[Image: A real train compartment placed in the hallway of the newly built wing of a nursing home for demented elderly. A work by Lino Hellings and Yvonne Dröge Wendel Delft the Netherlands. Photo by Gert Jan van Rooij] Upgrade! São Paulo: P.A.P.A Participating Artists’ Press Agency: Lino Hellings :: November 18, 2009; 7:30 pm :: Ateliê Unicentro Belas Artes de São Paulo, R. Dr. Álvaro Alvim, 76 - Vila Mariana.

P.A.P.A. participating artists’ press agency will manufacture news by taking action. P.A.P.A. is in development. The Public process can be followed on www.papaplatform.com

Two years ago I had decided to transform my work as an artist into a press agency. It took some time but from summer 2008 I have started to develop the concept. My idea is to establish an international press agency with a word wide network of artist correspondents that makes news in the most literally sense of the word. Cause news by taking action. On the one hand we will settle down as a mobile photostudio/press agency on a temporary basis in a persons house /a street/a suburb/an institution. On the other hand we will keep in contact with a worldwide network of artists-correspondents. We will undertake shared action based on our research of daily reality in our own countries.

Recently I feel the need to expand the public space I research and design art for, beyond the borders of Holland and Europe. More and more we share one world. As a lot of different nationalities inhabit the Netherlands public space our cultures have started to mingle. I ask myself what the place of art is in the changing community I live in. Actions in one part of the world have consequences for people at the other side. In the mean time the image we have of the world is mainly produced by ‘news industries’ like Reuters and CNN. I believe it must be possible for a worldwide network of artists to create a worldpicture together based on information coming from sources equally spread around the globe.

Educated as a sociologist I took off as the co founder and member of the artistic board of the theatregroup Dogtroep. In Europe Dogtroep grew out to be a well known company in location based theatre. After seventeen years I left the group. Since 1992 I have been working as an individual artist with social interaction as my main field of interest. I make art for public spaces like schools, hospitals, railwaystations and suburbs of big cities. In my work people the art is meant for, have an active roll as co-creator. I use all media but photography has my main interest.