Chisinau is hosting the Public Space Days 2015, launched by the Young Artists Association Oberliht and supported by the European Cultural Foundation, on October 6-10. According to the organizers, the goal of the Public Space Days is to provide a platform for discussions, sensitizing and action on themes and initiatives related to the democratization, protection and opening of the public space to the people, for different players and different types of public.

In a news conference at IPN on October 6, Vitalie Spranceana, project coordinator at Oberliht, said the Public Space Days 2015 represent a program of workshops, conferences, meetings and public debates accompanied by a cultural program. These events are designed to bring together activists, artists, architects, theoreticians, jurists, experts, residents of the city and decision makers of different levels so that these confer on different views and approaches related to the public space, the role of arts in the public space and the improvement of all the social groups’ access to the public space.

The first event of the Public Space Days is a presentation by Vitalie Spranceana entitled “Urban civic networks” at the Provincial Zemstva House, located at 103 Shchusev St, on October 6, starting at 5pm. An exhibition of photos titled “City for sale” is opened at 7pm.

The project coordinator said that a training workshop on the collection of funds for civic initiatives and a workshop entitled “Increasing transparency in the field of culture”, which will involve experts from Romania, will be staged the next few days. Another scheduled event is a legal consultancy session for activists. It will involve Vitalie Zeama, of the public association “Jurists for Human Rights”. There will also be staged a tour of independent cultural initiatives of Chisinau, an artistic performance and a puppet play for children.

The organizers said that the Public Space Days also aim to strengthen the local networks of organizations, initiatives and joint possessions and to join together experts active in Moldova and invitees from other European states. Another objective is to offer the residents and guests of Chisinau a cultural program by reactivating abandoned or ruining public areas.
Further details about the event and program are available here.