—– Original Message —–
From: “Igor Dobricic” <igor@eurocult.org>
To: <christine@ashkalalwan.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 10:35 PM
Subject: ALMOSTREAL Zagreb
> Dear Christine,
>
> First of all an appology for this rather prolonged silence. It took us
> some time to sort our impressions and consolidate our plans following
> Beirut and Home Works. I will not spend a lot of time writing here
> about the ideas that the week in Beirut provoked in all of us. For
> that, i am attaching the report that i prepared for the ECF menagment
> after my return from Lebanon. In it you ll find my reasoning behind an
> intention to continue the development of the ALMOSTREAL project in your home town.
>
> What i would like to do with this message is to invite you and Rabih
> Mroue to join us for the second ALMOSTREAL getogether in Zagreb. We
> would like to host both of you there between 16th and 19th of January.
> The objective of the getogher will be to discuss and evaluate first
> stage of AR that is under way in the Balkan and to start talking in
> practical and conceptual terms about the second stage in the Middle
> East.
>
> Following our conversation in Beirut, in Zagreb i would like to
> engage with both Rabih and you in discussion about the possible
> paramteres of our collaboration in 2006.
>
> But, beyon this offical inivitation i also wanted to consult with you
> about another person that we were thinking of inviting to Zagreb.
> During her stay in Beirut Ana had a very interesting conversation with
> the architect Rana Haddad and this insipired us to think about the
> link between the performance structure of the Rabih’s performance work
> and the issue of the public space in the city (you ll find some words
> on the subject in the attached report). For that reason we were
> considering the possbility of facilitating some form of collaboration
> between Rabih and Rana, having in mind that they know each other and
> already have discussed the issues of shared artistic interests. On the
> other hand, we dont want to force the collaboration between people so
> we would like to consult you about this idea of adding Ranna to the
> list of guests for Zagreb. So the question is: do you think that this
> ad hoc link between performance and archtecture, Rabih and Ranna, make
> sense or are we running to fast too soon? I would be very gratefull
> if you can advise us on this issue. I will wait for your response
> before taking any further steps.
>
> I would also be gretfull if you can take on yourself to communicate
> our invitation to Zagreb to Rabih.
>
> On a practical level, you can both consider this invitation as
> official and make all necessery reservations for the travel to
> Croatia (arrival 16th departure 19th). Having in mind the pricess,
> sooner you do it the better. We will, same as the last time, cover the
> costs of the flights upon receiving original tickets. Accomodation and
> food costs will be covered as well and we will provide you with per diems.
>
> All the other practical details and agenda of the getogether will
> reach you following the christmas/New Year holidays in early January.
>
> One thing you should keep in mind is that you probably need Croatian
> visa and for this you will have to get in touch with WHW in Zagreb as
> they will host us (as the guests of the Cultural Capital exhibition)
> and they will be able to provide you with the invitation letters. I am
> certain that you can contact Natasa Ilic directly for this purpose. If
> you need any assistance in this respect from me, please feel free to
> contact me at any time.
>
> I am really looking forward to the continuation of our communication
> and I hope that both of you will be available to join us in Zagreb
> next month.
>
> Please let me know asap if there are any further obstacles for your
> attendance.
>
> kind regards
>
> igor
>
> *****************************************
> Igor Dobricic
> Programme Officer for the Arts
> European Cultural Foundation
>
> Jan van Goyenkade 5
> 1075 HN Amsterdam
> The Netherland
>
> phone +31 20 573 38 68
> fax. +31 20 675 22 31
> http//www.eurocult.org
>
>
>