Art & Culture
Freitag, 23 Okt. 2026
Trans Europe Halles Camp Meeting 102
Es gibt Termine vom 22 Okt. 2026 bis 25 Okt. 2026
GRINTA! Under Ground: Grass Root Organisations between Persistence and New Narratives
This autumn we gather in Silandro, a village of approx. 3,000 people surrounded by mountains, for the TEH #102 Camp Meeting. We will be hosted by our member centre BASIS Vinschgau Venosta, a social innovation and creative hub located in a former fascist military barrack that has been reclaimed and rewritten by its community. The theme of this year's Camp Meeting is "GRINTA! Under Ground: Grass Root Organisations between Persistence and New Narratives". #TEH102 Camp Meeting is open for everyone: TEH members and TEH supporters!
Why GRINTA? Why Under Ground?
The title of this year’s meeting is GRINTA! In Italian, and adopted also in the German dialect spoken in South Tyrol, Grinta means persistence, grit, fighting spirit. It carries the image of someone stubborn, baring their teeth and sinking them in. Not out of aggression, but out of conviction.
GRINTA! is a feeling we all know. Continuing even when everything seems to be working against you. Not giving up. Staying stubborn in a positive way.
At TEH #102 we want to focus on the bite of underground organisations and the persistence of grassroots communities. In BASIS, in the middle of a rural region, far from metropolitan centres and cultural spotlights, we want to look closely at what it really means to stick together.
We want to invent and tell new narratives that do not come from the outside gaze on our scenes and their challenges, but from the inside. Narratives rooted in lived experience, daily struggle, collective care, and long term commitment.
We are tired of buzzwords that have turned into non words. Words that circulate endlessly and have lost their meaning somewhere along the way. Innovation. Resilience. Transition. What do these terms actually mean in our everyday work? How do we experience them on the ground? What is really behind them when funding cycles end, when energy runs low, when communities are under pressure?
Grassroots persistence in practice
As an underground scene, we are used to going against the current. BASIS was born exactly from this impulse. From the need of local actors to create change and togetherness where none was offered. Today, BASIS lives subculture in all its forms. Through the cultural programme of the KASINO club. Through shared and accessible resources. Through the organisation of the Kreativwerkstatt, an atelier house built on cooperation rather than competition.
BASIS is not a building. It is the people who work here every day. The many volunteers. The artists, cultural workers, and stubborn minds who actively rewrite the narrative of a former fascist military barrack into a place of encounter, care, and experimentation.
A community gathering, no performance pressure
GRINTA! will be a community driven event. A space to come together, to talk, to listen, to experience, without performance pressure. With fighting spirit and humour, we will face the challenges of our daily work. We will look back at where we come from and remind ourselves why we do what we do.
We come together as we are. We meet on eye level. And we remember who we are. Resilient, innovative, transformative agents. Or something like that.
About the host
BASIS Vinschgau Venosta is a social activation hub based in the North Italy Alpine region in the autonomous province of South Tyrol. The building dubbed “Caserma Druso” located in the main urban town Silandro, was transformed from the existing structures of an old dictatorial military barracks into a multifaceted community space.
BASIS is a space for exchange, development, inspiration and collaboration. With the common goal of social and economic wellbeing, BASIS strives to build a benchmark of continuous improvement driven by the integrity, teamwork and creativity of the people in our community.
