Dieter Lesage
Portrait of the artist as a resident

This original collection of texts was edited by the philosopher Dieter Lesage upon an invitation by
Sarma and the performing arts journal Etcetera. The publication includes contributions by
philosopher Dieter Lesage, philosopher Boris Buden and visual artist Hito Steyerl, theatre maker Jan
Ritsema, choreographer Martin Nachbar, writer Tanja Dückers, visual artist Jill Magid, and visual
artist and DJ Ina Wudtke. The collection was published in Dutch in Etcetera 104 (December 2006),
in English on www.b-chronicles.be and in German by Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Berlin).
Taking the publication as a starting point, Dieter Lesage presented a theoretical and political
perspective upon the residency issue in a lecture, A Portrait of the Artist as a Resident (remix),
available on www.b-chronicles.be in audiostreaming and as text.


Nasr Hafez
Welcome to the cosmoproletariat

For its theme issue on Brussels, the arts journal Janus invited Sarma for a contribution on the
Brussels dance community. Sarma appointed the Egyptian writer Nasr Hafez, resident in Brussels,
for a contribution related to B-Chronicles. Welcome to the Cosmoproletariat takes the
cosmopolitan life and work conditions of many dance artists in Brussels as a point of departure for a
quasi-parable on the glamourproletarians in the fictitious city Cosmoprolis. Published in English in
Janus (December 2006) and on www.b-chronicles.be.

Delphine Hesters
The facts and fixions of B-longing


Based on the interview project and exchange with the B-Chronicles think tank, the sociologist Delphine Hesters wrote a theoretical essay on the notion of ‘community’ in times of transnational mobility, with the Brussels dance community as her focal point. Hesters probes notions as ‘international’, ‘transnational’ and ‘local’ in relation to the gravity of the professional dance field, and follows migrants and guest workers on their way into the system. A central thesis is her analysis of the dance world as a ‘greedy institution’, that demands full dedication and entails the conflation of life and work, a mechanism that conversely also underpins the existence of a dance community.
Looking at the dance community from an internal perspective, Hesters wonders why members of the Brussels dance community are reluctant to consider themselves members of this community. Then, what is their sense of belonging, and of identity? Hesters concludes with the thesis that the “dance community is a mode of productivity”, it is based on the mutual recognition of potential colleagues.
This informal but effective network allows for a diversity of people and working formats to find a place within the official system, but also instigates new forms of artistic self-organisation. The facts and fixions of B-longing if available in Dutch at www.b-chronicles.be, an English translation is in
preparation.