Workshop with Bik Van Der Pol

In this workshop, participants will travel by taxis, talk with drivers, record their conversations, and return with stories which will be disseminated by public radio during hours negotiated with a radio station. The taxi will be regarded as social place, as carrier and interface of public voice, knowledge/history, often across generations. By choosing the taxi, the project also subtly touches upon two major urban management issues in present-day Beirut: lack of public space (spaces of collectivity) and transportation.

A list of topics to be discussed during the taxi rides will form the backbone of the project. The space of 98 weeks will function as a hub where workshop participants and/or interested visitors/public can listen to the recordings, and where the construction of a large city map will be a central work in process. That map will connect the gathered insights and knowledge to places. During the workshop invited speakers will reflect on public space, mapping and the forming of collective memory.

The workshop is open for all practitioners, if you are interested please send an email, with some documentation of your work to marwarsanios@hotmail.com, mirenearsanios@gmail.com