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Manége

Basic information

Project Title

Manége

Full project title

Platform and collective focusing on cross disciplinary artistic potential

Category

Mobilisation of culture, arts and communities

Project Description

Manége is a collective that has no fixed form, and functions more like a community that gathers and promotes itself and its immediate periphery through varying creative manifestations. Manége thus accommodates both different individuals and different subgroups depending on the project being worked on. 

Project Region

København N, Denmark

EU Programme or fund

No

Description of the project

Summary

Manége is a collective that has no fixed form, and functions more like a community that gathers and promotes itself and its immediate periphery through varying creative manifestations. Manége thus accommodates both different individuals and different subgroups depending on the project being worked on. 

The idea is to create a community and a network for creative people all over Europe. Especially for returning forces who have studied outside of their home country and maybe wish to return. Manége gives them the opportunity to coexist in a community of shared interest. A place where you are not alone in you search for like-minded professionals, and where you can help each other grow in a European sense. It can be difficult to get started alone, especially after your studies, and therefore we wish to invite people into this world of network, opportunities and freedom.

Manége is a platform and collective focusing on the cross disciplinary artistic potential. We consist of 12 members, all with different backgrounds as photographer, artists, architects, designers, graphic designers and communicator. Our roles and skills are distributed depending on the project, so that everyone works side by side.

Key objectives for sustainability

The sustainable qualities of this project is definitely the inviting cross diciplinary interaction between professions. Manége aims to create a sustainable community able to reach new heights by working together across fields. 'Together we are stronger'. This analogy invites people from the outside with common interests to join the force and help the society grow. Everything and everyone is welcome. It can be a stepping stone for creative souls to embrace their dreams and visions.

We offer opportunities for those who return from studies outside of their own country, or people with ambitions who wish to engage in a different kind of network. Manége creates events, workshops, exhibitions etc. where those participating in the specific project will meet others with similar backgrounds and situations as themselves.

Key objectives for aesthetics and quality

We founded Manége two years ago, as a big experiment to create a madness exhibition uniting all of our powers, capabilities and cross interests. Basically, we wanted to create a manege, like the one you find in a circus. A space and a platform for everyone, with room for great diversity in presentation forms and skills. A place where people could unleash their playful curiosity. As the name reflects, the playful and curious approach was paramount to the final format of the exhibition. A format that for our first exhibition, hovered between being one big performance, a concert and an exhibition. It was undefined and allowed to create itself over its 3 day duration. The event took place at Trekroner Fort, an old fortress in the Port of Copenhagen. A ‘no man’s land’, outside of power hierarchies and systems that gave us the opportunity to create a separate place and a spirit that reflected Manége's energy and desire to be a rallying point separate from the established scene and fixed norms.

The exhibition invited people out on the fort, and into a world where no rules existed. A place where the artists could show what they wanted, without being bound by guidelines, but instead had the opportunity to take exactly the space they wanted. As a result, several of the works existed in symbiosis with the building and the location, some with the event and the visitors, while others stood out completely as contrasting foreign bodies in our universe.

Key objectives for inclusion

Manége creates a platform for creative young people outside of the creative, established community in Denmark (for now). The non-profit organisation based on vouluntear fiery souls who in togetherness wishes to engage in a community we all share has the goal of creating events, exhibitions etc. with a wide audience.

Our projects occurs from a common experience of particular challenges amongst young, creative forces who educated themselves outside of their home countries and afterwards have returned with the purpose of creating a working environment for themselves back home. They are outside of the established labour market and therefore in need of networks and creative communities.

Manége wishes to create an opportunity for these to create a new affiliation with their home countries and hereby help creating a foundation in a branch which is difficult to become a part of. Our projects are to create a common voice where the participants are given the opportunity to engage in the social debate and generate the framework for their own development and output.

Innovative character

Manége is a platform open for all creative energies, ideas and forces. The core exists of photographer, artists, architects, designers, graphic designers and communicators. By collecting so many various backgrounds we have the ability to create, accept and interact in many different ways. We can offer a great combination of  qualities and at the same time take on extremely specific niche projects. We are not a platform that exclusively works all together. We also take on smaller projects, where one or two people work under the name of Manége, to keep the spirit alive at all times. 

The goal is to never stand still and be in a constant process of development and improvement of the corporation but also of the individual people engaged. It is a way for all of us and for the participants to grow as a group with the strength we find in each other. To never stand alone with any project and always have people to share dreams, visions, interests and ideas with. To be able to continue improving the way of thinking to keep the crazy, playful, adventurous spirit in all of us.

Gallery