URBACT „Active NGOs“ project in Dubrovnik started with the idea of bettering the communication and collaboration between various public and civil actors that are engaged in public-civil partnerships and are dealing with the topic of participatory governance, especially in the forms of cultural and social centers. One of the goals was made specifically in bettering the communication and collaboration between the Platform for Lazareti located in the quarantine complex Lazareti and Youth Center Dubrovnik. Such collaboration and crossover happened during the beginning of September 2020!
From the 9th till the 13th 2020 of September Art Workshop Lazareti (Platform for Lazareti) hosted the exhibition titles „Quarantine“, produced by KONTEJNER |bureau of contemporary art praxis in collaboration with UR Institute (Youth Center Dubrovnik). Additional technical and video support was given by the City of Dubrovnik Association of Technical Culture (Youth Center Dubrovnik) and NGO Luža (a Platform for Lazareti).
As the description of the event said, the exhibition consisted of artworks produced within EMAP – European Media Art Platform, a network of 11 European cultural institutions and media art organizations that give production grants to emerging European media artists. The „Quarantine“ presented KONTEJNER's selection of artworks that have been produced from 2018 until today. The works were based on very peculiar and interesting topics -natural sciences and cybernetics which conceptualized the frail balance of cohabitation of living beings on Earth. Based on the latest scientific research and the imaginings of posthuman subjectivity, the works addressed issues such as pollution, interspecies communication, climate change, the posthuman body, and the Anthropocene. The selected artists thus created their visions and narratives, integrating the long-disconnected notions of nature and the human.
Participating artists were: Anna Dumitriu & Alex May (UK): Archaeabot, Daniela Mitterberger & Tiziano Derme (MAEID Büro für Architektur und transmediale Kunst) (AT): The Eye of the Other III “On Flowers”, Kat Austen (UK/DE): Stranger to the Trees, Quimera Rosa (ES/AR/FR): Trans*Plant: an OncoMouse™ journey, Robertina Šebjanič (SI) & Gjino Šutić (HR): aqua_forensic, Taavi Suisalu (EE): Waiting for the light. The curators were Olga Majcen Linn and Tereza Teklić from KONTEJNER.
Even though a very unusual exhibition in the context of the cultural life of Dubrovnik, the exhibition attracted a large number of audiences of all ages. This was especially so because, as always when it comes to their projects, UR Institute put a great emphasis on informing and inviting the local schools and their other younger users and collaborators. The exhibition was relevant and interesting to the local artistic community as well. Therefore, what could be observed was a positive exchange and interchange of audiences of the two aforementioned NGOs (Art Workshop Lazareti and UR Institute) as well as their centers (social-cultural center Lazareti and Youth Center Dubrovnik). It was also an opportunity for the NGOs to collaborate and test the trust they have gained through the last year and a half working on the „Active NGOs“ project. And quite successfully so!
Photographs taken from...
Dubrovniknet portal: https://bit.ly/3jdM3Mx
Libero Portal: https://bit.ly/3j6wWEA
Informadur: https://bit.ly/308qJjY
...where you can see the rest of this interesting exhibition!
Petra Marčinko
Dubrovnik ULG coordinator
