Hi, Zdravo, Ahoj!

Hi, Zdravo, Ahoj!

Let me introduce myself a little bit. My name is Marek Šurkala. I am 25 years old and I live in the Czech Republic. But this has changed now. I do not live in Havířov (not very beautiful czech town that nobody knows) any more. I felt the need to explore the world (and maybe do something useful). So, I am here - in Slovenia, specifically Maribor, for my European Voluntary Service. I am going to work in cultural center Pekarna Magdalenske mreže. But why I chose to spend 10 months of my life in organisation whose name suggests that bread and croissants are made there (appendix for non-slavic people: pekarna=bakery in slovene language)? 

I studied philosophy, love of wisdom. Neverthless, my feelings to philosophy can be described as love-hate relationship. During studies, I was greatly interested in art from different philosophical points of view - aesthetics, semiotics, critique, etc. But my head  is still full of big questions. What is the role of contemporary art in life of the society? How can we evaluate art in this postmodern age? Are we able to distinguish conceptual art of real value from the trashy one? I appreciate θεωρία, disinterested seeing of the world, but I feel that only really intense collaboration with contemporary art scene could help me to deal with these questions. Because of that, I chose cultural center Pekarna Magdalenske mreže as my hosting organisation. 
It is focused on culture, art and civil society. So, I feel it will suit my needs perfectly. Am I right? Look for my new posts.

Marek Šurkala 

EVS avantura Vol. 4 - Urška Ženko!

Odkar sem se vrnila iz mojega EVS projekta v Avstriji, je minil že skoraj mesec dni. Bolj kot se je moj čas v Gradcu iztekal, bolj je seveda postajalo zabavno, zanimivo, predvsem pa domače. V decembru smo imeli otvoritev razstave na temo sosesk in samoorganiziranja, ki je zelo aktivistično naravnana, zato so tudi vsi sodelujoči umetniki zelo angažirane, kritične in zanimive osebe. Svoje delo so predstavili na simpoziju, ki smo ga priredili dan po otvoritvi in je mimogrede, trajal 5 ur. Še zdaj ne morem verjeti da kljub teden dni trajajočemu pomanjkanju spanja nisem zaspala.

 Dnevi pospravljanja in postavljanja razstav so bili moja najljubša obdobja v Rotorju. To je čas, ko se dela od jutra do večera, pri zadnji razstavi pravzaprav od jutra do jutra, ker smo zadnja dva dni delali po 18 ur dnevno. Bil pa je tudi čas, ko smo skupaj jedli, načrtovali, belili, vrtali luknje v steno, ogromno improvizirali, plezali po lestvah, oknih in omarah v skladišču, stokrat leteli v trgovino in ob treh zjutraj tolažili umetnike, razočarane nad njihovo postavitvijo (to sem v bistvu delala samo jaz, ker nihče drug ni imeli dovolj trdnih živce za njihove muhe). In ko smo postajali dosti bolj prijatelji kot pa le sodelavci.

Zadnji teden v decembru smo zaključili z velikim projektom Future Heritage Collection, ki si ga, glede na količino dela, ki sem ga vložila vanj, malo štejem tudi za svojega. V Gradec je prišla umetnica in profesorica arhitekture v Bostonu Azra Akšamija in predstavila projekt, ki je nadaljevanje njenega Culture Shut Down, s katerim je opozarjala na nevzdržno stanje kulturnih institucij v Sarajevu ter pozvala muzeje in galerije po vsem svetu, da izkažejo solidarnost z njimi. Na okrogli mizi, kjer smo seveda postregli z burekom, je predstavila zbirko predmetov dediščine prihodnosti, ki je nastala jeseni v Sarajevu, nato pa smo skupaj s povabljenimi gosti okrogle mize govorili o odgovornosti vseh, ki delajo na področju arhiviranja in razstavljanja predmetov kulturnega pomena in pri tem presojajo kaj se bo ohranilo kot del našega kulturnega spomina.

Veliko sem se ukvarjala tudi s pripravo projektne dokumentacije za projekte v naslednjem letu in vse do konca le stežka verjela, da se bo vse to dogajalo brez mene …

Logo, koordinacijska organizacija, se je v decembru zelo potrudila in nam organizirala voden sprehod po Gradcu, kjer sem spoznala še nekaj skritih kotičkov (čeprav sem mislila, da sem videla že vse) ter izvedela nekaj več o tistih, mimo katerih sem vedno preveč hitela. Poleg tega so nam organizirali še delavnico izdelovanja torbic in denarnic iz recikliranih materialov. Približno petkrat sem se tudi poslovila od našega koordinatorja Klausa ter oddala svoje končno poročilo v nemščini – to je bil eden ciljev mojega učenja.

Občutek ob vrnitvi domov je nenavaden na ne najbolj prijeten način. Kot bi morala svojega duha stlačiti v veliko premajhen življenjski okvir.

Za konec še nekaj fotk, ki sem jih morala poslati Nacionalni agenciji kot dokaz, da sem res delala vse, kar je opisano v mojem končnem poročilu. Žal ni nobena z Mladi v akciji zastavico, kar je bilo verjetno veliko razočaranje. Birokracija überall.

Predstavitev projekta Culture Shut Down v Muzeju sodobne umetnosti Vojvodine v Novem Sadu, kjer smo se ustavile na poti v Bolgarijo in se udeležile seminarja FACK. 

Otvoritev projekta Steckdosen seminar v Leibnitzu, ki ga je izvajal Künstlerduo Sonda iz Maribora. 

Na otvoritev razstave Teritoriji v mesecu septembru se skupaj z Diano in Pauline, Evs prostovoljkama iz Potrugalske in Belgije, jemo dobrote s kmečke tržnice

Sprehod po adventnem Gradcu, ki ga je organiziral Logo

Urška Ženko

Skoraj adijo by Clementine

October/november
The month of a second exhibition in the Gallery K18. In fact, at the end of September, Pekarna Magdalenske mreže told us that the gallery will be free for 2 weeks, so we can do something there. But we had only one week to create an event.

We decided to organize another exhibition.
The idea was already in our minds, or rather that one of Jade. So, we decided to work about the traveling and attempt to recreate an ethnographic exhibition or a docu­fiction. To show how a foreigner try to enter and integrate themselves in a new land, news customs and be part of the group or the community. This exhibition brings the spectator wondering themselves about the notion of travel and exotic via all rites and customs of the hosting country.
So, we created our own land, to bringing back objects from nature and by photographing the traveler trying to integrate the community. With archives documents, objects who take all the space, photos and videos we invite the public to an immobile trip. Furthemore, there is a question on the false and the truth, the surreal to the real, does this trip has been carried out or is it just and idea, a concept? Over time, in trying to create this earth, perhaps we realized that it was after all, our new hosting country: Slovenia. Since, more than 6 months, we are here to try to accustom us to the standars of the country, to learn the customs, etc. 

That was interesting to organize this exhibition, because we could work on the scenography, how to set up works, create directly works on the wall, etc. How to fill the space of the gallery? Although the exhibition is correct, the realization in just one week did not bring about the necessary elements has a complete exhibition, that's why I wish to repeat the experience in France, and why not improve it. 

Then, from the 3st and the 5st of October, we have volunteered at STOPTRIK festival (stop motion animation festival) organized by 2 ex Polish EVS. Our task was to be present for the voting comitee. We should create the voting cards, be present to all the screenings and give voting cards to the audience (it was cool because we could watch all the films, it was very interesting). Then the last day, we should count votes to know who was the winner of the competition. Simulacra of Ivana Bošnjak and Thomas Johnson, here the link: http://bonobostudio.hr/en/film/in_production/simulacra .

The first week end of november, we went with Camille another French EVS from Krško, in
Budapest. We were happy to discover another capital, and going out from Maribor. Budapest is a really beautiful city, with a lot of things to do, see and visit. In fact, we went up to see the castle and the amazing city's point of view from there. Then we visited the synagogue, the basilica, the inside market, ruins bars, and we ate a lot :) . It was a good week end. After that, we came back at work, to organize 2 last projects. 

The 3rd of december, at Pekarna Magdalenske mreže, there will be an EVS evening, we will watch a film from an ex EVS in Cerkno, then we are in charge to organize the evening. So we would like to discuss about our own experiences in Slovenia and present pictures.

For our last project not as EVS but as curator, we plan to organize in december one art
evening. With Jade we want to make a project in wild spaces in Maribor, like abandone houses, places, etc, where we are not used to expose art. After to walk through Maribor looking for those kind of places, we found an exploitable space. It's the stair tower which is at the level of the main bridge that connects ŠTUK to Pohorje. This place which is already tagged and offers a beautiful point of view on the Drava, is an interesting place to exhibit pictures with point of view of landscapes and city, as well. So, the idea is to offer a point of view seen from another point of view :). The project consists to exhibit one French EVS who took pictures from Slovenia. Here it will be about Prekmurje region. To be continued....

Clementine Clenet

Autumn by Clementine

Art and Films
The month of a second exhibition in the gallery K18. In fact, at the end of September, INFOPEKA told us that the gallery will be free for 2 weeks, so we can do something there. But we had only one week to create an event. We had decided to organize another exhibition. The idea was already in our minds, or rather that one of Jade. So, we decided to work about the traveling and attempt to recreate an ethnographic exhibition or a docu-fiction. To show how a foreigner try to enter and integrate themselves in a new land, news customs and be part of the group or the community. This exhibition brings the spectator wonder themselves about the notion of travel and exotic via all rites and customs of the hosting country.
So, we created our own land, to bringing back objects from nature and by photographing the traveler trying to integrate the community. With archives documents, objects who take all the space, photos and videos we invite the public to an immobile trip. Furthemore, there is a question on the false and the truth, the surreal to the real, does this trip has been carried out or is it just and idea, a concept? Over time, in trying to create this earth, perhaps we realized that it was after all, our new hosting country: Slovenia. Since, more than 6 months, we are here to try to accustom us to the standars of the country, to learn the customs, etc.

That was interesting to organize this exhibition, because we could work on the scenography, how to set up works, create directly works on the wall, etc. How to fill the space of the gallery? Although the exhibition is correct, the realization in just one week did not bring about the necessary elements has a complete exhibition, that's why I wish to repeat the experience in France, and why not improve it.

Then, from the 3st and the 5st of October, we have volunteered at STOPTRIK festival (stop motion animation festival) organized by 2 ex Polish EVS. Our task was to be present to the voting comitee. We should create the voting cards, be present to all the screenings and give voting cards to the audience (it was cool because we could watch all the films selectionned, it was very interesting). Then the last day, we should count votes to know who was the winner of the competition: Simulacra from Ivana Bošnjak and Thomas Johnson, here the link: http://bonobostudio.hr/en/film/in_production/simulacra .

We are in the third week of October, but I have the impression that we have already done a lot of projects.


Clementine Clenet