Public interview: Marko Brecelj

The public interview with Marko Brecelj will take place on November 23, 2010 at 5 pm in Project Room SCCA (Metelkova 6) in Ljubljana.

The public interview, moderated by Tanja Lesničar – Pučko (translator and journalist) will be focused on artist and activist Marko Brecelj questioning his long term practice, especially projects that were exposed to censorships by politics, religion or legislation. Amongst them his so called soft terrorism actions.

Marko Brecelj is Slovenian singer/songwriter, self-called youth, cultural and social worker. From 1991, he runs Youth, cultural social and multi-media center (MKSMC) in Koper and the Association of Friends of moderate progress. In 2010 the Association celebrated 20th anniversary. On this venerable anniversary, an exhibition was prepared, originally on display in the Regional museum of Koper, and can currently (until November 19th) be seen in Ljubljana Spanish Fighters Cultural Centre.

“How could we in retrospective condense biography of almost 50-years-old, who for years hasn’t been doing what he would have preferred, but what he thinks is the most urgent? In the seventies he acclaimed confirmation and was immediately in the prime of influence on generations of future artists. In the eighties he has devoted himself to his son less than to himself. He worked on the periphery of public life and, rarely but still, cancelled out those who tried to put him in oblivion with his excellent songs and continuous appearances. With his soulmate he ran into the nineties like in a tunnel with no end in sight, he fought for ‘liberated territories’: youth and cultural facilities, where generations, which will have to battle with defenders of social and civilization collapse, can flourish.” (from Marko Brecelj’s biography)

Soft-terrorist actions file its history since 1999. Pre-event of soft-terrorism has occurred spontaneously on reception of the Ministry of Culture followed by much better conceptualized and prepared actions, from performance to Anton and Pohorski bataljon (1999), the Šeligo’s P-tič award (2001), bombing of U.S. Embassy and the Slovenian Government (2001), to the bell silencing or Tapisirano vnebovzetje (2003), when series of soft-terrorist actions experienced its peak. Brecelj sais that “soft-terrorism is not over, but was never pulled out of time context. Life inspires soft-terrorism, soft-terrorism is not in focus, it’s just method, or tool. Artistic work and fight for it, that’s what’s important.” (source: Mehki terorizem. Interview with Marko Brecelj from Društvo prijateljev zmernega napredka. Written by Alenka Pirman, March 2006.)

Moderator Tanja Lesničar – Pučko studied literary theory as well as French linguistics and literature. She was among the founders of Fiction Production Company (Podjetje za proizvodnjo fikcije) female alternative theatre (1983–89). In 1987 she was employed by Dnevnik Newspaper Company, first as a translator, then as a journalist. She writes essays, interviews as well as literary, theatre and dance reviews. She translates fiction and non-fiction from French. In 2009 she has reviewed and published the columns that she began writing for Dnevnik in 2002, which results in a sharpened image: they read as timeless parables, they hardly leave you cold.

The public interview is a part of the project Let’s Talk Critic Arts (2009-2010) which examines the critical aspects of contemporary arts (round tables, public interviews), documents them, and archives them (online documentation, publication).

The project is conducted by the cultural portal SEEcult.org (Serbia) with the partners SCCA-Ljubljana / Artservis (Slovenia), Clubture / Kulturpunkt.hr (Croatia), and Forum Skopje (Macedonia). The partners are the members of the informal network of cultural portals inSEEcp. It was founded in 2006 with the aim of connecting the editorial boards of the portals and stimulating the international cultural collaboration in the former Yugoslave countries.

The project Let’s Talk Critic Arts is financially supported by European Cultural Foundation.

Open Talks on Contemporary Visual Art Practices in Zagreb (1990-2010)

Kulturpunkt.hr is organizing an event entitled Open Talks on Contemporary Visual Art Practices in Zagreb (1990-2010) which will be held on Thursday and Friday, 9th and 10th of September at 5:00 pm in club Booksa in Zagreb (Croatia). In these Open Talks will participate artists, curators, theorists, cultural managers as well as wider public, and will be moderated by journalists and art critics Marko Golub and Vesna Tašić.


The themes of the Open Talks are critical practices in contemporary arts – practices of research, progressive and experimental character which take critical approach to reality, but also work and role of the institutional system. As the frame is rather wide and comprehends period of twenty years, it also comprehends generational gap, which is why we envisaged these Open Talks as a place of solidifying and exchanging knowledge, information and interpretation of artistic phenomena from the period. The other aspect takes into focus institutional and non-institutional, economic, social, political and other context giving the frame to the practices in focus. Although the focus of the projects are “critical practices”, the intention is to regard them in these talks in the wider context, and instead of one, unique story of two decades, to reconsider them and evoke more different narrative lines.

Open talks on Contemporary Visual Art Practices in Zagreb (1990-2010) are organized by portal Kulturpunkt.hr in cooperation with club Booksa and partners from the region – SCCA/Artservis (Slovenia), ForumSkopje (Macedonia) and Seecult.org (Serbia).

Open Talks on Contemporary Visual Art Practices in Zagreb (1990-2010) are organized in the frame of the regional project Let’s Talk Critic Arts initiated by portal for culture Seecult.org from Belgrade in cooperation with partners from Slovenia – SCCA/Artservis.org, Macedonia – ForumSkopje and Croatia – portal Kulturpunkt.hr. Project is supported by ECF – European Cultural Foundation.

Open Talks also make part of the project In Focus of Kulturpunkt.hr. Let’s Talk Art, Design & Media – Critics or Analytics supported by The Netherlands Embassy in Zagreb (Croatia), and is implemented by portal Kulturpunkt.hr. Events are also supported by City of Zagreb – Office for Education, Culture and Sports, Republic of Croatia – Ministry of Culture and National Foundation for Development of Civil Society.

Forum Skopje 2010

The round-table A Public Space between Solidarity and Violence will take place in the framework of the Forum Skopje 2010 on May 27, 2010 in Mala Stanica, Skopje.


Participants of the round table are Marko Golub (Croatia), Stevan Vukovic (Serbia) and Nika Grabar (Slovenia). The round table will be moderated by Nebojsa Vilic (Macedonia).

The main concept of the debate theme is based on the following quote: ”Violence may be in some sense ‘encoded’ in the concept and practice of public art, but the specific role it plays, its political and ethical status, the form in which it is manifested, the identities of those who wield or suffer it, it is always nested in particular circumstances.” [W. J. T. Mitchell, "The Violence in Public Art", pp. 37-8 in W. J. T. Mitchell (ed.) (1992) Art in Public Sphere. Chicago: University of Chicago Press]

According to Nebojsa Vilic, this quote underscores three main lines of art in open public space, related to the City of Skopje as The City of Solidarity. The first aspect is, certainly, the excerpt about “particular circumstances” – the relationship between the ideological and political as the constituent of the appearance of the figurativeness (as narativeness) in the state purchases of sculptures in the central area of the city. The second aspect pertains to the notion of “political” status in the public art, i.e. political as execution of politics of arts – enforcing public interest in the zone of public space. At the third, simultaneously joining and dividing aspect is the one related to its “ethical” status.

Skopje, as The City of Solidarity in the mid- and late-1960s, in the recent years became “city of violence”. Therefore, the City itself is located between the ethical status of international campaign of leftist structure of SFR Yugoslavia (we can recall: the disaster of Skopje earthquake is not measured through the number of dead only: 1 700 casualties, and the level of destruction, 85% of the central urban core, but the international community was driven to solidarity by the fact that it was the first big casualty after the WWII) and the ideological structure of the new nationalism in the new, democratic processes of transition of governing right-wing political parties.

Therefore, the debate aims to analyze this complex relationship between ideology, politics and ethics, through the relationship of the purchased (visual) art and the public open space. Then, to define the ideological, political and ethical discourse towards the City of Skopje, in the sense of discourse of the ongoing internationalization of solidarity into the right-wing (ideological) milieu. And, finally, to position the potential links between the neoliberal (responsible) individual and the conservative (nationalistic) group.

Potential guidelines:

• public art as part of the ideological planning of the city
• artistic activity in the public open space as ethical conduct of artists
• controversy of public art in the polis
• political discourse of public art, and
• critical debate about the public critical debates on art

The round table is organized by Forum Skopje together with partners from the region – Artservis/SCCA-Ljubljana, Clubture / Kulturpunkt.hr (Croatia) and Seecult.org (Serbia).

The round table A Public Space between Solidarity and Violence is organized in the frame of the regional project Let’s Talk Critic Arts initiated by portal for culture Seecult.org from Belgrade in cooperation with partners from Slovenia – SCCA/Artservis.org, Macedonia – ForumSkopje and Croatia – Clubture / Kulturpunkt.hr. Project is supported by ECF – European Cultural Foundation.

The Time of Media

Public interview and Open forum: Media and culture will take place on April, 8th and 9th, 2010 in club Booksa in Zagreb (Croatia).


Public interview and Open forum are parts of the series of public events The Time of Media initiated by portal Kulturpunkt.hr with the aim to open a public discussion on culture and policies of media in Croatia through different aspects. The first round table was dedicated to the non-profit media trying to define their role and importance in Croatian society and present media landscape. The second round table dealt with journalism as profession and the challenges it is encountering today. The third event is taking into focus media and culture.

Public interview Media and Culture we will try to analyze culture and arts contents published in commercial, public, non-profit and specialized media through examples from four countries of the region. Participants of this dynamic discussion are Dejan Budjevac (Macedonia), Saša Ćirić (Serbia), Dean Duda (Croatia) and Mojca Planšak (Slovenia) who will give an overview of the state of the space for culture in the media in the region. The discussion will be focused on evaluation of quality and ways culture and art topics are presented. The discussion, which will be held on Thursday, April 8th at 18 hours in club Booksa, will be moderated by Miljenka Buljević.

Open Forum of culture media and journalists aims to gather representatives of periodicals, magazines, editorial boards, programmes and media for culture. The lack of space for presenting and analyzing themes from the field of culture in mass media, made us to turn our attention to different types and forms of media which are trying to present cultural and artistic contents and are paying attention on the quality. On the other hand, communication between representatives and producers of these media is very rare, and when it appears it is rather an exception than the product of systematic conducting and structural networking. For all these reasons on Friday, April 9th at 17 hours in club Booksa, in the frame of Open forum journalists and representatives of media for culture will be gathered and will have the opportunity to discuss their problems, exchange experiences and start possible cooperations.

Both events are organized by portal Kulturpunkt.hr in cooperation with portal Booksa.hr and magazine Zarez together with partners from the region – SCCA/Artservis (Slovenia), ForumSkopje (Macedonia) and Seecult.org (Serbia).

Public interview and Open forum: Media and culture are organized in the frame of the regional project Let’s Talk Critic Arts initiated by portal for culture Seecult.org from Belgrade in cooperation with partners from Slovenia – SCCA/Artservis.org, Macedonia – ForumSkopje and Croatia – portal Kulturpunkt.hr. Project is supported by ECF – European Cultural Foundation.

Both events also make part of the project In Focus of Kulturpunkt.hr. Let’s Talk Art, Design & Media – Critics or Analytics supported by The Netherlands Embassy in Zagreb (Croatia), and is implemented by portal Kulturpunkt.hr. Events are also supported by City of Zagreb – Office for Education, Culture and Sports, Republic of Croatia – Ministry of Culture and National Foundation for Development of Civil Society.