Lada Cerar, Vesna Bukovec, Metka Zupanič
Curated by Alenka Gregorič.
Project by three Slovenian artists, who work both as an informal collective and independently. The exhibition presents the results of a three-year project in progress, which seeks to examine a number of cities around the word 'in a different way'. So far research has been conducted in four cities, always with the same conceptual approach to the inhabitants, with whom the artists communicated, and recorded their observations and their view of the places.
The idea for the collective project Special Place in the City came while the artists were attending a residency programme in Nottingham in 2004, where they recorded a video in dialogue with the organisers and random people on the street, which served as a platform for its continuation and further development. In 2006, while on residency in Graz, the artists upgraded the project to include, in addition to the videos of the presentation in Centrum Gallery and medien.KUNSTLABOR (a gallery within Kunsthaus Graz), a map of special places, their historical outlines and personal objects of the interviewees connected to their respective places. In Sarajevo the project was carried out within the framework of the Some other City workshop organised by the Sarajevo Winter Festival in 2007. The selected individuals who work in the services sector were the interviewed at their places of work.
Currently, the project is being carried out in Ljubljana and Zagreb. The exhibition in the Škuc Gallery allows anyone interested to participate via www.special-place.net, where artists will be asking the inhabitants of Ljubljana to send a photograph of their special place and a story connected with it. The visitors are invited to pinpoint their favourite spot in Ljubljana. At the same time, the inhabitants of Zagreb will be asked to send the names and photographs of their favourite locations.
The artists plan to develop the project at the second generation of web-based services (web 2.0) based on social networking, which uses the web for creative cooperation and sharing content between users. With the help of Flickr the artists will 'attach' the photographs and descriptions on the exact geo-locations on the map. The web site will also serve as a platform for publishing new special places from everyday life (different cities) or the web (different web sites).
The artists approach every city differently. Their concepts and the presentation depend on many factors, most notably the opportunities and time spent in a city. Inhabitants of every city are asked to present their special place in a city and tell its story, regardless of whether it is positive or negative. The project focuses on exploring relations between an individual, a space and a city, examining why a place should be special to someone and what prompts an individual to perceive a place differently. Thus the artists chart new emotional maps and discover locations which people sense intimately.
The artists stress that the focus is on two aspects, the first being the intimate perception of individuals' stories. There is a psychological element in observing an individual and its personal history linked to a location. Watching unique portraits of inhabitants and their disclosures offers a voyeuristic pleasure and a possibility of identifying.
The second essential aspect is the city. Stories of individuals provide a new or different reading of places, and uncover multiple meanings created by the experience and memories of the inhabitants. Parallel presentations of locations enable the viewer to see a broader picture, as they can read the 'official' interpretation (selected historical facts) and personal perceptions of a place at the same time, while potential town plans (envisaging demolition, construction, etc) add yet another dimension.
Special Place in the City will continue next year when the artists explore the towns of Nova Gorica and Gorica, and present the results of their work in the Nova Gorica City Gallery in 2009. The artists are currently making arrangements for 2008 with a residency centre in Chicago. Every gallery is just a stop in the (as yet) endless voyage of the project.
The programme of Galerija Škuc is supported by Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and Cultural Department of the City of Ljubljana.
Project supported by: Ljudmila, Enzo
