The Molat Colony: A Reparative Retreat
In Yugoslavia, time for leisure was systematised as part of the work cycle, with paid leave and recourse, in affordable and accessible union housing. The holiday was intended to regenerate the worker, as work was valued as a contribution to personal and collective well-being, to the comradely construction of a socialist future.
Today, in many cases, especially in the cultural sector, worker lacks basic workers’ right, as work is structured precariously. Labor and leisure can no longer be easily distinguished. Constant availability and uncertain position deny the worker her right to rest. Work in the field of art is often not recognised as legitimate and is undervalued. In the post-future era, work is also less and less valued as a form of collaborative creation.
- A reparative retreat / non-event
The event is organised within the framework of the Testing Ground project (Kurziv, Maska, Krytyka Polityczna) in cooperation with the Cona Institute and the University of Zadar
22nd – 27th of May 2024
How to think of rest today in a Yugofuturist way?
We have imagined it as a realization of the Molat Colony. This is a project that comrades Irena Pivka and Brane Zorman (Cona Institute) conceived back in 2006 as their projection for the future, which has since caught up with us, in the context of the celebration of the 100th issue of Maska journal. In their vision, the Molat Colony is a space and time for an “unconditional rest and relaxation of the selected group of artists in the stressless environment of the island milieu. Any planning, considering upcoming projects, deadlines, submissions, exhibitions, archiving and such is considered undesirable.”
Between 22 May and 27 May 2024, collaborators, and representatives of the partner organisations (Kurziv, Maska and Krytyka Polityczna) of the project Testing Ground: Reparative Practices for a New Cultural Ecosystem, will head to this less touristed Adriatic Island, untethered from the fast pace of work, where we will explore the restorative and healing potentials that the communal retreat possibly has on our precarious bodies. What do we call work and is it even possible not to work? Is non work something we should strive for? The open structure of living on an island unsaturated with impulses and relatively ecologically intact will allow us to discover answers and share experiences in confronting these and other questions that are relevant for exploring strategies that can have a reparative impact on our work and life.
On the island of Molat, in cooperation with the University of Zadar, we will organize an eco-tour for participants and students that will get us situated on the island and discuss sustainable tourism as an alternative to a consumeristic vacation model. We will watch the short film The Molat Colony (Cona and Maska, 2023) and conduct a deep listening exercise with the guidance from Cona institute. Upon our return to the mainland, we will have the opportunity to listen to a discussion on the potential of transdisciplinarity at the University of Zadar, where representatives of the Zakole group from Poland (Krytyka Polityczna) and Brane Zorman from the Cona Institute will share their experience.
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
