04/04/2023, 18.00
Zoom
participants: Una Bauer, Ola Knychalska, Klara Otorepec, Hana Sirovica
organisation: Kurziv, Maska Ljubljana, Krytyka Polityczna
Conversation Reparative Explorations: The Pursuit of Joy was the first in a series of online conversations within a Reparative Explorations seminar devoted to the quest for cultural responses that can work towards repair of the political and ecological crises of today. It was held on Zoom and Facebook, on April the 4th at 6 pm CEST.
The Pursuit of Joy conversation explored the potentials of seeking pleasure as the base of research processes. Specifically, talked about the potentials of joyful and playful responses to political depression and ecological grief, the types of reactions stemming from the sense of hopelessness and helplessness that arise from the state of politics and society, as well as ongoing and anticipated ecological losses.
The conversation brought together contributions by researchers Una Bauer (Croatia), Klara Otorepec (Slovenia) and Ola Knychalska (Poland). They will shed light on the artistic, cultural and social practices that, through pursuing pleasure and joy, work to repair the frictions and uncertainties that surround us. The event will be moderated by editor, researcher and cultural worker Hana Sirovica (Croatia).
Ola Knychalska is an experienced projects coordinator, curator and researcher with a strong background in public cultural institutions and non-governmental cultural organizations.They focus on promoting collective action and amplifying feminist-queer and anti-fascist discourses through their involvement in various artistic and activist initiatives in Warsaw, including the Pomada Queer Festival and Kem Foundation. They have extensive knowledge and experience in queer-feminist arts, experimental pedagogies, and climate-oriented cultural and educational projects. Over the past few years, they have been exploring grassroots educational practices and have created the Kem School, a platform dedicated to developing radical pedagogy and organizing methods at the grassroots level.
Una Bauer is a theatre scholar and writer based in Croatia. She holds a PhD from Queen Mary, University of London. She is assistant professor at the Academy of Dramatic Art (Zagreb), at the Dramaturgy Department. Her first book on theatre and everything else, including tea cozies and bicycles, Priđite bliže: o kazalištu i drugim radostima (Come Closer: on Theatre and other Joys) was published in 2015. Her second book BADco.: Vježbanje nemogućeg (BADco.: Practicing the Impossible), a series of in-depth interviews with BADco. members was published in 2021.Her research interests have recently been focused on affects and emotions, sorrow, mourning and death in the context of performing arts.
Klara Otorepec is a radio journalist, publicist and communication manager. She is also a trained social pedagogue. In the past, she has been active in different student and other groups dealing with current global issues such as precarization, globalization, economic sustainability, women’s rights, migrations, etc. She is a co-editor of two radio shows at Radio Študent, Ljubljana, which is one of the oldest alternative radio stations in Europe (1969). She has also worked at a non-profit studio prostoRož that is actively engaged in improvement of public urban spaces and citizen’s participation. Until 2021, with the philosopher and publicist Katja Čičigoj she led a feminist seminar that focuses on reading classic feminist works as well as organizing lectures on modern forms of patriarchy and problems of feminism today. Today, she coordinates the reading group herself. You can find her articles in Slovenian magazines and on web platforms such as Dialogi, Razpotja and spol.si on the topic of women’s rights and urbanism.