Miloš Janjić (STEREOVIZIJA)
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August 1st – 31st
The roots of Miloš’s artistic interest in exploring the broad theme of work in culture can be traced back to his initial engagements in authorial works and collaborations with other artists during and immediately after his studies.
The emerging artist has creatively explored this theme through previous authorial works in the form of photography, drawing, mini collections of video works, choreography and costume, such as “(S)nalazim se x WORKING ON RESTING ON”, “My Room is My Government Office”, “(worker) Ready for Anything”. His future work will likely continue to focus on this phenomenon as it is a timeless yet contemporary topic, and as such the artist is reserching to place it in various contexts, phenomena, and scenic/visual images.
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As contemporary dance, along with other forms of performing arts, was deprived of funds for project co-financed by the Ministry of Culture in 2023, and due to the inexplicable lack of support for the cultural sector and the cultural scene from the City of Belgrade in 2024, the systemic devastation of culture on multiple levels is once again evident.
For years, there has been speculation about opening a department for contemporary dance and performing arts at some of the Art faculties, but for years young artists have been going abroad for education. No public educational institution in Belgrade nor the entirety of Serbia has a study department for learning from the corpus of contemporary dance, as well as many other performing arts (street theater, physical theater, contemporary circus, puppet theater, object theater, experimental theater, digital theater…).
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The PLESTELIN program emerged as a commentary on:
- the years-long stagnation (devastation) of working conditions in culture, where basic models of co-financing are lacking, and where space for artistic work are missing;
- incompetent and corrupt management of public resources intended for culture, as well as the lack of responsibility of the relevant authorities to address structural problems;
- the festivalization, spectacularization, and glorification of mass, expensive, rigged, hermetic, and out-of-context cultural and artistic events organized without direct involvement of the profession from the local art scene, which impose unrealistic values, qualifications, and norms;
- the general violent commercialization of artistic work based on mass production and aggressive capitalist orientation towards transitioning culture into the creative industry;
- the non-existent infrastructure (and non-maintenance of existing infrastructure) for the contemporary performing arts scene, as well as the lack of sustainable models for its formation, perseverence, and functioning;
- excluding students at faculties of art and academies from decision-making processes, while spaces for their additional (parallel, professional, non-formal, informal) education are reduced to interventions and initiatives by individuals and smaller collectives;
- the failure to form a healthy, balanced critical attitude towards current social pressure points;
- the exceptional importance of the existence of the U10 collective and art space for the local cultural scene (and similar spaces and collectives).
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PLESTELIN places performing arts in more unconventional spaces, in the format of a temporary summer self-organized self-education school, and shares its principles, values, methods, and practices through multimedia products. Colleagues are invited to nurture collective practices through interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral action with all actors on the cultural scene.
This intervention (on the very model of gallery space) more radically supports and encourages the process of transformation and improvement of institutional and non-institutional efforts and curatorial practices to closely follow the needs of contemporary artists and audiences.
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PLESTELIN is:
- a collectively and openly created program born out of the necessity for, along with existing ones, additional forms of association, aimed at creating collaborations and a space that regenerate itself;
- a platform that initiates and supports examples of co creation and non-competitive models of work, by implementing innovative, yet subtle or unconventional collective practices;
- a platform for active engagement and a program that aims to spark the reflection of models for resource exchange (space, experience, skills, knowledge and works) and encourages inexhaustible experimentation and research to meet (at least some of) the needs of artists and cultural workers;
- a program that contributes to achieving equal educational, working, and social opportunities;
- one of the possible speculative systemic interventions.
Following an open call to colleagues from the contemporary performing scene, the one-month PLESTELIN program was formed, receiving work proposals from authors from Serbia, as well as from colleagues from Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany, Russia, and Taiwan, which added an international character to the program.
The diverse program includes more than 25 events, realized by more than 30 authors. It consists of dance performances, performance art, workshops (dance, collage, art activism), guest appearances from contemporary dance festivals, public listening picnic (music from contemporary dance shows), promotion of a book on performance, theater performances, presentations of works in progress, sound performances, multimedia exhibitions, public music and dance jams, screenings of experimental films…
Some of the collaborators, artists, and colleagues who will realize, perform, and present their proposed projects and subprograms within PLESTELIN are:
Domar Dragche and Mimzee; the Dajanini sin∞vi collective; Praktikabl / contemporary dance and performance festival POKRETNICA; the collective Performance Art Salon; Lidija Antonović and Nela Antonović (MIMART Theater); Aleksandra Marković; Anisja Gavrilović and Đorđe Galić; Anđela Žugić, Nevena Lazić (Na_ulici), Olya Omelyanenko and BAM BAM collective; Lily Pellaud; Nadezda Chernova; #FFFFOO; Sharly Kornitskaya; Nevena Delić and Marija Mladenović; Nu Simakina; Olga Uzikaeva, Rade Obradović, and Maksim Korolev; Aleksander Zain; Ivona Mitić and Lazar Tešić (PATOS Theater); Tanja Stefanović, Isidora Subić, Nađa Bjelanović (Inspire); BAŠ Theater; LUKSUZ production; Mina Ćirić and Pocket troupe; Anton Gerzina; Viktor Konstantinović; Ana Simić; Isabel Soany; Frendlikor collective; dance collective NEUT.
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As an idea and a work, PLESTELIN will strive to continue to educate and adopt (and simultaneously question) various (non-)formats (platform, space, festival, collective) that will create and advocate for programs, interventions, and works that support the development of alternative forms of labor in the performing and multimedia artistic practices that are underdeveloped in Serbia. It will promote decentralization, distribution, and accessibility of art, participation and personal responsibility in creating artwork, as well as the creation of a supportive environment for marginalized and discriminated groups. It will be a foundation for contemplating new forms of community, solidarity, and socio-political action.
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The “PLESTELIN” project, within the annual program of the U10 Art Space, is realized in co-production of the STEREOVIZIJA platform and the U10 Art Space, with the support of the STATION Service for Contemporary Dance and KC Magacin.
Miloš Janjić