Klaus Schafler
Breezy Park
Video installation/ 2013
In May 2013, Parco di Centocelle, a huge public park at Via Casilina on the outskirts of Rome, hosted the Festa Interculturale Roma, a major transnational festival organised by a local Bengali cultural association working with migrant initiatives from 14 countries of the Global South. Whereas the living situations and residence status of the Bengali people in Rome still are often rather ‘informal’, their associations are very well organised and internationally well connected.
Breezy Park joins the organisers and artists preparing, shaping and rehearsing the event to examine the origination process of this festival in the park. On the one hand, the project narrates stories about these people and communities: Who are they? How do they view informality and the public sphere? How do they relate to the political and social struggles in Bangladesh, and the difficulties created by extreme weather conditions there?
On the other hand, the project traces the spatial changes through the festival architectures that, with a breeze of improvisation, informality and formalization, materialise the temporary appropriation of this public park.