the Third Paradise in Kortrijk a community art project
A project in the context of the Kortrijk Triennial for contemporary art, entitled Paradise Kortrijk 2021. This interactive arts trail will take over the heart of Kortrijk from June 26 to October 24, 2021, in various places in the public space. Contemporary artists dissect utopian and dystopian questions from a social, ecological, architectural or technological point of view, resulting in an exhibition that balances on the relationship between utopia and reality.
A core group, under the creative guidance of artist Jonas Vansteenkiste, set to work with Pistoletto's ideas, and with the different voices and opinions of the Kortrijk people... This group thought about how the manifesto, the symbol and what it stands for could involve Kortrijkzanen in the question of the ideal society.
The results of this survey were shown during the summer of 2021 in the Kortrijk district of Overleie. This location and the presentation moments were at the same time the starting point for a dialogue on this subject with local residents and visitors to the triennial.
A special contribution was made by the first-year students of the DEVINE course (Bachelor Digital Design and Development, Howest), who used the Third Paradise symbol to creatively represent the theme of the ideal society.
The Third Paradise was concluded on Friday 15 October 2021 - during the Week of Fair Trade 2021, and in the context of the project 'A city on stage' of LEEFWERK - with dialogue tables on the ideal society in Kortrijk. Together with the Kortrijk Fair Trade working group and OpenDeur vzw we asked ourselves the question: "How can Kortrijk be a fair city?". Magnolia Collective processed the ideas on the spot into an inspiring map of the city of Kortrijk in the year 2030.
An organization of Avansa Mid- and Southwest, Be-Part and the city of Kortrijk, as part of the Triennial for Contemporary Art, Paradise Kortrijk 2021.
In search of the Third Paradise in Kortrijk
Michelangelo Pistoletto's Third Paradise becomes visible in a 'democratic archive', where the dialogue with the inhabitants of Kortrijk about the ideal society is conducted and displayed. A project within the framework of the art triennial Paradise Kortrijk 2021.
Michelangelo Pistoletto, living legend of the arte povera, is the founder of Cittadellarte in Italy: a place and organization that aims to change society through art. Various social actors come together to look for ways to achieve a better society. His vision: put various ideas together and you get innovative solutions.
This special view can also be found in Pistoletto's manifesto 'the Third Paradise'. What if we tried to reconcile the first paradise (the natural) and the second paradise (the artificial), to live together in harmony side by side? Wouldn't the world then become a much better place? That is the Third Paradise.
What if we apply this vision to Kortrijk?
What does paradise look like for the inhabitants of the city?
Are there as many visions as there are residents?
Can we still extract a summary, a synthesis from that, a Third Paradise?
And what could that look like?
