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Work in Progress. Utopian Rest

Exhibition (drawings on paper and on wall, video art, books) in performance
Autors of the exhibition and performance: Vesna Bukovec, Tia Čiček, Ana Čigon
Exhibition duration: 18/3/2023 - 7/4/2023
Performance Utopian Rest: 18/3/2023 at 4pm
GT22 Gallery, Glavni trg 22, Maribor

Performance and the exhibition werepartof the event Brezodra
Production: Society NAGIB
Curatorial process: Petra Hazabent
Organization: Društvo za kulturno produkcijo in afirmacijo umetniških procesov NAGIB, GT22/Fundacija Sonda
Thanks: Petra Hazabent, Miha Horvat, Stefan Alex, Marie Andrée-Pellerin, Petra Kolmančič, Peter Dobaj / Kulturni center Maribor, mag. Emica Antončič / založba Aristej, Knjižnica Tete Rosa / Pekarna Magdalenske Mreže, Amelia Kraigher in Alvina Žuraj / Založba /*cf, Tanja Velagić / Založba Sophia, dr. Maja Pen, Živa Kleindienst, Irena Borić, Klara Drnovšek Solina and to all other individuals who lent their books to the library.

Webpage of Brezodra, Nagib: https://www.nagib.si/delo-v-nastajanju-utopi%C4%8Dni-po%C4%8Ditek
Webpage of the exhibition space GT22: https://gt22.si/delo-v-nastajanju-utopicni-pocitek/

Link to the related project Work in Progress. Reflections on Communities Beyond Capitalism Škuc Gallery.

ABOUT THE EVENT BREZODRA

BREZODRA (Stageless) is a continuation of Nagib’s long-standing process of research, experimentation, reflection and performance beyond established spaces and production structures. This time, BREZODRA is designed as a multi-hour manifestation of various practices, formats of coexistence and co-creation, deliberations and discourses, aimed at finding and questioning new perspectives and performance strategies, which are created by considering the construction of (new) communities and ways of different presence, attention and action. It is an idea and a contribution to the development of new models of cultural production that depart from the established systems of producing and perceiving works of art. It is an experiment that invites the viewer to an experiential insight into creative methods, processes and (artistic) work in general.

On the occasion of the opening of the exhibition in GT22 and the implementation of the event as part of BREZODRA (Nagib), we preparED a performative reading about an utopian rest with the aim of taking a short rest during the whole day’s events.

COMMUNITY OF CREATORS: Tery Žeželj in Alicia Ocadiz, Anja Bornšek, Vesna Bukovec, Ana Čigon in Tia Čiček, Saška Rakef, Tina Kozin in Bojana Šaljić Podešva, All the children – Petja Golec Horvat, Lan Žiga Anderlič, Jerca Smrečnik in Simona Bobnar Radenković (z umetniško podporo Petje Labovića inToni Soprano Meneglejte), Andreja Kopač, Jaka Berger and Miha Šajina / Shekuza, etc.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Long-term artistic and curatorial research on the topic of work, reflection on the conditions of knowledge exchange and the search for alternative social and organizational arrangements have their beginnings in the creating of the exhibition, which was first shown in November 2022 in Škuc Gallery. Through cooperation, we are looking for answers to the questions: Where do we go from here? What kind of future can we imagine and plan for? How to establish and maintain a connected and supportive community? Do we know how to cooperate and how do we have to adapt and shape ourselves and society so that we can cooperate better? etc. In an effort to understand the current approach to work itself and the role it plays within the current social order, during the preparations for the exhibition we created a reading group with the aim of sharing knowledge and reading literature related to the theory of work, care, postcolonialism, labor movements, etc. We wanted to unlearn the hierarchy of values that put the product above the process, and productivity and profit above the person

The desire to find alternative ways of working and living was soon replaced by the need to unlearn patterns of work and adopt other ways of receiving, sharing and constructing knowledge. Thus, our position of searching for ideal forms, which in itself indicates a neoliberal and above all inherent striving for “perfection”, was replaced by the principle of openness, adaptation and acceptance – in the final phase even recovery – which we understand as central on the way to restructuring a harmful value system.

Work in Progress is a fluid process that is created with the desire for a better understanding of one’s own relationship to work and community, as well as with an interest in other and/or different experiences, attitudes and practices. Through mutual cooperation, we want to highlight the precarious or dangerous social situation into which the modern worker is pushed. The exhibition of drawings opens up a space for reflection on the personal hardships of today’s precarious workers, the wishes and demands for a more tolerable life and a fairer social order. It also touches on past labor struggles and the achievements of local labor organizing, as well as the personal engagement of women in various protests for social change around the world.

As part of events and exhibitions, we establish libraries with diverse humanistic literature that support the process of unlearning unjust and harmful work structures and learning about alternatives. In the video trade unionist Tea Jarc (Youth Plus Trade Union), Svetlana Slapšak (retired professor, classical philologist, anthropologist and writer) and Jadranka Vesel (Rise, Research Institute for Social Economy) generously shared their views on work, the contemporary worker, community and the future. (more on this here)

As part of BREZODRA (Nagib) we are preparing a performative reading with the aim of resting during the day’s activities. The English text was created according to our instructions with the help of AI. It draws from selected passages of well-known fiction, especially science fiction literature and humanistic texts. Participants and workers are invited to relax while listening to gentle, sometimes radical, thoughts about utopian worlds and communities that live beyond the capabilities of our environment and social arrangements.

Work in Progress points to the need to rethink current forms of work and activity and to recognise, internalise and challenge certain patterns of behaviour and oppression. Ways of recovery and empowerment can be seen in knowledge sharing, community building and the creation of new living and working conditions. The dismantling of the existing hierarchy of values, which neglects the worker in favour of profit and false “progress”, can be seen as the key to creating a more just world.

Vesna Bukovec, Tia Čiček, Ana Čigon

(For the science fiction literary suggestions, we thank Marie Andrée-Pellerin, for kindly sharing with us her database of sources created as part of her doctoral research.)

Photos: Ramaida Osim, Nagib (1- 5), RTV SLO M screen grab (6 -12) and Ana Čigon (13-24)

Link to the video of the exhibition Prekariat sveta ... The video and drawings presented at GT22 were created so nastale že v času razstave v Galeriji Škuc