Vesna Bukovec

V-F-X Ljubljana Festival 2023

SCCA-Ljubljana/DIVA Station and Slovenian Cinematheque are organising 3rd editon of the International Festival of Experimental Audiovisual Practices V-F-X Ljubljana.
Festival Programme Team: Anja Banko, Vesna Bukovec, Peter Cerovšek, Matevž Jerman, Varja Močnik, Igor Prassel

>> VEČ

I’ve designed the festival’s visual image and curated the exhibition Analogue Diffractions #1 by Neža Knez at the SCCA Project Room.

Work in Progress. Utopian Rest

Exhibition: Work in Progress. Utopian Rest
Venue: GT22, Glavni trg 22, Maribor, SI
Date: Saturday, 18 March 2023, 4pm: auditory rest and exhibition opening
Exhibition on view till 7 April 2023

Participating: Vesna Bukovec, Tia Čiček, Ana Čigon

On the occasion of the opening of the exhibition in GT22 and the implementation of the event as part of BREZODRA (Nagib), we are preparing a performative reading with the aim of taking a short rest during the whole day’s events. The English text was created according to our instructions with the help of artificial intelligence. It draws from selected passages of well-known fiction, especially science fiction literature and humanistic texts. Participants and female 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.

Saturday, 18 March 2023 from noon onwards @venue network: Kulturni inkubator – studio and gallery, GT22 – lobby, library and blackbox, Kibla Portal, forest etc.

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.

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.

More about BREZODRA (in Slovene)

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Ana Čigon, Izklop dela (Switch Off Work), 2022

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 the 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 solidary 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. ^[1]

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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

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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.

Organization: Društvo za kulturno produkcijo in afirmacijo umetniških procesov NAGIB, GT22/Fundacija Sonda

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Utopian Rest (reading)
Photo: RTV SLO screen grab


 
Exhibition view (photo: Ana Čigon)

Autobiography of a Project Space

Exhibition: Autobiography of a Project Space; exhibition intervention And yet I do bother
Venue: SCCA Project Room, Metelkova 6, Ljubljana, SI
Date: 16 January 2023, 7 pm

Curators: Urška Aplinc, Lara Reichmann

Vesna Bukovec, Cyclists are Coming, digitalna drawing, 2020, detail

About the project

From 2004 to 2019, SCCA-Ljubljana established a production and experimental space in the SCCA Project Room with the Studio 6 and No Nails, No Pedestals programmes, encouraging invited artists to prepare spatial, conceptual, visual and intermedia installations. The uncertainty of 2021, when all of us Metelkova 6 users received an appeal from the Ministry of Culture that we would have to leave M6, also influenced the programming of events in the SCCA Project Room, but at the same time, prompted us to reflect on past and present programmes. In light of the currently resolving issue of using public cultural infrastructure and the changing generations at SCCA-Ljubljana, we decided to look back in time and reflect on our activities.

With the exhibition and discursive event Autobiography of a Project Space, we want to discuss the effects of the SCCA Project Room – on the work of the institution, on Metelkova 6, on the management of public cultural infrastructures, on self-organisation in times of precarious production conditions and, last but not least, on the artistic practices of the former participating artists – with the former guest artists, heads and curators of the Studio 6 and No Nails, No Pedestals programmes.

Invited speakers Damijan Kracina, Barbara Borčić (heads of the programme No Nails, No Pedestals), Saša Nabergoj (head of Studio 6), Borut Savski (artist and member of Cirkulacija 2) and Ana Čigon (artist) will discuss how SCCA-Ljubljana has developed a discursive and supportive programme in culture. The discussion will be moderated by Dušan Dovč (former head of production).

The discussion will be accompanied by the exhibition intervention And yet I do bother, in which artist Vesna Bukovec will present the drawing Cyclists are Coming and a video exhibition of drawings And yet I do bother, created in the framework of the exhibition at the GONG Gallery (Nova Gorica, 2020-2021). The latter contains a selection of the artist’s production of drawings from the last few years, condensed into a video format. The selected series of drawings record the turbulent events around us and convey clear, direct activist messages to the viewer. The drawing Cyclists Are Coming depicts a crowd of women cyclists from the anti-government protests of 2020. The exhibition intervention thus responds to the pressing issues of our time. It outlines the various socio-political situations we face daily, from the all-encompassing neoliberal ideology, the current political climate in Slovenia and around the world, the role of women in contemporary society, the refugee crisis, etc. The artist’s intervention also relates to the exhibition of contemporary feminist art from Slovenia; Women are Coming!, which we hosted at the Project Room in 2009 and was curated by Ana Grobler.

More at the SCCA website

Production: SCCA-Ljubljana

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Photo: SCCA-Ljubljana archive

Vesna Bukovec: A World Without Borders

Exhibition: Vesna Bukovec: Svet brez meja (A World without Borders)
Venue: Public space in front of the municipality, Muta, SI
Date: 5 – 31 January 2023

Photo: KGLU archive

The project A World Without Borders was created in cooperation with the Koroška galerija likovnih umetnosti (KGLU) and was presented for the first time at the international group exhibition Onkraj meja (Beyond Borders) at KGLU, and then twice more as part of the group exhibition Medprostor (Interspace) in the Libeliče Small Border Crossing and the gallery of the Radlje ob Drava Library. It was created on the basis of research and thinking about a different and fairer society – a common world where (state) borders would not exist. An important part of the project was a participatory action in the form of postcards, with which I invite people to contribute their thoughts and ideas about a world without borders. Also based on the responses received, a series of nine drawings with texts covering different areas was created (freedom of movement, the whole world = an equal community, respect for the freedom of others, the abolition of the military and police, care for nature, community building, world citizenship, change of thinking).

The exhibition is part of the project “Koroška 100 let pozneje” (Carinthia 100 years later), organized by the Koroška galerija likovnih umetnosti (KGLU), Slovenj Gradec.

More about the exhibition (in Slovene)

Work in Progress. Reflections on Communities Beyond Capitalism

Exhibition: Work in Progress. Reflections on Communities Beyond Capitalism
Venue: Škuc Gallery, Ljubljana, SI
Date: 10 November – 8 December 2022

Participating: Vesna Bukovec, Tia Čiček, Ana Čigon, Andrea Knezović

About the exhibition

The November exhibitions at Škuc Gallery are now traditionally prepared in cooperation with local cultural practitioners, looking for alternative ways to work in the cultural field and create exhibitions of contemporary art. This year, the cooperation took place between cultural workers and artists Vesna Bukovec and Ana Čigon and the artistic director of Škuc Gallery, Tia Čiček. The complementary discursive programme was prepared by the artist and writer Andrea Knezović. The project and the exhibition Work in Progress. Reflections on Communities Beyond Capitalism, which will be on view from 10 November to 7 December, shed light on the precarious and dangerous social situation in which today’s worker is thrust. The exhibition creates a temporary point of support with a co-working space or room for the exchange of opinions, with spaces for rest and learning, as well as an entry point into the process of unlearning unjust and harmful work structures.

More info at Škuc Gallery’s website

Thanks: Društvo ŠKUC, Elvis Krstulović, Iva Kovač, Jadranka Vesel, Jonathan Crary, Katja Praznik, Knjižnica REČI, Kristina Božič, Mesto žensk, Miha Kelemina, Mirovni inštitut, Mojca Senegačnik, Prostorož, Striburger, Svetlana Slapšak, Tea Jarc, Urška Aplinc, Založba Sanje, Založba Sofia, Založba /*cf, Zavod Transakcija

Production: Galerija Škuc
Partner: SCCA-Ljubljana

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Exhibition events:

19. 11. from 6 pm until 6 am: Nocturnalities: Bargaining Beyond Rest |Full night artistic research event – from dusk till dawn
24. 11. at 6 pm: Discussion on labour
2. 12. at 6 pm: Discussion on communities
6. 12. at 6 pm: viewing of the exhibition and evaluation of the project with Vesna Bukovec, Ana Čigon and Tia Čiček

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Among my drawings, the new series of drawings The Heritage (2022), the drawing A different world is possible (2021) and a selection from the series And yet I do bother (2019) are included in the exhibition.

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Exhibition openening
Photo: Janez Zalaznik and Simao Bessa, Galerija Škuc

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Nocturnalities: Bargaining Beyond Rest | Full night artistic research event – from dusk till dawn, 19 November 2022
Participating: Andrea Knezović, Tia Čiček, Vesna Bukovec, Katja Praznik, Jonathan Crary
Photo: Simao Bessa, Škuc Gallery

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Discussion on work, 24 November 2022
Participating: Tina Podbevšek (Centre for social research – Cedra), Mojca Senegačnik (Zasuk artist and cultural workers’ union),  dr. Tanja Petrović (Institute of Culture and Memory Studies, ZRC SAZU), moderator: Kristina Božič
Photo: Simao Bessa, Škuc Gallery

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Discussion on communities, 2 December 2022
Participating: dr. Ksenija Vidmar Horvat (Faculty of Arts Ljubljana University, Social contract in the 21st century), Maša Hawlina (Zadrugator), members of Plac (participative autonomous zone in Ljubljana), moderator: Kristina Božič
Photo: Simao Bessa, Škuc Gallery

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Exhibition view
Photo: Klemen Ilovar, Škuc Gallery