Vesna Bukovec

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

________

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

_____

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

_____

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.

_____

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

_____

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

_____

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

_____

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

_____

Exhibition view
Photo: Klemen Ilovar, Škuc Gallery

 

Exhibition Interspace

Exhibition: Medprostor (Interspace)
Venue: Small border crossing Libeliče and Radlje ob Dravi Library Gallery, SI
Date: 28 September – 23 October & 4 November 8 – December 2022

Artists: Nika Autor, Boris Beja, Vesna Bukovec, Jošt Franko, Jure Markota, Mark Požlep

Curator: Nina Popič

The Medprostor (Interspace) exhibition is conceived for the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the annexation of Libeliče to the motherland. Originating from consideration of the borders that mark the geopolitical area of ​​Slovenia and specifically the border between Slovenia and Austria, we are dealing with a broader concept and the phenomenon of borders in general. Selected artists and artists from different viewpoints focus on artistic research and interpretations of geopolitical landscapes and reveal personal stories. They open the topic of borders with a clear social-critical emphasis. With the exhibition, we want to establish an alternative consideration of border spaces, where hybrid identities are created and established. In the past, these spaces were mostly defined as inferior, but here we want to highlight them as spaces of potential, if not even the future.

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.

__________

I am participating with the project
A World without Borders (2021), which includes a participatory part with postcards and a series of 9 drawings.

Be(com)ing a Woman

Exhibition: Be(com)ing a Woman / (P)ostati ženska
Venue: Museum of Recent History Celje (MNZC), Celje, SI
Date: 8 March – 31 Avgust 2022

With the exhibition Be(com)ing a Woman, the museum opens the space for reflection on intimate feelings and gender awareness, social relations and the representation of women in museums. It places the personal stories of individuals next to the collective ones and explores where the boundaries between the personal and the social are and where the intersections are, where our individual experiences become part of the common.

The exhibition also includes artworks by Vesna Bukovec and Lea Culetto.

Curator: Urška Repar
Associates: Maja Antončič, Katja Pur
Design: Neža Penca
Videos at the exhibition: Maja Hodošček, Nuša Ofentavšek

Along with the exhibition a collection of written contributions was published. Authors of the texts are: Maja Antončič, Tea Hvala, Nuša Komplet Peperko, Katja Pur, Urška Repar, dr. Polona Sitar and dr. Svetlana Slapšak.

MNZC prepares numerous public guided tours and events to accompany the exhibition. Part of the programme is also prepared by the Center for Contemporary Arts Celje.

More (in Slovene): MNZC website in CSU website

____

I participate with the series of drawings Ali me nočete, ker sem kritična / Do you not want me, because I’m critical (2012)