TIME SPACE EXISTENCE - PALAZZO MORA

We, artists, creative entrepreneurs, and researchers, as a collective group we believe that there is a need for an emblematic space, located in Venice, dedicating time and space and presenting the existence of the culture of Europe.

TIME-SPACE-EXISTENCE is the second exhibition of the European Cultural Centre, which was created in 2014.

This exhibition should be seen as a platform for architects from Europe and other parts of the world to visually present their personal thoughts and creations about and within architecture.

Sixty years ago, the Swiss philosopher and great pioneer of European integration, Denis de Rougemont, believed in a cultural Europe, in a Europe with direct participation of people beyond the nation-state with culture as a vital ingredient for Europe’s post-war rebuilding and healing.

Today, sixty years later, the importance of culture within the paradigm of our society’s wellbeing still needs recognition and further active stimulation, more than economic growth.

To achieve a sustainable Europe, the environmental, social, and cultural objectives have to be rebalanced against the financial and economic ones.

The role of creative and critical thinking, fostered by arts, architecture, and cultural activities, also plays a key role if the citizens are to regain trust in Europe.

The reason for the need of the existence of a place for European arts, architecture, and culture is rooted in these statements by Denis de Rougemont.

Today’s ‘Erasmus generation’ is living Europe and is its future.

Coming from Europe and abroad, they share an interest in the development of alternative approaches and improvement of cultural research and awareness; implementation of knowledge, which leads to an ongoing questioning.

Even though knowledge and many connections come through the internet these days, a real physical venue in the city of Venice, offers everybody a unique meeting place in Europe to explore, experience, document, and present cultural togetherness.

The Global Art Affairs Foundation organised the exhibition TIME-SPACE-EXISTENCE with these thoughts in mind.

Since 2002, the GAA-Foundation has organised worldwide exhibitions, symposia, and published books highlighting philosophical themes in contemporary art and architecture

in particular regarding the subjects Time Space Existence, bringing together artists and architects from various cultural backgrounds and different ages.

Also in this exhibition at the European Cultural Centre, the concepts Time Space Existence are central and presents architects from all over the world, next to each other, a documentation, often regardless the personal preferences of the organizers.

The Global Art Affairs Foundation presents in this exhibition what can be seen as a modest cross section of European architecture, in dialogue with several non-European architects.

Although the European Cultural Centre hosts this exhibition and presents it as its statement in Venice, TIME-SPACE-EXISTENCE does not only show works by European architects but rather a global togetherness, a dialogue that goes beyond cultural background, age, race, and sex.

The European Cultural Centre reflects upon the dynamics of European culture and influences, upon how Europe is seen within and outside its borders.

Our aim is to go beyond our geographical borders.

Borders – in the widest sense of the word – have to be crossed in order to develop ourselves as human beings, in order to understand who we are.

“To cherish our differences and strengthen cultural commons", this goal can only become reality if we open ourselves up to the world around us and share our thoughts, without prejudice.

This mission of the European Cultural Centre [ECC], which, as a place for reflection, research, and creation for interdisciplinary encounters, as well as a centre for resources and experimentation, provides the conditions to invite creative practices from all fields – visual art, performance, theatre, music, literature, architecture etc., seeing them as a process of learning and experiencing.

The ECC is a place for investigating the most vital contemporary issues, designing a shared future.

For hundreds of years, Venice has been a place of cultural exchange and an important exporter of European culture.

Venice was chosen as the seat of the ECC not only for its historical importance; Venice is a city with an extraordinary concentration of facilities and organizations dedicated to culture.

The historic centre is only populated by approx. 60,000 inhabitants, but it sustains: 45 museums and seven theatres, 14 foundations with the objectives to promote and develop culture; two leading universities, an art academy, a conservatory, and many public libraries; 32 consulates and regional offices of a.o. UNESCO, WHO, and the Council of Europe; places of worship for many religions, but Venice is also home to a large atheist association, and it is also the city of La Biennale di Venezia.

All of this makes Venice an excellent place to study the sociological and ethnological development of the European society. It is the ideal place to come to understand who we are and how we are seen.

In the context of La Biennale di Venezia 2016, the European Cultural Centre presents TIME-SPACE-EXISTENCE in three of its prestigious Palazzo’s in Venice, Palazzo Mora, Palazzo Rossini, Palazzo Bembo.

The exhibition shows an extensive combination of established architects and architects whose practice is less known, as a cross section of what can be seen as architecture today.

Their common ground is the architect's subjective, personal expression of his or her reflection upon what architecture should and can be.

The exhibition mainly presents recent architecture by living architects. Conforming to the aim of the ECC, the exhibition features architecture presented in a broad variety of artistic media.

Since the more than 150 participating architects originate from very diverse cultures representing over 50 countries, the works are highlighted from unusual points of view.

Despite today’s easy access to knowledge, the exhibition manifests that intellectual development, expressions, and creations in architecture still show great differences.

Not only from culture to culture, but even within one culture. TIME-SPACE-EXISTENCE shows the commonness and differences between Europeans in dialogue with works of Non-Europeans.

The exhibition stimulates a more conscious relationship from the spectator towards their daily surrounding, aiming to increase the awareness of their own personal Existence as human beings influenced by a specific Space and Time.