Presentation by Klaas van Gorkum

Iratxe Jaio & Klaas van Gorkum: 'For us as artists, working in the public space means that we think about what the public represents. When we were invited last year to involve the residentes of the districts of Overvecht (Utrecht) and Barakaldo (Bilbao) in an artistic project, we decided to use the zombie as a distorted image of the ideal citizen. We did this in order to draw attention to notions such as consumerism, the masses, dystopia, alienation and participation'.

Matthias Pauwels (BAVO): 'Through research and action, we engage in the synergy between the creative sector and public and private parties within the creative leap in scale of cities.  Artists and architects often appear to react with reservation to the great faith placed in them. By running campaigns, we enthuse our colleagues to shamelessly create a distinct profile for themselves in the area of the conceptualisation of cities, social revitalization and mobilization'.