As part of our informal education program, we are pleased to announce a new term of meetings of the reading group under the title The Art of Living on a Damaged Planet, prepared in cooperation with Association NAGIB, performance artist Barbara Kukovec and philosopher Maja Pan PhD. The reading group will meet twice a month on Wednesdays, starting on 22 February and ending on 24 June 2023, in MMC KIBLA (Ulica Kneza Koclja 9) and in the studio of Culture Incubator (Koroška 18).

Living in an epoch often referred to as the »Anthropocene« inevitably raises the question of how can the existing research, insights and knowledge be best used to lessen or stop the damaging effects of human activity on the environment, the landscape, living and non-living systems, on human and, especially, non-human life. In our view, a crucial role in this regard is played by art, which has been, together with contemporary theory, grappling for some time with the question of how to live and survive and how to allow others do the same.

This year’s edition of the reading group is conceived as a multi-layered dialogue in two parts that connect different fields of contemporary art – visual, intermedia and performance arts – and draw on selected theoretical texts. The two parts – the one developed by KIBLA and the one developed by NAGIB – will be held alternately. In the sessions designed by KIBLA, we will read and discuss the book Against the Anthropocene by art historian and critic T. J Demos, in which he analyzes contemporary visual culture to critically consider the term Anthropocene, which is not a mere description of objective geological periodization, but ideologically supports the neoliberal financialization of nature, anthropocentric political economy and endorses geoengineering as the preferred – but likely disastrous – method of tackling climate change. In the part developed by NAGIB, we will bury ourselves into the living ecosystem of Barbara Kukovec’s artistic practice and read selected chapters from the books by Donna Haraway, Timothy Morton, Dominique Laporte, Anna Tsing and others to think about and discuss issues such as exploitation, ecology, community, methodologies of artistic processes, creating artworks etc.

The reading group is conceived as an open space for meeting, dialogue, discussion and collaborative learning about ecological, socio-political and activist topics. The aim of the shared reading of selected texts and collective reflection is to learn about a wide range of art practices and artworks and to exchange knowledge. The reading group is aimed at the general audience; no professional background is expected, except a sense of curiosity and a desire for collaborative learning and sharing knowledge.

More information and registration at: kibla@kibla.org. Attendance is free.
Kindly invited!

*The title of this year’s edition is borrowed from the anthology Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet (eds. Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Heather Anne Swanson, Elaine Gan and Nils Bubandt).


PROGRAMs

22 February 2023 Introductory session with Maja Pan PhD. / T. J. Demos: Against the Anthropocene (MMC KIBLA, Ulica kneza Koclja 9)

8 March 2023 Donna Haraway: Staying with the Trouble (chapter: The Children of Compost) (CI studio, Koroška 18)

22 March 2023 T. J. Demos: Geoengineering the Anthropocene (MMC KIBLA, Ulica kneza Koclja 9)

5 April 2023 Dominique Laporte: History of Shit (the selected chapter will be announced at a later time, CI studio, Koroška 18)

19 April 2023 The selected text will be announced at a later time (CI studio, Koroška 18)

3 May 2023 T. J. Demos: Against the Anthropocene (MMC KIBLA, Ulica kneza Koclja 9)

17 May 2023 T. J. Demos: Capitalocene Violence (CI studio, Koroška 18)

31 May 2023 Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Heather Anne Swanson, Elaine Gan in Nils Bubandt: The Art of Living on a Damaged Planet (CI studio, Koroška 18)

14 June 2023 T. J. Demos: Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Chthulucene (MMC KIBLA, Ulica kneza Koclja 9)

Saturday, 24 June 2023 Closing session, the selected text will be announced at a later time (CI studio, Koroška 18)

< Left: P L A T EA U R E S I D U E, Terra Ignota, 2021, screenshot. Right: Barbare Kukovec Archive, 2021.

The reading group is co-organized by ACE KIBLA, the NAGIB Association (Petra Hazabent) and the RIZOMA Association.
Other co-organizers: the Association for Contemporary Art X-OP, the CODE BLUE Association and MKC – Cultural Incubator.
Financial support: the Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Maribor and the Employment Agency of the Republic of Slovenia.