse of the socialist republics on 5 and 6 June 1992, the
legislative elections in Czechoslovakia were to seal the fate of a country that would,
on 1 January 1993, give rise to the Czech Republic on one side and Slovakia on the other.
This “Velvet Divorce”, which took place without the least violence, remains a unique
event in our modern history. This amicable separation was carried out peacefully, at a
time when the former Yugoslavia was tearing itself apart. As such, the international community experienced this episode as a great relief, though the consequences for the local
population were much less straightforward. It is worth remembering that at the time the
majority of Slovaks and Czechs were against the idea of seeing the country in which they
had grown up disappear.
Almost 20 years later this “peaceful break-up” is particularly relevant in Belgium where,
given the political difficulties faced by the country, the possibility of a split along
the linguistic border between French and Dutch speakers is an issue that can no longer
be ignored. Indeed, for many years Belgium has been struggling to set up stable institutions, and despite the unifying power of Brussels, the country’s capital and the headquarters of the EU, Belgium finds itself a little more fragile every day. Belgium and
the “Czech Republic – Slovakia” couple seem strangely linked by this difficult issue of
schism: on the one hand is a country that has already been through it, and on the other
is a country that may well suffer a similar fate.
What has the construction of a state border brought to the citizens of the Czech Republic and Slovakia? How do they regard the split 20 years after the event? What have they
gained, what have they learnt from it? And what is the situation in Belgium?
We decided to look for the answers to these questions locally by proposing a route that
transcends history, nations and disciplines and by systematically recording information
along these two borders.
Vaclav Havel, figurehead of the “Velvet Revolution” in Czechoslovakia, could not prevent
the split of his country some months after the fall of communism.
www.atelier-limo.eu / www.detour2011.eu / www.border-speaking.eu
8/12
Border Cafés : Realms of memory
Bistro
Bistro
Bistro
t
Bis ro
Anyone who has ever stood at the bar of a bistro, if only for a few minutes, can imagine
the topics discussed: day-to-day anecdotes and neighbourhood quarrels but also current
affairs. Cafés are public spaces, part of our identity, and for many of their regulars
they form a real extension of their individual space.
The importance of bistros in Belgian, Czech and Slovakian society is not a recent phenomenon. Even in the 19th century, when today’s Czech Republic was nothing but a province
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, bistros were one of the only places where people from all
levels of society could be found: from doctors to labourers to artists and writers. At a
time when only the German language was officially recognised by the authorities, these
bistros were the place where Czech was spoken. Over decades and throughout the different
regimes that have, in their turn, ruled the country, cafés have remained a real part of
the Czech identity. Often used as the headquarters of various local organisations, the
café also holds a central position in Belgian and Slovakian society, not to mention the
importance of the beer that is drunk there; a beverage consumed in great quantity in all
three countries and which, as well as being recognised around the world for its taste,
often forms an important part of local identity.
During the projects that we carried out in central Europe along the former Schengen border we discovered many of these unique bistros that serve as a meeting point and place
of discussion at the edges of these countries. Although the demarcation lines of these
borders tend to disappear in these regions along with the removal of border controls,
the bistros have often remained and have kept the memory of these borders alive, a memory
that demands to be explored.
It is for these reasons that, in “Border Bistro”, we decided to make cafés and bistros
the centre of our project, whether as a place of observation for interviews and testimonies to be collected or as place in which the interactive installations will be shown.
Café front in the disputed region of “Fourons” (Voeren) situated next to the linguistic
border that crosses Belgium.
www.atelier-limo.eu / www.detour2011.eu / www.border-speaking.eu
9/12
Europe: between questions of identity
and economic crisis
1973
In times of difficulty, such as that faced by Europe today, political authorities are
driven to make quick decisions that can have long term consequences for our society. We
believe that it is precisely during such precarious times that we need to take a step
back and to instigate a deeper consideration of important topics by examining our history
and exploring our collective memory.
Central or federal government? Feeling of belonging at a regional, a national or a European level? Belgium – a country that holds the capital of the EU – is currently facing
these institutional challenges and issues of identity, and these appear to be a reflection of the challenges that Europe can expect to face in the near future.
The “Border Bistro” project does not make any claim to support or oppose a possible split
in Belgium. It aims, instead, to compare the memories of these two borders – one that is
only 20 years old and another that looks likely to emerge – by sharing, in an original
way, the results of in-depth research. During the project we aim to ensure the participation of many individuals and organisations from various European countries, as in
our previous projects “Border Speaking” (www.border-speaking.eu) and “ The Detour” (www.
detour2011.eu).
This project aims to create a lasting discussion on issues that concern every European citizen, and to link local and global concerns in an original, unusual and interactive way.
Extract of the film « the Barriers Within » by Atelier Limo : a czech
bar owner at the German border
www.atelier-limo.eu / www.detour2011.eu / www.border-speaking.eu
10/12
10/10
www.atelier-limo.eu / www.detour2011.eu / www.border-speaking.eu
lie
ate r
11/12
limo
Atelier Limo : how we proceed
Atelier Limo was founded in 2006 in Berlin by two trained architects, and aims to rewrite,
in a unique way, the memoirs of Europe through innovative itineraries that cross borders
and nations. By developing multimedia projects (from internet sites to documentary films)
Atelier Limo proposes a long-term discussion of sensitive topics and regions in Europe,
while at the same time ensuring the interaction of those living in the regions in question
through the organisation of local screenings and installations.
° Drawing up and following the itineraries: a new perspective
on our history
The shape of Europe and the route of its borders were mostly decided during and following the various conflicts of the 20th century. The fall of the Berlin wall, which
put an end to the bipolar world of East and West, and the subsequent enlargement of the
EU remind us that we live in a space that is constantly changing.
Having observed the varied and fractured character of our history during our first project along the former Schengen border, we felt that it was necessary to propose a longer term re-reading of the area: a multi-disciplinary reading with observation as its
starting point, in which eras collide and overlap and where memories meet and intersect
beyond national borders.
Drawing up an itinerary, defining its singularity and choosing the start and end points
of the route is already a task in itself. This forms the first stage of our work and
allows us to build the framework, the original vision from which we will observe the
region that we want to explore. The following stage is to “trust” experience, the
places and their inhabitants, and to let ourselves be carried along by their stories in
order to try to understand the region. The route allows us to bring together these elements, to build a big “house of cards” of places and of personal stories. This is history on a human scale; a history in which places tell their stories and in which people
serve as atlases or history books.
° Places as archives
We live in a time when the entire planet has been mapped, counted and photographed; where
the internet, YouTube, Google maps and Wikipedia allow everyone the opportunity to find
information immediately from across the world. In such a time is there anything left to
explore? As trained architects we are particularly interested in places and in what they
can teach us. Whether it be a building, a monument, a ruin or a market square, places
are often, beyond their physical existence, something that can tell us about our past
and our present.
When we listen and open our eyes, places sometimes speak about themselves and have much
to teach us. Often, however, we need people to decode them and to understand what they
carry with them in terms of stories, anecdotes, memories and traumas.
We also consider places to be living archives; archives that we endeavour to decode and to
make reveal their secrets. This work is possible through a long period devoted to observation, during which we use various tools in order to capture the visible and invisible
elements that make up these places. These photos, videos, audio recordings, interviews
and descriptive texts are then collected together in the form of an online resource, installations or documentary films, of which the aim is to bring a new perspective to one
aspect of our history.
www.atelier-limo.eu / www.detour2011.eu / www.border-speaking.eu
12/12
Atelier Limo : how we proceed
Simon Brunel
° Sharing memories
Nicolas Pannetier
It is one thing to observe, to analyse and to question the memory and history of a country
to which we do not belong. It is quite another to share our observations, analyses and
questions with the individuals directly concerned. It is for this reason that, within
each of our projects, we try to propose a sort of restoration that enables encounters
with local people and a reassessment of the observations we have made.
The experience that we gained through these “restorations”, which took the form of touring screenings of two documentary films along the length of the chosen itineraries,
confirmed to us that not only is it possible to bring about a new and multi-disciplinary
perspective on history but also that it is necessary to do so.
2006-2009 > The “Border Speaking” project along the former
Schengen border
2007 – Development of the online resource “Swinoujscie – San Bartolomeo” (database.atelier-limo.eu): photos, audio, writings, maps and interviews taken from all the border
posts separating the old EU countries from the new, from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic.
2009 – Making of the documentary “The Barriers Within”, which has so far been subtitled
in ten languages and shown in over a dozen countries. The film received support from the
“Brouillon d’un rêve filmique” grant in 2008.
2009 – Production and organisation of the “Border Speaking” event, touring screenings of
the film “The Barriers Within” in 40 locations along the former Schengen border (www.
border-speaking.eu).
2009 - “Moving Frontiers” exhibition at the “Maison de l’Architecture et de la Ville” in
Lille (F) and in Baden-Baden (D).
2010-2011 > “The Detour” - project carried out within the programme of the European Capitals of Culture 2011, Turku (FI) and
Tallinn (EST)
2010 – Development of the online resource “www.detour2011.eu”: an interactive presentation of 121 locations along a specific route exploring the shared history of Estonia,
Russia and Finland: photos, maps, audio, interviews, texts. The site has been translated
into five languages.
2011 – Making of the documentary “The Detour”, which has been subtitled in six languages
and screened in various cities including Saint Petersburg, Paris, Berlin, Helsinki and
Tallinn.
2011 – Production and organisation of the event “The Detour Goes on Tour”: touring
screenings of the film “The Detour” in 20 different locations around the Gulf of Finland.
more info under : www.atelier-limo.eu
www.atelier-limo.eu / www.detour2011.eu / www.border-speaking.eu