On the 27th of September 1980 the group Laibach, formed that year in the small mining town Trbovlje near Ljubljana, prepared it‘s ‘coming out’ under the patronage of Ljubljana‘s ŠKUC Gallery. This was its first proper live performance, and first public happening in the form of a multimedia action; an event that would represent an ‘alternative to the (official, centralistic) Slovenian culture’ and would shock and awaken the Red District – at the time slumbering, poisoned and saturated by soc-realism and provincialism – with its brutish and avant-garde aesthetics. The single day Blitzkrieg event was conceptualised as a poster action (night postering of Trbovlje), a concert of anarcho-industrial music (featuring Laibach, Kaos and Berlinski zid) and as an exhibition of paintings, collages, graphics and short films (Ausstellung Laibach Kunst).Even though the local authorities banned the entire event before its opening, and although of the entire planned event Laibach only managed the night postering action, it proved to be a perfect success as this event which never happened and it‘s banning caused a number of controversial discussions within the the nascent Slovene civil society, selected print media (Mladina, Tribuna) and radio (Radio Študent). Such was the birth of Laibach into the Slovene and Yugoslav reality of the 1980s.
30 years after the incident, Laibach returns to the scene of the crime and is preparing a partial reconstruction - a new multimedia happening in its birthplace. This multi-day event will retrospectively address the same contextual and formal parameters active in the 1980s. In the light of the temporal distance and the new socio-political paradigm of the present, this action will generate and assume new meanings and interpretations which will continue to reverberate. Additionally, the side exhibition DOCUMENTS 1980 will be set in the Slavček (Choir Nightingale) room of Delavski dom. Laibach Kunst will also carry out some spatial interventions in the surroundings of Cementarna Trbovlje (Lafarge), Termoelektrarna Trbovlje Power Station (TET II) and the TV broadcasting tower on Mount Kum.
These installations will highlight the groups fundamental ralationship to the industrial and political heritage of their hometown, an aspect that continues through their entire aesthetic and musical development since their very first public appearance in Trbovlje.
Opening Event: 23 September at 20:00
Symposium: 24,25,26 September, times tba
Laibach Concerts: 24,25,26 September at 20:00
Accompanying the central Laibach Kunst exhibition and the three Laibach concerts, the Red Districts Symposium will present lectures on various aspects of the history and reference points in the development of the group. In a series of panel discussions the audience will have the chance to join in the debates. During the three days the symposium will cover subjects including the Yugoslav cultural context, Retrogardism, collective practice, artistic and political scandals and the ways in which politicized art actions spill over into real life.
DAY ONE (September 24th):
Laibach Kunst – identification of the Suspect
DAY TWO (September 25th):
Neue Slowenische Kunst - collectivism and the proliferation of the retro-concept
DAY THREE (September 26th):
The NSK state - A Tale of Proclamation and its Realities.
Speakers and panel members:
Aleš Leko Gulič , Barbara Borčič, Igor Vidmar, Zdenka Badinovac, Mark Terkessidis, Chris Bohn, Pete Webb, Dejan Kršić, Goran Lisica-Fox, Petar Janjatovic, Miško Šuvaković, Dragan ivadinov, Matja Berger, Jela Krečič, Joe Pirjevec, Miha Kovač, Darko Štrajn, Darij Zadnikar, Suzana Milevska, Michael Goddard, Igor Pribac, Zoran Thale
Location: Delavski dom, Trbovlje/ Slovenia.
The full programme of events, info on access and shuttle departures from Ljubljana etc. is available at: http://www.laibachkunst.com/
Source: Newsletter
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