Volume L, No 3, July-September 2012 - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Volume L, No 3, July-September 2012 - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Volume L, No 3, July-September 2012 - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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United States <strong>of</strong> Europe (U.S.E)<br />
A travelling exhibition about European identity and today’s Europe<br />
Opening from 17 <strong>September</strong> until 14 October <strong>2012</strong><br />
Do you feel European? Does Mr O’Keeffe in<br />
Ireland feel more or less European than Mrs<br />
Stylianou in Cyprus? And if so, why? What is the<br />
idea behind Europe and do Europeans feel included?<br />
Do Europeans trust their leaders? Maybe<br />
there are as many different answers to these questions<br />
as there are citizens in Europe.<br />
The artistic project United States <strong>of</strong> Europe<br />
(U.S.E) deals with these questions in the context<br />
<strong>of</strong> a travelling exhibition through ten European<br />
countries. The exhibition opened in Lodz, Poland,<br />
in <strong>No</strong>vember 2011; the second destination was<br />
Helsinki, the third was Vilnius and the fourth was<br />
Guimarães. In <strong>September</strong> the exhibition opened<br />
in Nicosia, as part <strong>of</strong> the cultural programme <strong>of</strong><br />
the Cyprus Presidency <strong>of</strong> the Council <strong>of</strong> the European<br />
Union.<br />
United States <strong>of</strong> Europe (U.S.E), a large-scale collaboration<br />
project about European identity, will<br />
also be presented in public spaces, galleries and<br />
museums in Germany, Bulgaria, France, Ireland<br />
and Belgium until spring 2013.<br />
The concept<br />
U.S.E is not propaganda for a federal Europe. It<br />
aims to create commitment in the Europe in which<br />
we live and to function as a communication platform<br />
for people living in Europe. The exhibition<br />
<strong>of</strong>fers a lot <strong>of</strong> different interpretations on European<br />
identity through diverse disciplines and from different<br />
angles.<br />
U.S.E comprises four dimensions:<br />
1. Artists interpretations: Curators and artists<br />
have been invited to give their interpretations <strong>of</strong><br />
European identity through photos, multimedia,<br />
video and other installations.<br />
2. Sociological studies: 50 people from 10 different<br />
countries have been interviewed. The result is<br />
video-recorded interviews that give comparable results<br />
<strong>of</strong> a potential belonging to a European entity.<br />
3. An interactive laboratory: This is a place in the<br />
exhibition where the artistic and sociological parts<br />
are combined. The laboratory is a creative environment<br />
for real-time exchanges about Europe today.<br />
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