Syndicate: europartrain gains weight, hans gets thinner

[Geert Lovink <geert@xs4all.nl>]

From: hans <kaliwoda@euronet.nl>

Dear All,

it's quite some time ago, you have heard from europatrain.
In the meantime, we had another exhibition with the train in September.
On the whole, the europartrain stays a very difficult project. The train
is often used for internal or external politics, which makes the puzzle
the more complicated. As you probably heard, the Dutch NS started this
October their own art train. Now it is obvious, why the NS tried their
utmost best to stop us on exhibiting the train in Leeuwarden/Friesland,
recently. It is 'their business’. The NS tried to hurt us as well
internationally and even Mrs. Netelenbos, couldn't influence Den
Bestens’ way of dealing with us.
 
Never the less, we worked out our own way and had a great show with many
visitors and much responds.  At the opening we took over the whole train
station with Dj,s and acts on our flat bed wagon, which we used for a
stage. On future train stations this will be even better. please look at
our news: 

   http://www.blindpainters.org/newsl.html 

Every country a new story. The Belgium Railways (NMBS) is one of the
main sponsors of Brussels 2000! The western cultural world turns much to
slow for the REAL business of the Railways in west Europe. Confirmed
patronage in Belgium by Mr. Bert Anciaux and reference letters stating
like ‘quality and artistic creation has been very high’ so Bob Palmer
(Director of Brussels 2000) writing and still today, Brussels 2000 is
not sure of how to solve problems with the NMBS and if they may put the
europartrain in their program. We were working hard in Belgium,
established over hundred of contacts and lots of promised finances. By
pushing it to this extremes, it’s certainly interesting to steer it up
further and provoke this struggle of business power with the culture. It
may even be, that somebody comes up with a brilliant nationalistic idea
of a 'real Belgium train' and finds support. Everything is possible in
this progressive Europe, we are living in!

Comparing Belgium, in other countries things move a bit faster. As a
basic outline, we are planning to combine a visit to three Cultural
Capitals of next year, Brussels, Prague and Cracow. Cracow, Luxembourg
and Czech Rep. is quite positive and many things are happening. 

Very recently, the Stedelijk in Amsterdam officially became friend of
the train and we will get famous soon, but I guess for the long expected
snow ball effect, I got to keep on puzzling. It's a rather interesting
and sometimes dangerous pioneering work, since there were many railway
accidents in the contemporary art business, lately. 

greetings
hans

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