Octopus Program 2020 presents two publications for the Applied Festival. As a guided research-based educational program, the Octopus Program encourages artistic research and production-based collaborations across academies and art institutions; students and professionals; various presentation modes; and processes of research and documentation in different geographies. As an initiative of the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and Kamel Lazaar Foundation in Tunis , the first chapter of the program is designed as a two-semester course “Spectral Encounters”. Led by Basak Senova , Visiting Professor at Art and Communication Practices and Barbara Putz-Plecko, Vice-Rector for Research and Diversity , it takes place both at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and B7L9, Kamel Lazaar Foundation in Tunis as a pilot application. These artistic research activities (region-specific explorations, research and documentation processes, etc.) as well as the production-related cooperation (presentation, communication, etc.) between universities and art institutions, students and experts are accompanied by research-based teaching .

While the Octopus Program functions as a support mechanism for emerging artists, the main objective of the program is to accumulate experience-based collective and creative output by taking geopolitical, social, ecological, and educational urgencies and diversities into consideration. Next year, the program will link to other universities, institutions and art initiatives in Europe, the Mediterranean, and Africa.

As the first outcome of the project, two publications will be in circulation during the Angewandte Festival.

The first publication “The Rehearsal” is a collaborative artist book that has been assembled and produced by the applicants of the Octopus Program 2020: Julia Stern (DAE / TEX), Sophia Bellouhassi Widmann (DEX / KKP) from University of Applied Arts Vienna and Marwa Manai and Younes Ben Slimane from Tunis. It was produced as part of the Spectral Encounters course that took place both at Department of Art and Communication Practices (KKP), Institute For Art Sciences And Art Education, the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and B7L9, Kamel Lazaar Foundation in Tunis as a pilot application of the Octopus Programme led by Basak Senova. Senova contributed to the production phase through the conceptual design debates, as well as undertaking the graphic design and image processing of the book.

The second publication, edited by Basak Senova, gathers the process of the “Spectral Encounters” course with the contributions of Anne Klontz, Olfa Feki, Bronwyn Lace, Marcus Neustetter, and Nadia Ayari . During and after the duration of the festival, the publication will be available and downloadable from the programme’s website.