English:Platform Limburg Beeldende Kunst (Q1153520)

The Platform Limburg Beeldende Kunsten brings together organisations for the arts (Z33, CIAP, FLACC, Artisit, the Arts Department of PHL, Media and Design Academy in Genk) and NICC, the organisation that protects artists' interests, to deal with questions and problems specifically related to the field of the visual arts in Limburg. 

The network of organisations and artists wants to expand and thus coordinate and stimulate the range of the visual arts more efficiently. Since its foundation in 2002 Platform Limburg Beeldende Kunsten tries to acchieve the following goals:

• o To coordinate the communication about visual arts and artists in Limburg
• o To create a stimulating presentation context for the visual arts 
• o To assure artists and organisation of proper services
• o To develop enduring networks on a local, national and international level

By developping artistic projects, stimulating the discourse on the visual arts and building out networks, the Platform wishes to function as a centre of communication and coordination. The Platform website, which will become a portal site for the visual arts, plays a key role in this. On this virtual space the knowledge and creativity of artists and organisations is collected. As such the website www.platformlimburg.be/beeldende_kunsten, must gradually develop into an online community for artists and organisations, into a meetingplace and an information centre, in short into a fertile breeding ground for new initiatives, both online as well as offline (e.g. in the shape of exhibitions, lectures, etc). 

In order to stimulate quality and distribute knowledge, the Platform will provide support to the working process of  individual (web-) artists/researchers and writers and to coproductions (between partners, companies, artists, associations). By doing this Platform Limburg Beeldende Kunsten is always on the look-out for new talent and puts artists on their way. The initiative also promotes the educational and qualitystimulating role of the Platform towards artistic (or other) training.

Regarding the discourse on new media art, Platform Limburg Beeldende Kunsten organised this year, in collaboration with the Communication and Multimedia Design- training of the Media and Design Academy (KHLIM) and the platform-partners a series of lectures and a workshop adressing the concepts 'location, presenation and production' within new media arts.  The lectures brought some of the following questions under discussion: How does a production process in new media art pass off? How can artists play with the notion of 'location'?  In 2006 Platform Limburg Beeldende Kunsten took on curator Ive Stevenheydens to address these questions.  His research took shape in FREESPACE LIMBURG 2006, the annual exhibition project of the Platform, renamed as 'Power Plays -Interior Desires, Exterior Spaces', a project which made/makes use of the presentation of art on location to drive dialogue and discussion. Artists of all kind were invited to translate social issues into acts all over the province.