THE PRESENT (Nomad Dance Academy Publication 2011/2012)
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Edited and compiled by: Dragana Alfirević, Biljana Tanurovska-Kjulavkovski
Contributing authors: Dragana Alfirević, Virginie Bobin, Marijana Cvetković Marković, Igor Dobričić, Angelina Georgieva, Aleksandra Janeva Imfeld, Jana Jevtović, Ilona Kish, Kristina Kujundžić, Céline Larrère, Martin Sonderkamp, Mårten Spångberg, Dejan Srhoj, Biljana Tanurovska-Kjulavkovski, Rok Vevar, Jasmina Založnik
Proofreading: Žarko Cvejić
Photography: Domenico Giustino, Gregor Kamnikar, Mankica Kranjec, David Lotrič, Nenad Milošević, Sunčan Stone, Ljupčo Tanurovski, Jani Ugrin
Design and layout: Katarina Popović
With financial support from: Swiss Cultural Programme in the Western Balkans, European Programme for Culture 2007–2013, European Cultural Foundation, Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, Allianz Kulturstiftung
Publisher: Lokomotiva – Centre for New Initiatives in Arts and Culture.
Skopje, 2012
ISBN 978-608-65194-1-4
COBISS.MK-ID 92578314
It is not easy to write an introduction to a book at dawn of the end of the world as we know it, or on the eve of the beginning of the world as we wish it to be.
Not only is the world going to die, it has never looked so small, judging by the finances or other resources available to us; or by the shrinking of public space; and by how hope, faith, and trust are distributed; how we as a civilization regulate and organize ourselves; how we value what we have. At the same time, it seems larger, judging by the challenges, confrontations, and changes that await us to realize them. Us.
Alright, we are adaptable. But how far can we go in adapting to prevent the ruins of utopia from collapsing on our heads? In what state will we wake up after total collapse?
We have constantly reinvented ourselves and invented ever-new working processes in search of the best models and ideas for possible communication, decision-making, and human organization. All of this has helped us build a better world, yet the feeling of hopelessness remains.
It is the end of the past as we know it; or is it the end of the future? Which future? The future of communism, the future of the left? The independent art scene? The project-based mode of work? The future of the feeling of inevitability and irreversibility? The future of the Nomad Dance Academy? The future of love?
How to continue?
To surrender even more to low-paid, smaller-scale and smaller-scope work, to sink even deeper into various artistic practices that thereby become even more hermetic and inaccessible to others? Should we prioritize profit over social impact? Should we roll out the red carpet at festivals and pretend that everything is perfectly fine? Should we go with the flow and not question when art becomes a commodity in the hands of capitalism? Do we still call ourselves artists? Do we pretend that nothing is happening? Do we drink ourselves into oblivion?
What is to be done?
The answer lies in actions. This, we believe, is the carrier of change, this is what will produce the difference that we all need, this will bring research back into art. Art is something that takes us beyond our expectations; where we see the world as a space in which we celebrate change, rather than as a space in which we celebrate the profit we produce by making art. We are so much more than carriers of the commodification of our own work, and therefore we are the future."
Editors: Dragana Alfirević & Biljana Tanurovska Kjulavkovski