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: h t t p : / / r a z g o v o r i . w o r d p r e s s . c o m

TALES OF PROTEST. A NECESSITY

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Concept and realization of the project: MFA Boba Mirjana Stojadinovi Project production: Artist association DEZ ORG Project partner: Cultural Centre REX The project was generously supported by Fund for Open Society, Serbia Nina Hchtls stay in Belgrade was made possible by Austrian Cultural Forum Special thanks to Kontekst at the localcommunity This programme is part of the Belgrade independent culture festiva, SELF-POWERED

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ON THE WORK

November 2008 I spent a one-month residency in Belgrade (Galerija KONTEKST in coopera on with /Ausresearching into the ght of the workers from the factory Jugoremedija in Zrenjanin. For two years the workersfought for their factory and against the priva za on of their work place. Throughout their struggle they lived partlyin the factory, squa ed the city hall for four months, protested three days and nights in front of the Priva za onAgency in Belgrade, got beaten up, injured and imprisoned by the police and private security. During this two-yearperiod the workers did not earn and many were le behind by their families. In 2006 Jugoremedija became the rst

factory amongst the transi on countries in Eastern Europe undergoing neo-liberal priva za on to be recoveredand controlled by its workers.Summer 2009 I came back to Serbia to research further into the subject. I soon found that in August alone therewere around forty smaller or bigger protests per day. Based on this research and interviews with the workers (mainlfrom the factory Jugoremedija) I developed Tales of protest. A necessity.: Five c onalized characters (Milenka,Bogdan, Nina, Zolt, Zoran) tell their tales, juxtaposed with text derived from these tales, and footage from SergeiEisensteins silent lm Strike.Released in 1925, the lm Strike depicts a complex re-crea on of the course of development of a 1912 factorystrike in pre-revolu onary Russia. The workers were acted by the Proletkult Theatre (Theatre of the People). Myinterest in this lm lies on the scenes that portray collec vism in opposi on to the individualism of each tale in asimilar vein as the characters voices generate a murmur that one can only follow focusing on each tale.

As I talked to the workers, and having witnessed their protests in front of the Priva za on agency and theGovernmental Building in Belgrade, they triggered to ques on my own posi on as an ar st and framer of theworkers struggle: What am I gh ng for? Do I let anything be done to myself?

Concept, sound recording and edi ng: Nina HchtlAudio recording performed by: Gordana Tasic (Milenka), Nenad Gvozdenovic (Bogdan), Iva Markovic (Nina),Slavoljub Novakovic(Zolt), Ivan Nikolic (Zoran)Footage: Stachka (1924) by Sergei M. EisensteinTransla on to Serbian: Tamara NaunovicProof edi ng of English: Nenad JovanovicThanks to Marko Mile c, Rajko Petrovic, Milan Sreckovic, Milenko Sreckovic, Boba Mirjana Stojadinovic, SzabTolnai, Natasa Pavlovic, Ivan Zla c www.freedom ght.net/, Galerija KONTEKST, Margarethe Makovec,Anton LedererSpecial thanks to the workers of Jugoremedija in Zrenjanin without them this project wouldnt have been possiblSupported by the Austrian Cultural Forum Belgrade.

More about the project and background informa on can also be found on:http://www.ninahoechtl.org/Naomi_Hennig_Tales_of_Protest.pdf

http://www.all4all.org/2006/07/2645.shtml

http://pokret.net/cms/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=169&cntnt01origid=85&cntnt01detailtemplate=my_showdetail.tpl&cntnt01dateformat=%25d.%20%25m.%20%25Y.&cntnt01returnid=62

http://fndarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JQP/is_438/ai_n56764587/?tag=mantle_skin;content

http://eipcp.net/transversal/0208/buden/en

Within the forum, Nina Hchtl has o ered for discussion her ar s c work Tales of Protest. A Necessity., dealing witworkers strikes and protests in Serbia, speci cally the case of the pharmaceu cal factory Jugoremedija, a 5-screenvideo installa on she realized in coopera on with Galerija Kontekst, Belgrade.

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Documenta on of the piece:Tales of protest. A necessity.

A 5-channel video installa on (each video 557)

Serbian with Serbian Cyrillic script and English sub tles2009

Videos lls

Installa on at Galerie 5020 in Salzburg (A)

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Points for discussion:

What does it mean to protest, to par cipate in strikes?1.Does each tale of protest expand insights on the subject?2.How do you feel about the use of the Cyrillic script? Which implica ons does it have on the work?3.

Do you feel the text and the footage from Sergei Eisensteins Strike add something to the content of each4. tale?This project started from the invita on of Galerija Kontekst to do an Ar st-in-Residence in Belgrade.5.

What do you think about ar sts from abroad re ec ng on site-speci c situa ons? Do you think an outsideview can open up new perspec ves? Do you think outsiders can learn anything from site-speci cs or doestheir research be necessarily super cial?

How do you feel about the decision to place myself within the work?6.Is the video installa on able to generate another insight, a sense of urgency - of necessity?7.Does this project make you re ect on the role and posi on of protests? What do you think about workers self-8.

management? Do you consider it an alterna ve to an owner or supervisor telling workers what to do, how todo it and where to do it?Can you share your thoughts on recent and current protests in your city? How do you feel about them? Do yo9.protest? What for?

ON THE ARTIST

Ar st Nina Hchtl spends most of her me in MexicoCity. She studied at the University of Applied Arts(Vienna, A) and the Piet Zwart Ins tute (Ro erdam, NL).

Presently, she is a doctoral candidate in Art by Prac ceat Goldsmiths College (London, UK).In her ar s c work, Hchtl is not xed on a par cularmedium. She explores the c onal modes of art,literature, poli cs, history, and popular culture, with anemphasis on the prac ce of c on-making as a poli calprocess. In doing so she employs the media of video andphotography, works with found materials, language andsound, produces printed ma ers and installa ons.Aside from whishing to transform and to be transformedin making art Hchtl hopes as well that the circula onof her work will contribute to rede ne the no on ofaudience, to be treated as ac ve social subjectsengaging with art in diverse and cri cal ways. Theworks she has been producing can be viewed in generalas di erent a empts to deal crea vely with culturaldi erences, both between and within. Her wish isto create works that confront complexi es of life inits diversity, and are thereby more likely to o er areciprocal explora on of a social/poli cal/emo onal,and/or ar s c situa on; between her, the media and theviewer.

Exhibi ons (selec on):

(2011)about transla on (Curators: Karin Pernegger andDagmar Hss), Galerie IG Bildende Kunst, Vienna (A);Pices de rsistance(Curators: Andrea Domesle, Michal

Kolecek, Frank Eckhardt) Motorenhalle Dresden (D);Schon wieder und nochmal ? Handlungsspielrume (Curator: Sabine Winkler, Medienturm Graz (A);einarbeit, die das was sie re ek ert, nicht loswird (Curators:Petja Dimitrova, Lina Dokuzovi, Eduard Freudmann,Can Glc, Ana Ho ner and Ivan Jurica) KunstpavillonInnsbruck und Kunsthalle Exnergasse (A),NACHDEMOKRATIE (Curator: Raimar Stange) Kunstraum N,Vienna (A)(2010)Barriere(-frei) (Curator: Sabine Winkler),Ratskeller Lichtenberg, Berlin (D);where do we go from

here?(Curator: Elisabeth Be na Sprr), Secession,Vienna (A);entsprechen PREKR, Galerie 5020, Salzburg(A);RE: EX-POST, Cri cal Knowledge and the Post-Yugoslavian Condi on (Curator: Luisa Ziaja), OPENSPACE, Vienna (A)(2009)Tales of Protest. A necessity., Galerija Kontekst @CZKD, Belgrade (SER),moved, mutated and disturbediden es , Casino Luxemburg (LU)(2008)Too Early for Vaca on , OPEN/INVITED e v +a 2008Limerick (Curator: Hou Hanru), Belltable Arts Centre (IR)

All her projects can be found on her websitewww.ninahoechtl.org

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How to reach ontekst at the local community?Address: Local community Studentski grad premices, Narodnih heroja 30, New BelgradeBusses stopping close by: 18, 65, 72, 75, 78, 82

Kontekst at the local communityNEW BELGRADE MUNICIPALITY

Bus No. 18, 72, 75, 78, 82

Bus No. 65