NATIONLES [AUTONOMY/LIBERATION] Exhibition, discussions and films

4-5 April 2015, Youth cultural center (MKC), Skopje

The Institute of social sciences and humanities – Skopje invites you to the two-day encounter and exchange of regional theory, activist and art practices.

AUTONOMY/LIBERATION is the first event of the regional collaborative project NATIONLESS, a common effort of the Institute of social sciences and humanities – Skopje, DAM-DAŠ/ Škart – Belgrade and the University of Macedonia-Thessaloniki – Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies.

The project NATIONLESS aims to open a space for artistic intervention, thinking and re-thinking the particular issue of nationalism and its social reproductive power with a specific focus on the broken communication and a virtually complete lack of collaboration between regional artists and intellectuals. However, it does not seek to overcome the mere problem of lack of communication but rather, through an artistic undertaking, to challenge competing nationalisms in the different countries through artistic-political and theoretical explorations of the idea of “nation”. The political status of “nationality” is the main pillar of all other political and social categories and processes in these three countries. It determines the cultural capital of nationhood and national origin which further influences the economic processes and possibilities of social mobilization and solidarity. Therefore, this project seeks to problematize national(ist) identity politics that are ‘inclusive’ for some, and always ‘exclusive’ for the others and paralyzing of all politics that debunk the sanctity of the ethnic principle of social mobilization. The project represents a counterweight to the current political tendencies by engaging grassroots actors to tackle the social consequences of the mainstreamed nationalism.

The project presents an innovative and cross-disciplinary approach to devising tools developed throughout the production process and which represent a contribution to the general contemporary praxis in art and theory in the Balkan region. These tools are open to further reapplication, modification and adaptation, thus enabling a new transformative praxis to take place on the basis of this project.

PROGRAM

4 APRIL

17:00 – 19.00 [Discussion] Nationless? Exploring the political and artistic possibilities towards ‘nationless’ autonomous subjectivity

Theorists: Slobodan Karamanic (SRB), Fotini Tsibiridou (GR), Artan Sadiku (MK), Akis Gavrilidis (GR), Maja Muhic (MK).

20:00 [Exhibition] Nationless: A Continuous Struggle – a collection

Artists: Olson Lamaj (AL), Iordanis Stylidis (GR), Maria Sarri (GR), Dragan Protic – SHKART (SRB), Visar Arifaj – STRONG PARTY (KS), Nada Prlja and Branko Prlja (MK), Angeliki Avgitidou (GR), Branko Teshevic – STREET HERO (SRB), Yane Calovski and Nayia Frangouli (MK/GR), Filip Jovanovski (MK) and Gjorgje Jovanovik (MK).
5 APRIL

13:00 – 16.00 – Art as explosive: TNT (Treasures of Nationalist Treason)

Presentations and discussion with participating artists, activists and theorists.

16:00 – 17:00 [Screening] Alternative Balkan Caravan (2011) – a documentary on youth gay communities produced by United Society of the Balkans.

In order to fight for the rights of a community, first you have to identify these rights and then to inprint them. This exact depiction, we set as a target for 2011 and furthermore decided to do it by using multimedia and art. This way it was given birth to the idea for the creation of a documentary which would present the life and status of the homosexual, bisexual and transexual rights in Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Rumania, Greece and Turkey.

18:00 – 19:30 [Screening] DIORTHOSSI/CORRECTION (2007) feature film by the director Thanos Anastopoulos

A man gets out of prison. Like a modern Ulysses he undertakes a homeless journey into contemporary Athens, populated by migrants, homeless and other marginalized people. On his way he meets a woman and a little girl. Are the three of them members of a disrupted family or just persecutors and victims of a violent conflict driven by society that prevents them from living together?
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We want to thank ArtAngle – Balkans for their support of the NATIONLESS project.