Chto delat? (What is to be done?)

study, study and act again

9th June - 21st August 2011
Mala galerija, Slovenska c. 35

Curator: Bojana Piškur

The Mala galerija is presenting the first major project in Slovenia by the Russian collective Chto delat? (What is to be done?). Formed in 2003 and made up of artists, critics, philosophers and writers, the collective sees its diverse activities as a merging of political theory, art, and activism. The group's ideas are rooted in its members' active participation in and research of the current social and political situation of Russian reality, and based on the principles of self-organisation and collectivism. Their work uses a variety of means to advance a leftist position on economic, social and cultural agendas; they publish a regular newspaper, produce artwork in the form of videos, installations, public actions, and radio programmes, and contribute regularly to conferences, publications and educational projects.

For the Mala galerija, Chto delat? has formulated a wide-ranging project that reclaims the space of the Mala galerija as a public space for a didactic installation which brings to the fore the educational value of art focused on basic activities, such as watching, reading, listening and discussing. The space of the exhibition is transformed into a staged reading/media room, which should also function as a place for meetings.
The collective proposes a change in the opening hours of the Mala galerija; for the duration of the show it will be open between 12 a.m. and 8 p.m.

This project is realized in collaboration with Škratova čitalnica, which has generously agreed to provide a selection of their publications for the display. Also, a new issue of the Chto delat? newspaper entitled "Theater of Accomplices" is published in the frame of the show. Furthermore, three films by Chto delat?, The Songspiel Triptych: Perestroika Songspiel, Partisan Songspiel, The Tower: A Songspiel, will be screened at the Slovenian Cinematheque. There will also be a series of screenings in the Moderna galerija auditorium, which will include a local premiere of The Museum Songspiel. Netherlands 20XX.

In the framework of the show the collective will organize an Obshezitie / seminar-commune - a 48 hour seminar, dedicated to the idea of political subjectivation through collective practices, and aimed at breaking the conventional formats of discussions and conferences and promoting a dialogical, conflictual and personal relationship to knowledge production. This seminar will take form as a series of rehearsals by its participants, culminating in a public staging of the Learning Play under the work title "Where has Communism gone?" on Sunday June 12th at 8 p.m. at the Vitkar hall (Parmova street 25).

Chto delat? (founded in 2003 in St Petersburg, Russia www.chtodelat.org) has exhibited and presented its work in many recent projects including Between Tragedy and Farce, Smart Project Space, Amsterdam (2011); The urgent need to struggle at Nova Galerja, Zagreb & ICA London (2010); The Idea of Communism, Volksbühne, Berlin (2010); The Beauty of Distance, 17th Sydney Biennale (2010); The Potosí Principle, Museum Reina Sofia, Madrid (2010); Morality, Witte de With, Rotterdam (2010); A History of Irritated Material, Raven Row, London (2010); Plug In, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2009); Istanbul Biennial (2009); 4-th Biennial of Moving Image, Contour Mechelen just to mention a few, and run and participated in numerous conferences, seminars, social forums and educational initiatives.

The project for the Mala galerija realised by:
Tsaplya (Olga Egorova); Nikolay Oleinykov, Alexander Skidan, Artyom Magun and David Riff

Publication
Chto delat? newspaper under the title "Theater of accomplices" is published in the framework of the exhibition in Mala galerija (Moderna galerija) in cooperation with Kunsthochschule für Medien, Koln and with the support of Encuentro Internacional de Medellín (MDE11) (Spanish version of the publication)
With a contribution of the commissioned authors: Luis Garcia; Mladen Dolar; Fernanda Carvajal; Keti Chukhrov; Katja Praznik; Robert Sempler (Ultra red)

This project is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia

Special thanks to
Škratova čitalnica, Slovenska kinoteka, Vitkar zavod