2017-2021

ZK/U – Center for Arts and Urbanistics is part of a Creative Europe platform entitled “Magic Carpets”, in which thirteen cultural organizations from the EU and accession countries participate. The project is managed by the Kaunas Biennial.

The title “Magic Carpets” refers to the story about a flying carpet in the tales of 1001 Nights. You can travel the world in no time with this fantastic carpet. However, travelling is not just something positive only associated with a longing for the unknown or a conscious and voluntary decision. Nomadism determines our present.

Recent years have shown that many have been forced to adopt a nomadic state of mind in their search for safety, physical accommodation and economic support, when fleeing their home and their country. Tensions around this topic are growing day by day. Unfortunately, the explosion of the numbers of refugees from outside of Europe coincides with an internal European displacement, which in turn causes growing repression.

ZK/U Berlin provides residencies for artists and curators, and participates artistically and discursively in the more than fifty artistic and cultural interventions taking place in various European cities. They become those “magic carpets” that give us the possibility of creating common memories and thereby acquiring a sense of belonging to a unified history, with the re-learned ability to listen to each other, which is largely absent nowadays.

More information about Magic Carpets 
magiccarpets.eu