How do we think the dead, their bodies and bodily remains. Connections between fragmented histories. City of Women. 10.X.2016 at 7pm. Gallery ŠKUC. In October 2016 Maja Petrović Šteger has been invited to participate at the international festival ‘City of Women’ with a lecture “How do we think the dead, their bodies and bodily remains? The lecture was conceived as a talk, partially carried out in the form of a conversation with Tania El Khoury, Lebanese/UK artists of an interactive sound installation “Gardens Speak”. The installation contained the oral histories of 10 ordinary people who have been buried in Syrian gardens. The lecture delved into notions of how we understand and sense the dead in conflict and postconflict settings of Syria, Serbia and Tasmania? Do we understand the dead through images, scents, notions of loss, political speeches and/or forensic reports? These questions were contextualised within some of contemporary interpretations of the dead body in art, politics and science - thereby addressing current issues of reconciliation, pain, belonging, activism and oblivion.The lecture and the discussion stressed out the importance of scientific and artistic research not only of problematic past(s), but also of the notion of the expectation people hold about their respective futures.
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 40659245The paper presents an increasingly popular recreational activity that seems to be transforming regimes of mountain trails by incorporating discourses on tourism, ecology and the future. Mountain biking (MTB) activists comprehend overregulated trails as the core metaphor of Slovenia’s rigidity and oppose it with alluring projects. The paper investigates the discourses and activities of MTB activists in Slovenia, who define the country’s position and relief as ideal for development of MTB tourism. For two reasons, however, their visions are uncertain. Firstly, mountains have a significant symbolic position in the Slovenian national imaginary. In the late 19th century mountains, trails and mountaineering were involved in competing nationalisms. Ever since, mountaineering has claimed privilege on mountain trails. Hence, subsequent recreational activities have to negotiate their space on the trails in terms imposed by mountaineering. Secondly, MTB is legally forbidden for nature conservation reasons. MTB activists have been struggling unsuccessfully to change the legislation to suit their needs since the 1990s. In order to change the legislation, MTB activists appeal on an ecological future, public health and prosperity of local tourism. They organise small, but internationally noticed businesses to act as paragons for co-nationals. The paper discusses their activities as a way of modelling an alluring neoliberal subjectivity, set against the perceived rigidity of Slovenia.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 61914466