The Octopus Programme is a guided research-based educational programme that encourages artistic research and production-based collaborations across academies and art institutions; students and professionals; diverse presentation modes; and processes of research and documentation in different geographies.

While the Octopus Programme functions as a support mechanism for emerging artists, the main objective of the programme is to accumulate experience-based collective and creative output by taking geopolitical, social, ecological, and educational urgencies and diversities into consideration. Correspondingly, the programme intended to develop and point out new critical perspectives and standpoints to process artistic research and practices. By merging the viewpoints of academic entities and contemporary art institutions, along with the mixed facilities and activities they provided, the Octopus Programme developed a progressive methodology by creating an autonomous network.

The programme was initiated in 2019 by the University of Applied Arts Vienna (Angewandte) and Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunis with a pilot phase which linked Vienna and Tunis. The main phase took place between 2021 and 2022. The partners of the programme’s main phase were Konstfack – University College of Arts, Crafts; Index – The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation, Stockholm; the University of Applied Arts Vienna; the Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunis; the University of Pretoria; The Centre for the Less Good Idea, Johannesburg; Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, Ramallah; Birzeit University; The Palestinian Museum, Birzeit; SAHA Association, Istanbul; PUBLICS, Helsinki; and Saastamoinen Foundation, Helsinki.

The first chapter of the programme was designed as a two-semester course, ‘Spectral Encounters’, which took place both at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and B7L9 Art Station, Kamel Lazaar Foundation, in Tunis and served as a pilot application. The language of the course was English. After completing the pilot phase in February 2021, the main phase was planned to start in April 2021 during the winter semester of 2021/2022. The presentations, exhibitions, and book launches continued until the last week of June 2022. For the pilot phase, the winning applicants announced in February 2020 were Julia Stern and Sophia Bellouhassi from the University of Applied Arts Vienna, and Marwa Manai and Younes Ben Slimane from Tunisia. During the summer of 2020, Slimane was accepted to Le Fresnoy – Studio National des Arts Contemporains in France and started his education in the winter semester of 2020/2021, which meant that he would only be able to participate in the exhibitions and screenings during the main phase. Hence, Férielle Doulain-Zouari from Tunisia was selected and invited as the fourth participant for the second semester.

In 2019/2020, the course included peer-to-peer educational sessions, online and class discussions, research field trips and workgroups both in Tunis and Vienna, collaborative production-based workshops, and lectures. The course was led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Basak Senova, Visiting Professor at Art and Communication Practices, University of Applied Arts Vienna. The course also incorporated guest lecturers and curated presentations by the students/artists in both cities. The travel expenses were covered by the University of Applied Arts Vienna and Kamel Lazaar Foundation. Throughout the pilot phase, the website theoctopusprogramme.uni-ak.ac.at kept the project’s log and provided further information, news, and updates on programme activities. As the outcome of this phase, the Octopus Programme presented two publications for the Angewandte Festival 2020 of the University of Applied Arts Vienna.

The first publication, The Rehearsal, was a collaborative artist book that was assembled and produced by the pilot phase participants. The second publication, edited by Basak Senova, assembled the process of the ‘Spectral Encounters’ course with the contributions of some of the guest lecturers, such as Anne Klontz, Barbara Putz-Plecko, Bronwyn Lace, Lina Lazaar, Marcus Neustetter, Martin Krenn, Nadia Ayari, and Olfa Feki.

For the main phase, over a rigorous multi-institutional application process with fi ve interconnected evaluation committees, the winning candidates’ research-based proposals were selected from a pool of applicants from Austria, Finland, Tunisia, Palestine, South Africa, Sweden, and Turkey. The open call in each country carried out its own procedure while maintaining the same conditions, and the institution/art centre/art space/association from each country conducted the selection process in collaboration/coordination with Başak Şenova. The participating artists/participants/fellows selected and appointed to the programme were Alina Rentsch, Bengü Karaduman, Bochra Taboubi, Conny Zenk, Els van Houtert, Eser Epözdemir, Jannis Neumann, Kim M. Reynolds, Maarit Mustonen, Nondumiso Lwazi Msimanga, Noor Abed, Sofia Prifti, and Verena Miedl-Faißt.

The main phase of the programme was modelled after the pilot phase, yet the activities were spread across each node. In the University of Applied Arts Vienna, the programme went on for two semesters together with the ‘Spectral Encounters’ course (every Tuesday, four hours per week), so the artists/participants/fellows earned six credits from their universities (as per Erasmus agreements). The language of the course in this phase was also English, yet certain special assignments and workshops were conducted in German, French, Turkish, and Arabic. Throughout thirty weeks, nine curators/instructors/coordinators collaborated on developing and designing content. The course was incorporated with the Octopus Programme and offered peer-to-peer educational sessions, online and class discussions, research fi eld trips and workgroups, collaborative production-based workshops, and lectures in different European, Mediterranean, and African cities. For the curators/instructors/coordinators, trips to Stockholm, Helsinki, Vienna, Kassel, Tunis, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Istanbul were organised.

The course also included guest lecturers, collaborated academic exchanges, and curated presentations by the students/artists in different cities. Tutorials were prepared for the pilot and main phase participants by Anne Klontz, Basak Senova, Bronwyn Lace, Çelenk Bafra, Hristina Ivanoska, Johan Thom, Jonatan Habib Engqvist, Karim Sultan, Marti Manen, Paul O’Neill, Renad Shqeirat, Tina Sherwell, and Yane Calovski. The website, hosted by the University of Applied Arts Vienna, continued to function as a hub for communicating all the activities of the programme.

As the first set of activities, the Octopus Programme presented an exhibition, a screening programme, a publication, and an online public programme for Angewandte Festival 2021. The exhibition, titled Play, hinted of the artists’ research and works that were developed in the course of the Octopus Programme. An experimental and performative three-day exhibition was held in Tunis prior to the programme’s conclusion. This experimental exhibition, the Duologue, took place at B7L9 Art Station and was shaped through continuous conversations with Tunisian-based artists, thinkers, cultural workers, scholars, and visitors. Finally, the programme concluded with the Octopus exhibition in Vienna, which was the most comprehensive iteration of the experimental, curatorial, and educational path that was pursued by the Octopus Programme. the Octopus exhibition presented an accumulation of research and process-based works by its artists/participants/fellows, associated actors, and its curated archive. the Octopus also featured prominent examples from certain guest lecturers who influenced the programme, such as Bronwyn Lace, Cazlynne Peffer, Cristiana de Marchi, Dylan Graham, Ebru Kurbak, Egle Oddo, Hristina Ivanoska, Indalo Bennet, Johan Thom, Jyoti Mistry, Larissa Sansour, Lisl Ponger, Marcus Neustetter, Nirual Kenabruv Nisrine Boukhari, PUBLICS, Teboho Lebakeng, The ZoNE, William Kentridge, Yane Calovski, and Zhou Yuqi. The exhibition was accompanied by a three-day public programme at Tonkino Saalbau by the exhibition’s artists and other contributors, including Isa Rosenberger, Larissa Sansour, Lisl Ponger, Mohamad Bazzi, Nikolaus Gansterer, Paul Krimmer, Ramesh Daha, Renger van den Heuvel, Yasser Jridi, and Zeyneb Raissi.

Its sister project, A Research of Doing, an Africa-UniNet project—initiated by the University of Pretoria and the University of Applied Arts Vienna in collaboration with The Centre for the Less Good Idea, funded by BMBWF – The Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research and OeAD – Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalisation.

The programme’s representatives and curators were Barbara Putz-Plecko and Basak Senova (curator) in Vienna; Maria Lantz, Magnus Bärtås, Marti Manen, and Anne Klontz (curator) in Stockholm; Lina Lazaar, Moez Brabet, and Karim Sultan (curator) in Tunis; William Kentridge, Phala Ookeditse Phala, and Bronwyn Lace (curator) in Johannesburg; Tina Sherwell (curator) in Birzeit; Ruba Totah in Birzeit; Renad Shqeirat (curator) in Ramallah; Çelenk Bafra (curator) in Istanbul; Johan Thom (curator) in Pretoria; and Marja Karttunen and Paul O’Neill (curator) in Helsinki.

The Octopus Programme undertook the production of seven collaborative booklets between 2021 and 2022. Some of these booklets were produced as joint projects with the partnering institutions and projects.

#1: The Octopus by Alina Rentsch, Bochra Taboubi, Els van Houtert, Eser Epözdemir, Férielle Doulain-Zouari, Kim M. Reynolds, Maarit Mustonen, Nondumiso Lwazi Msimanga, Sofi a Priftis, and Verena Miedl-Faißt

#2: A Heavenly Helix by Alina Rentsch, Bochra Taboubi, Cristiana de Marchi, Conny Zenk, Dylan Graham, Els van Houtert, Eser Epözdeṁ ir, Férielle Doulain-Zouari, Kim M. Reynolds, Maarit Mustonen, Nisrine Boukhari, Noor Abed, Nondumiso Lwazi Msimanga, Teboho Lebakeng, Sofi a Priftis, Sophia Bellouhassi, Verena Miedl- Faißt, and Zhou Yuqi

View and download the A Heavenly Helix booklet

#3: Breadcrumbs Know Where We’re Going by Alina Rentsch, Cristiana de Marchi, Conny Zenk, Els van Houtert, Eser Epözdeṁ ir, Férielle Doulain-Zouari, Maarit Mustonen, Nondumiso Lwazi Msimanga, and Verena Miedl-Faißt

#4: Translations by Athena Mazarakis, Basak Senova, Browyn Lace, Mandla Mbothwe, and Phala Ookeditse Phala, in collaboration with The Centre for the Less Good Idea

#5: Shadows by Bochra Taboubi, Cristiana de Marchi, Maarit Mustonen, Verena Miedl-Faißt, and Zhou Yuqi, in collaboration with The ZoNE

View and download the Shadows booklet

#6: Liquid Sets by Bochra Taboubi, Cristiana de Marchi, Verena Miedl-Faißt & Nirual Kenabru, and Zhou Yuqi

View and download the Liquid Sets booklet

#7: Three Minute Stories by Ȧli Ṁiharbi, Berat Isik, Bochra Taboubi, Cazylnne Peffer, Dylan Graham, Eser Epözdeṁ ir, İz Öztat, Nondumiso Lwazi Msimanga, Teboho Lebakeng, Tunca, Verena Miedl-Faißt & Nirual Kenabru, and Zhou Yuqi, in collaboration with A Research of Doing and SAHA

View and download the Three Minute Stories booklet

Booklet series editor: Basak Senova
Visual concept and graphic design: Basak Senova and Funda Senova Tunali
Publisher: Department of Art and Communication Practices, Institute for Art Sciences and Art Education, University of Applied Arts Vienna
Year: 2022