Meaning Making in Public Space

The aim of Meaning Making in Public Space (MMiPS) is twofold. On the one hand MMiPS will train a new generation of promising artistic researchers in the field of public art practices in order to provide them with a diverse set of skills and research methods necessary to make meaningful contributions to society. On the other hand, by establishing a platform for creative artistic practices, MMiPS will challenge existing views on public space, articulate new understandings of it, and create new public spaces for the future. It is clear that the traditional understanding of public space as an open place for interaction and identity production is currently challenged by a transitory landscape of cultural integration and the migratory emergence of forms of otherness within existing public spaces. MMiPS' starting point is the complexity and multi-layered nature of contemporary public space where local, national, European and global interests meet and strive for attention. It explores the potential of public space as the locus of critical interaction and collective imagination. MMiPS, therefore, claims an active role for the burgeoning field of artistic research in the articulation of new narratives for Europe's public spaces.