Florence - Exhibition, Panel discussion, Integration and Conflict Book
Opening - 18th january 2008
Cango, Florence via santa maria 25
12 am > 12 pm

The word "Gecekondu" is a Turkish term which literally means "it happened during the night". Its roots go down to mythology which tells that each inhabitant able to build four walls and a roof in a night-time would have had the full right to live justifiably and legally in that house. Nowadays the term rather indicates an urbanistic model of growth of the cities in a spontaneous and self-organized way. The current physiognomy of the Turkish cities is mainly due to this kind of naturalizing model made of a progressive displacement to the cities of the people self-organized in a spontaneous way up against the impossibility of the government policies to solve the problem of the house and of the urban expansion. But such a model of expansion does not necessarily dovetail with the processes of social emargination, but it has in itself also positive traits which concern the ability to create innovative community models, self-organized public policies and new capabilities and forms of common political actions. This semantic complexity encloses in itself many of the most innovative characters of the contemporary artistic practices. The capability to operate under and alongside of the normal processes of coding of the meaning. The fields of action emerged from the crisis of traditional roles, the chance to carry out common practices which put into action manners and forms of social action and of community practices which create links and relations not existing before are some of the examples of the underground forms with which artistic practices open fields of knowledge and of meaningful and new practices. This final exhibition of the whole path in the places of contemporary conflict will collect the practices come out during the workshops of Integration and Conflict in the towns of Arezzo, Florence, Leghorn, Monsummano Terme, Pontedera, Prato and Seravezza, together with works and projects of international artists with strong thematic and projectual links with the realized experience. During the final round table, to which Marco Scotini, the indipendent curator and head of the Visual Arts Course of NABA, among the others will be present, the publishing Integration and Conflict - Book will be presented.