LTCA Publication – From Consideration to Commitment: Art in Critical Confrontation to Society (Belgrade, Ljubljana, Skopje, Zagreb: 1990-2010)

The publication From Consideration to Commitment: Art in Critical Confrontation to Society (Belgrade, Ljubljana, Skopje, Zagreb: 1990-2010), created as part of the regional project Let’s Talk Critic Arts, will be presented on April 11 at 7 pm at the Art Center of the University Library “Svetozar Marković” in Belgrade. Presentation of this multilingual publication will be followed by public interviews with Belgrade based artists Saša Stojanović/Ana Vilenica and Manik (Marija Vauda/Nikola Pilipović).


Among the participants will be members of Editorial Board of the publication, as well as authors of its segments and representatives of the organizations involved in the LTCA project.

The publication explores practices of critical contemporary fine arts – practices of research, progressive and experimental actions by contemporary fine artists from the 1990s to the present, in four countries in the region – Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia. These are practices which focus on issues such as identity aspects (national, cultural, religious, ethnic), workers’ rights, social integration of minorities, global market fluctuation trends and its impact in the local context, unscrupulousness of capital, the position of women, spatial devastation, art institution system issues, and many others.

The publication maps out and theoretically reviews critical and research practices, and contemporary fine arts practices oriented towards the contemporary civilization moment, which have been active in the context of the independent cultural scene since the 1990s, but which have also been present in the institutional frame. The authors provide only drafts of the political, social, economic and cultural changes of the local contexts, through four segments, due to a lack of space. Each segment focuses on the practices and context of a given country, i.e. the capital as the primary focus, and in addition to the introductory word by the authors, it includes interviews (with authors, theorists, curators, organizers…) who contribute to the recording of these artistic practices based on their experience, work and knowledge.

The segments deal with the Belgrade, Ljubljana, Skopje, and Zagreb scenes. All the authors devised their approaches in an effort to present the fruitful and creative production of these cities, to the greatest extent possible. The authors involved in the creation of this publication are Jasna Jakšić (in collaboration with Tihana Bertek, Maja Gujinović, Ana Kovačić, Srđan Latrezom, Petar Novak, Tino Novak, Tamara Sertić and Leda Sutlović) from Croatia, Nebojša Vilić from Macedonia, Vesna Tašić (in collaboration with Vesna Milosavljević and Miroljub Marjanović) from Serbia, and Miha Colner and Nika Grabar (Slovenia).

The authors of the segments faced a gruelling task – how to tell the story of a period on only 50 pages (which was predefined for every segment), and how to select only four protagonists for every city, among the many protagonists of the art scene? The authors applied different criteria – they strived to select precisely those respondents who could provide a cross-section of the discipline development, some were selected because their work is a paradigmatic of critical and socially engaging practices, while some were inescapable authoritative and creative minds…

Contemporary visual art is discussed through the works and experiences of Igor Grubić, Sanja Iveković, Andreja Kulunčić and Darko Šimičić (Croatia), Stevan Vuković, Milica Tomić, Danilo Prnjat and Živko Grozdanić Gera (Serbia), Neven Korda, Marko Peljhan, Marija Mojca Pungerčar and Maja Smrekar (Slovenia), and Bojan Ivanov, Zoran Poposki, Mira Gakina and Žaneta Vangeli (Macedonia).

Editorial Board (Dušan Dovč, Vesna Milosavljević, Jasna Soptrajanova i Dea Vidović) believes that selection of 16 voices provides a possible cross-section of the events in the contemporary fine arts scenes of Belgrade, Ljubljana, Skopje, and Zagreb from the 1990s to the present, but it is certainly not the final or only one.

The publication is a type of platform that is available to the public, with the wish to encourage further collecting and evaluation of art and cultural endeavours in the past 20 year in these four cities, as well as in those that could not be included in this project (for financial reasons).

The book was conceived as a multilingual publication in English, in addition to the local languages (Croatia, Macedonian, Serbian and Slovenian), in order to enable better insight into contemporary artistic practices in post-Yugoslav cities both for the local and international public.

The publication is made available by the Creative Commons Licence Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported unless it is not differently stated.

The publication will be also distributed in CD form to galleries in Belgrade, Ljubljana, Skopje and Zagreb.

The LTCA project will be concluded by promotion of the publication From Consideration to Commitment: Art in Critical Confrontation to Society (Belgrade, Ljubljana, Skopje, Zagreb: 1990-2010), but it is open for comment and further research.

The LTCA project was initiated and implemented by the cultural portal SEEcult.org (the SEEcult.org Civic Association) from Belgrade, Serbia, in collaboration with the Artservis.org portal (Center for Contemporary Arts, SCCA-Ljubljana) from Slovenia, Forum Skopje from Skopje, Macedonia, and the Kulturpunkt.hr portal (Alliance of Associations Clubture and Kurziv – Platform for Matters of Cultural, Media and Society) from Zagreb, Croatia, with support from the European Cultural Foundation (ECF), and national/local donors.

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.

Andrej Rozman - Roza & Tomaž Dernovšek - Vinči

Public interview
Friday, October 9, 2009, at 7 pm
Project Room SCCA, Metelkova 6, Ljubljana
Moderated by Tanja Lesničar Pučko.


The public interview will present the two authors who established a successful self-organization. Although coming from different fields, their non-bureaucratic operation and unconventional activities are what they have in common. The guests will speak about their strategies, methods, experiences and aims.
Andrej Rozman - Roza is the founder, director and member of the smallest possible theatre (Rozinteater) and recently the founder of a religion community. Tomaž Dernovšek - Vinči is the founder and director of the Museum of Too Modern Art located in former stable in Spodnji Hotič.

Andrej Rozman - Roza
Poet, writer, dramatist, actor and translator. Between 1981 and 1995 he was the leader of the alternative Ana Monro Theatre and the initiator of improvisational theatre sports league in Slovenia. He writes parodies, comical lyrics, fairies and theater comedies for adults and children. He adopts, translates and modernizes classical texts. In March 2003, he founded Rozinteater as the smallest possible theatre.
Roza

Tomaž Dernovšek - Vinči
The Museum of Too Modern Art reflects the points of view of contemporary artists in the humorous and critical way. At 1000 m2 exhibition space there is a permanent exhibition with the art works of seven established artists from Slovenia and Europe. The gallery space hosts solo exhibitions of renowned local and international artists.
The Museum of Too Modern Art
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The concept of the event: Marija Mojca Pungerčar
Information: T: + 386 (0) 1 431 83 85 (Dušan Dovč, Marija Mojca Pungerčar)
E: info@artservis.org
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The public interview is a part of the project Let's Talk Critic Art (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), Kulturpunkt (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 Art is financially supported by European Cultural Foundation.

Self-organizing of Artists for the Improvement of their Position

Round table
Friday, October 9, 2009, at 11 am
Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture, Trg Prekomorskih brigad 3, Ljubljana, Slovenia





Moderated by Maks Soršak.
Panelists: Marija Mojca Pungerčar (Artservis), Jadranka Ljubičič (Odprta zbornica), Jurij Krpan (Asociacija), Denis Miklavčič (SUKI at Glosa), Nemanja Cvijanović (artist, Reka/Venezia), Dragoslav Krnajski (artist, Belgrade).

The round table Self-organizing of Artists for the Improvement of their Position is dedicated to the status and position of the cultural workers with a special emphasis on their initiatives that attempt to improve their working conditions. The guests from Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia will explain the main reason for the self-organizing cultural forms on the local and national level, what their purpose is and what they have already achieved. They will talk about the circumstances of their activities and their tactics in self-organization. They will also present the extent of the dialogue established with the state or city authorities in solving the problem of the conditions of cultural production and the formal status of the artists, as well as in improving the system of social transfers for artists etc.

The panelists are the representatives of art & civil society initiatives from Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia or the self-organized artists/cultural workers (formal or informal associations, syndicates, and media) that strive to improve the conditions of production in art and culture.
The aim of the round table is to inform the public about the activities of the self-organized cultural initiatives on the national and international level and to stimulate cultural workers to get connected and embark on collaboration.

The round table is a part of the project Let's Talk Critic Art (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), Kulturpunkt (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 Art is financially supported by European Cultural Foundation.

Video from the Re-network! conference in Ljubljana (June, 2008)

Here is video from the Re-network! conference which took place in Ljunljana on 12th June 2008. This was the first international conference where inSEEcp presented its members and activities.

RE-NETWORK from toni poljanec on Vimeo.

Re-network! (short overview of the conference)

Re-network!

International conference on networking in the cultural sector

12 June 2008

City Hotel Ljubljana,

Dalmatinova 15, Slovenia

Short overview of the conference

The international conference dedicated to the topic of networking and stimulating transnational cooperation and free flow of information in the cultural sector hosted altogether 150 participants, mainly representatives of various international cultural networks, including ca. 50 delegates of European Cultural Contact Points.

A lively and sincere discussion involving speakers as well as the audience has reaffirmed the absolute significance of transnational networks while highlighting their specific roles as:

- »guardians« of the public domain (the power of networking is sharing),

- common platforms for identification of and discussion on relevant issues,

- »translators« (mediators) between different stakeholders,

- empowering structures (survival and self-education; visibility and recognition),

- enablers of the decentralisation of cultural industry.

In general it was stressed that culture should not be seen as a mean (illustration, decoration, PR) but as a value as such. As a concrete example of anachronistic notion of the role of culture in our society, the obsolete and unproductive category of »Ambassadors« supported within the EU Culture Programme was pointed out. This financial support should be rather used to stimulate networks and festivals which can actually enhance transnational cooperation.

Appropriate conditions on the national and regional levels as well should enable and enhance transnational cooperation through programmes stimulating mobility of cultural workers. The EU support programmes should broaden the geographical scope and substantially include the EU neighbourhood (more should be invested on future Members and regions “on the borders”).

Existing definitions related to networks are out of date and networks should adopt more innovative conceptions of operation and contemporary, synthetic approach. We should avoid thinking in paradigm of a rigid and stable structure (‘network’) but rather of a fluid and changing process (‘networking’).

Alenka Pirman, moderator
Mateja Lazar, organiser (CCP Slovenia)
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The international conference Re-network! was organised within the Informal meeting of European Cultural Contact Points (Ljubljana and Maribor, 11–14 June 2008) being one of the official events of the Slovene EU Presidency cultural programme.

Re-network! was organized by Cultural Contact Point Slovenia / SCCA, Center for Contemporary Arts-Ljubljana with a support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the European Commission (DG EAC) and Executive Agency (EACEA), Government Communication Office of the Republic of Slovenia, Slovenian EU Presidency Secretariat, CCP Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia and other partners.

This conference reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Re-network!

Cultural Contact Point Slovenia is inviting you to the international conference on networking in the cultural sector, Re-network!



Networking in arts and culture has had a long tradition in Europe and there is hardly any professional organisation that is not a member of at least one international network. However, networks as well are facing radical changes affecting cultural industries: new technologies enabling free flow of works and information, audience being transformed into active users…





With the special emphasis put on the intercultural dialogue between the EU and SEE the conference's aim is to find out how ''old'' and ''new'' cultural networks respond to these circumstances and how they manage the problem of free flow of information especially if relevant to transnational cooperation.



The conference will be opened with the introductory speeches by Barbara Kozelj, director-general of the Directorate for Art, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and Marko Peljhan, ambassador of Intercultural Dialogue. Alenka Pirman, artist and founding member of the Domestic Research Society, will moderate discussion with the representatives of EU & SEE cultural networks: Daphne Tepper (Culture Action Europe - EFAH), Pal Steigan (TEH), Vesna Milosavljevic (inSEEcp), Juan Carlos De Martin (COMMUNIA), Dragana Alfirevic (Balkan Dance Network).



Moreover, two keynote speakers will present their views on and experience in networking and free flow of information: Peter Inkei (Budapest Observatory) and Vuk Cosic (net artist).



Re-network! represents a public part of the Informal meeting of European Cultural Contact Points (CCP Meeting) taking place in Ljubljana and Maribor from 11 to 14 June 2008 as one of the official events within the Slovene EU Presidency cultural programme. As a parallel event, the inSEEcp Meeting will take place, gathering editors of on-line cultural portals from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosna and Hercegovina.



12 June 2008, from 9.00 to 12.30

City Hotel Ljubljana, Dalmatinova 15, Slovenia

Registration

By filling the electronic form, please confirm your participation at the conference Re-network! by Monday, 2 June 2008. Only on the basis of your on-line registration CCP Slovenia will be able to arrange your accreditation. The conference is free of charge; travel and hotel accommodation will be covered by participants.



Further information



Re-network! website: General information / Target Group / Conference programme / Presentation of the speakers and panellists / Registration



Contact person: Mateja Lazar, CCP Slovenia, tel.: 00 386 1 431 83 85, e-mail:ccp@scca-ljubljana.si



Re-network! is organized by Cultural Contact Point Slovenia / SCCA, Center for Contemporary Arts-Ljubljana with a support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the European Commission (DG EAC) and Executive Agency (EACEA), Government Communication Office of the Republic of Slovenia, Slovenian EU Presidency Secretariat, CCP Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia and other partners.



This conference reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.



SCCA-Ljubljana

Center for Contemporary Arts

Metelkova 6, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

http://www.scca-ljubljana.si

phone: 00 386 1 431 83 85

fax: 00 386 1 430 06 29

contact person: Dusan Dovc

e-mail: info@scca-ljubljana.si

SCCA-Ljubljana program is supported by Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and City of Ljubljana.

SCCA-Ljubljana is a member of Asociacija, the association of non-government organisations and independent creators in the field of culture and art in Slovenia.