BERLIN, GERMANY.- Unitednationsplaza is exhibition as school. Structured as a seminar/residency program in the city of Berlin, it will involve collaboration with approximately 30 artists, writers, theorists and a wide range of audiences for a period of one year. In the tradition of Free Universities, most of its events will be open to all those interested to take part. unitednationsplaza is organized by Anton Vidokle in collaboration with Liam Gillick, Boris Groys, Martha Rosler, Walid Raad, Jalal Toufic, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Nikolaus Hirsch and Tirdad Zolghadr.

On October 27-29, 2006, The UN Plaza will be proud to present the inaugural conference entitled: Histories of Productive Failures: From French Revolution to Manifesta VI, organized by Anton Vidokle & Tirdad Zolghadr. The conference will be followed by a two week seminar with Boris Groys: After the Red Square, October 30 through November 10, 2006

Admission is free but space is limited, please register with magdalena@unitednationsplaza.org.

Conference schedule: Friday, October 27

18:00 Manifesta VI Ghost: A specter is haunting Europe - Panelists: Haris Pellapaisiotis, Mete Hatay, Pavlina Paraskevaidou, Anton Vidokle, Rana Zincir Celal. Moderator: Anselm Franke

21:00 Inaugural dinner with Adrienne Goehler (by invitation)

23:00 Rock You Like A Hurricane: drunken dance party with Julieta Aranda

Saturday, October 28

14:00 Program: Liam Gillick

18:00 Respondent: Maria Lind

19:00 Happy Hour

Sunday, October 29

14:00 Diedrich Diederichsen

The event will be conducted in seminar form. All participants are to commit to attending the full four hours' duration. The seminar will attempt to link "failures" of two different kinds. On the one hand, drawing on recent experiments in art academy formatting, it is the incommunicado - possibly structural - between audience and lecturer which shall be explored. On the other hand, it is a broader matter of political ideology that will be addressed; the elusive nature of collective ideals in a situation where the political projections at hand are lacking in any adequate referent to latch on to.