Mnogim se to upanje gotovo zdi naivno ali celo nemogoče. A kljub temu se ga moramo nekateri med nami divje oklepati in verjeti, da današnje strukture ne bodo trajale večno. Za to pa potrebujemo naše pesnike in sanjače, nebrzdane norčke, takšne, ki se znajo organizirati.
–Judith Butler, 13. oktober 20231
Po 7. oktobru sta se v evropskih javnih prostorih razmahnili cenzura in samocenzura – z njima so se okužile institucije in ponotranjili so jo kulturni producenti. Nepripravljenost zahodnih držav in medijev na uporabo besed, ki jih vodilne svetovne organizacije za človekove pravice uporabljajo za poimenovanje več desetletij trajajoče okupacije in apartheida ter genocida nad palestinskim ljudstvom, ki se odvija pred našimi očmi, prežema tudi kulturno sfero. Sporno je celo izražanje obžalovanja, jeze in žalosti zaradi ubijanja v Palestini in Izraelu, podpore pa ni deležen niti osnovni humanitarni poziv k trajnemu premirju. Evropski politični in javni akterji zato omejujejo svobodo izražanja, namesto da bi bili posredniki v pogovorih med različnimi mnenji.
Cenzura in povečano nasprotovanje govoru kažeta na to, kako na javne sfere in znotraj njih deluje interpelacija, pri kateri državljani ponotranjijo ideološka stališča državnih in medijskih infrastruktur in jih artikulirajo kot svoja lastna. S krepitvijo te interpelacije in zreduciranjem akterjev na pasivne in ne razmišljujoče subjekte je ogrožena zmožnost, da se javne sfere vzpostavljajo in spreminjajo z diskurzom in razpravo. Hkrati je postala vprašljiva globalna vloga Evrope, ki ni uspela zavzeti nobenega konstruktivnega ali vsaj smiselnega stališča, temveč je bodisi izkazovala svoje temeljno strinjanje z dehumanizacijo bodisi se je aktivno postavila na stran kolonialne nadvlade. Mednarodna zavezništva in odnosi – vključno s tistimi v naši mreži muzejev, univerz in umetniških organizacij – se ponovno soočajo s tem, kako njihove strukture prečijo iz več smeri porajajoče se sledi kolonialnosti in imperialnega nasilja.
Vsi smo tukaj – čeprav se nas vse skupaj dotika na različne načine in v različni meri. Mi, uredniki konfederacije L'Internationale Online, nočemo, ali pa ne moremo, pisati z glasom institucije, bodisi prevzetim ali vsiljenim. Ta glas, ne glede na to, kje se nahaja, je tuj. Vendar pa pišemo, da bi med specifičnimi, situacijskimi in generacijskimi izkušnjami vsaj poskusili najti nek skupni izraz, da bi mobilizirali kritične glasove ter delovali in razmišljali kolektivno, onkraj vladne in medijske interpelacije.
Zahteve palestinskih osvobodilnih gibanj na področju kulture so jasne. Če jih naše institucije ne morejo izpolniti, moramo priznati napake in omejitve naših prostorov, ne glede na to, kako vpeti so v širše politične mehanizme. Prva naloga za platformo, kot je L'Internationale Online, je torej izrekanje, govorjenje, uporaba subjektivitet in umeščenih znanj – naših lastnih in tistih drugih. Z gradivom, ki ga nameravamo objaviti v prihodnjih tednih in mesecih, ne bomo mogli v zadostni meri odgovoriti na obseg vsakodnevnih tragedij, izkrivljenosti razprav, zgodovinskih pomenov pričevanja in govorjenja o genocidu. Vseeno pa besedila, filmi in zvoki ponujajo možnost, da presežemo institucionalna stališča in prispevamo k nenehnemu spreminjanju javnih sfer in kritičnih diskurzov.
Poleg tega je po našem mnenju dolgoročna naloga kulturne sfere preoblikovanje besednjakov, ki služijo kot ogrodje za retorične okvire in politična stališča na posameznih umetniških področjih, da bi tako presegli zlorabo in vsiljeno zapiranje jezika. Vsi tovrstni poskusi tega bodo morali pritegniti širok krog ljudi, s čimer bi nastala ljudska fronta, ki bi lahko s svojim pristopom, pozornostjo in prizadevanji privedla do takšnih sprememb, pri čemer se je treba zavedati, da lahko takšne poteze vodijo tudi v krhko, burno fazo vmesnosti.
V skladu s pozivom Donne Haraway, da »misliti moramo; moramo misliti« – kot odzivom na Denkverbot ter zapiranje diskurzivnih prostorov in praks – ter s pozivom Freda Motena h »kolektivni študiji« se podajamo na različne raziskovalne poti, da bi se spopadli s spreminjajočimi se temelji in registri sedanje konjunkture. Med temi številnimi trajektorijami se bomo za analizo trenutnega primera izraelskega naselitvenega kolonializma ter njegovih vojaških in zapornih režimov naslonili na feministično dekolonialno teorijo in prakso. Skušali bomo opozoriti na asimetrijo v razmerjih moči in instrumentalizacijo retoričnih okvirov, na njihov izvor in na njihove posledice v evropskem kontekstu. Ovidiu Tichindeleanu pa bo v svojem prihodnjem članku orisal represijo v evropskih javnih sferah ter njeno povezanost z imperialnimi zgodovinami. V znak solidarnosti bomo objavljali dela umetnikov, pesnikov, glasbenikov in filmskih ustvarjalcev, ki presegajo meje jezika, da bi premislili sedanjost ter njene neštete implikacije in modulacije. Objave na tem mestu bodo nujno delne in nepopolne. Niso mišljene kot deklaracija, niti kot odgovor. Če parafraziramo Audre Lorde, jih razumemo kot vajo v iskanju besed, ki jih nimamo.
Stališča in mnenja, objavljena v tej rubriki, odražajo načela akademske svobode in ne odražajo nujno stališč konfederacije L'Internationale in njenih članov.
Related activities
The Soils Project
The Soils Project, is part of the eponymous, long term research initiative involving Tarrawara Museum of Art, Wurundjeri Country, Australia, the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, Netherlands and Struggles for Sovereignty, a collective based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It works through specific and situated practices that consider soil, as both metaphor and matter. A further iteration of the project will open at the Van Abbemuseum in May - September 2024 as part of Museum of the Commons.
The Soils Project has been in development since 2018. An international collaboration between three organisations, and several artists, curators, writers and activists, the project has manifested in various iterations over several years including a three-part public webinar series titled The Soils Project: groundwork, and a two-week workshop, titled The Soils Project: On Country, for participating curators and artists. With a curatorium comprising arts workers from TarraWarra Museum of Art, the Van Abbemuseum, and Struggles for Sovereignty, the project’s approach seeks and facilitates opportunities to listen to diverse voices and perspectives around notions of caring for land, soil and sovereign territories.
Developed from this journey, The Soils Project’s forthcoming exhibition will embrace the deep histories of each participant’s location, examining the multiplicity of landscapes and environments, and the impact of colonisations and global industries on cultural heritage, land management and traditional knowledges.
Kyiv Biennial 2023
L’Internationale Confederation is a proud partner of this year’s edition of Kyiv Biennial.
Where are the Oases?
PEI OBERT seminar
with Kader Attia, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Max Jorge Hinderer Cruz, Emily Jacir, Achille Mbembe, Sarah Nuttall and Françoise Vergès
An oasis is the potential for life in an adverse environment.
Anti-imperialism in the 20th century and anti-imperialism today: similarities and differences
PEI OBERT seminar
Lecture by Ramón Grosfoguel
In 1956, countries that were fighting colonialism by freeing themselves from both capitalism and communism dreamed of a third path, one that did not align with or bend to the politics dictated by Washington or Moscow. They held their first conference in Bandung, Indonesia.
Cinema as Assembly
Cinema as Assembly investigates cinema as a space of social gathering and political engagement that prefigures and enacts forms of living beyond colonial capitalism.
Maria Lugones Decolonial Summer School
Recalling Earth: Decoloniality and Demodernity
Course Directors: Prof. Walter Mignolo & Dr. Rolando Vázquez
Recalling Earth and learning worlds and worlds-making will be the topic of chapter 14th of the María Lugones Summer School that will take place at the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven.
Archive of the Conceptual Art of Odesa in the 1980s
The research project turns to the beginning of 1980s, when conceptual art circle emerged in Odesa, Ukraine. Artists worked independently and in collaborations creating the first examples of performances, paradoxical objects and drawings.
Summer School: Our Many Easts
Our Many Easts summer school is organised by Moderna galerija in Ljubljana in partnership with ZRC SAZU (the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts) as part of the L’Internationale project Museum of the Commons.
Open Call – Summer School: Our Many Easts
Our Many Easts summer school takes place in Ljubljana 24–30 August and the application deadline is 15 March. Courses will be held in English and cover topics such as the legacy of the Eastern European avant-gardes, archives as tools of emancipation, the new “non-aligned” networks, art in times of conflict and war, ecology and the environment.
Song for Many Movements: Scenes of Collective Creation
An ephemeral experiment in which the ground floor of MACBA becomes a stage for encounters, conversations and shared listening.
Related contributions
…and the Earth along. Tales about the making, remaking and unmaking of the world.
Statement on the attack on Kakhovka Water Dam
The Kitchen, an Introduction to Subversive Film with Nick Aikens, Reem Shilleh and Mohanad Yaqubi
The Repressive Tendency within the European Public Sphere
Troubles with the East(s)
Right now, today, we must say that Palestine is the centre of the world
Body Counts, Balancing Acts and the Performativity of Statements
Until Liberation I: Learning Palestine
Until Liberation II: Learning Palestine
In solidarity with all the people affected by the earthquake in Turkiye and Syria
Public letter on WHW termination as directors of Kunsthalle Wien
Statement in support of documenta fifteen
Nikoli več vojne!
Statement on the dismissal of Alistair Hudson
L’Internationale Public Statement on the recent events at MACBA
L’Internationale statement: Towards a healthy society
Standing up for the rights of all artists to free and independent expression
Tearing Down Bridges – Turkey's Withdrawal from Creative Europe
Of Cats and Canary Birds: Statement in Support of Lunds Konsthall
How Much Austerity Can Europe Endure?
L'Internationale supports Walid Raad, Andrew Ross and Ashok Sukumaran after the recent ban on their entry to the UAE
L'Internationale statement in support of the decision to open "La Bestia y el soberano" (The Beast and the Sovereign)
Artists for Kobanê: An online auction to benefit refugees from Kobanê
Podporna izjava Internacionale Museu Reina Sofia
New online platform for research, resources and discussion
The Veil of Peace
Uvodnik: Za kolektivno študijo v času izrednih razmer
Song for Many Movements. Opening Performance Live on Radio Alhara
We Have Been Here Forever. Palestinian Poets Write Back
Indra's Web
Diary of a Crossing
The Silence Has Been Unfolding For Too Long
One Day, Freedom Will Be
