Exposium, the final public event of our project, took place at Zagreb’s Pogon Jedinstvo, the Academy of Dramatic Arts and by the Savica Lakes. A three-day gathering involved presentations of various methods and processes devised within the Testing Ground, including Rhizomatic Gestures, a cycle showcasing new works and artistic processes of team Rhizome (Hrvoslava Brkušić, Maja Bojanić, Nadia Markiewicz, Fette Sans and Lea Vene), series of conversations and publication presentations involving members of all the six of experimental and research teams that were working within the project’s framework, an experimental walk Overflow by Zakole group, and a lecture-performance Sex Education II: Ability by director Tjaša Črnigoj, a member of Power of Pleasure team.
Three young illustrators from Croatia, Ena Jurov, Ivona Cvitković and Petra Divković, followed different parts of the program and produced their artistic responses.
Ena Jurov responding to Rhizomatic Gestures, conversations and the experimental walk.:
Ivona Cvitković responding to team Rhizome’s Maja Bojanić’s guided speculative expedition, which took us through the wild ecology of Pogon. Pogon is a cultural centre positioned by the river Sava, constantly negotiating with mould and dampness. In addition to the site-specific aspect related to Pogon, this expedition shed light on the general presence of mould in spaces of art and gallery spaces – a presence which is very common, but usually hidden out of sight.
“While exploring the area with the Institute for Mold Preservation, we noticed unknown, blister-like growths.
The creature wasn’t confined to one spot. It spread everywhere.”
“Area 1: THE STAIRS
1) Alien mouldy pathogen
2) A bucket-like device that regulates the spread of mold.”
“
“Area 2: THE CELLAR
Due to the high toxicity of Area #2, we could only speculate about what’s there.
We descend into Basement #1 and continue our investigation.”
“The smell of the space shaped our surroundings.
Darkness flooded the area in all directions.
It was hard to distinguish the walls from the floor.”
“Although we don’t see traces of the slimy vegetation we noticed earlier,
the presence of spores remains apparent in the area.
We discover a voice log.”
“The space felt unreal. A hall of almost immeasurable size, fractured into columns, stretching endlessly in every direction.
Above us, a series of five arches spanned from one side of the room to the other.
Their reflections shimmered in a vast pond on the floor, creating a circular architectural form whose image weighed heavily upon us. Immersed, we paused for a second, doubting whether we could take another step. We already felt our feet sticking to the ground—an unnatural swamp suddenly surrounded us. Everything crawled, swirled, and creaked…
Forgotten..”
Petra Divković in response to Sex Education II: Ability that took place at the stage of Academy of Dramatic Arts. This lecture-performance is one of the five parts of the cycle Sex Education II, directed by Tjaša Črnigoj. The cycle addresses the right to sexual pleasure as a fundamental human right, and Ability is focusing on the sexual practices and needs of women living with disabilities. In addition to the illustrations, Petra also prepared an artist statement encapsulating her creative process:
“It was important to me to capture a part of the atmosphere we, as the audience, experienced during the performance. The entire evening immediately reminds me of the color red, so it felt more than fitting to use it in the illustrations – I wore red socks, a red-striped shirt, there was a red accordion on the floor, and out of the darkness emerged Tea Vidmar (the sound performer) in a red dress.
Darkness, as a significant element of the performance, was also incorporated into the illustrations because it was crucial in creating an environment that opened up space for expression. The dimness (of a black box) contributed to an intimate atmosphere, and throughout the performance, despite the weight of the stories and experiences we heard, there was a sense of safety and connection. It was almost as if the darkness enabled freedom of expression, openness, reflection, and confrontation with the issues at hand.
I chose motifs that left a special impression on me; I didn’t want to delve into the subject through textual descriptions and notes, leaving the exploration of the topic itself to the viewer.”
SEX EDUCATION II: ABILITY
DARK ROOM
“Why is it so difficult to understand and accept that a woman with disability can be happy with herself or her body as it is, to feel good, to feel beautiful, attractive or sexy.”
Elena Pečarič: So beautiful, yet disabled