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From 1 until 3 November 2012 the Van Abbemuseum hosts the international symposium Giant Step: Critical Regionalism – Eindhoven as a Common Ground . The conference takes as its starting point the Van Abbemuseum’s location in Eindhoven in the North Brabant region of The Netherlands. Aiming to expose the diverse network of cultural producers working in the area, the symposium will investigate the relationship between the Eindhoven based artists and designers, and the broader international contemporary art community.
In addition to the international partners, the Van Abbemuseum focuses on the connection with cultural producers based in Eindhoven. Giant Step will attempt to balance the influence of international and local voices in order to create a dialogue that addresses both the current cultural climate in Eindhoven and similar situations within the larger global discourse.
The symposium will include tours of local studios and art organisations, workshops, seminars, community dinners and academic papers. The outcome will be to provide Eindhoven producers with an opportunity to meet and discuss their projects with international curators as well as to learn about projects from other locations that are relevant to their practice. This symposium is an attempt to define one’s position in relation to the wider world.

Due to the presence of international guests, the symposium will be mainly in English.

Eindhoven based participating organisations include:
Atelierdorp and Kelderman en van Noort, Baltan Laboratories, Collaboration-O, De Fabriek, La Città Mobile, MU, Onomatopee, PEK, Studio Formafantasma, TAC and Tante Netty.

Van Abbemuseum
The Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven is one of the first public museums for contemporary art to be established in Europe. The museum’s collection of around 2700 works of art includes key works and archives by Lissitzky, Picasso, Kokoschka, Chagall, Beuys, McCarthy, Daniëls and Körmeling. The museum has an experimental approach towards art’s role in society. Openness, hospitality and knowledge exchange are important. We challenge ourselves and our visitors to think about art and its place in the world, covering a range of subjects, including the role of the collection as a cultural 'memory' and the museum as a public site. International collaboration and exchange have made the Van Abbemuseum a place for creative cross-fertilisation and a source of surprise, inspiration and imagination for its visitors and participants.
Van Abbemuseum, Bilderdijklaan 10, Eindhoven, The Netherlands,
www.vanabbemuseum.nl