17. INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS – CITY OF WOMEN Abrakadabra 5.-15. oktober 2011 http://www.cityofwomen.org/ music by: Chinawoman video trailer made by: Robertina Šebjanič & Urša Bonelli Potokar ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In October, the city of Ljubljana will transform into the City of Women. The common denominator for artists and other guests, hosted in the spirit of this year’s festival motto – Abracadabra! – is the “magic” of the outlived and non-functional patriarchal patterns, socio-political conventions and moral and ethical norms and values that sometimes prefer something more abstract and elusive than an individual human being – namely, the “magical power” of religion, ideology and political beliefs, which can serve to liberate an individual or transform them into a tool for manipulation and enslavement in the name of consumerism, (neo)capitalism, religious fanatism, craving for money, lust for power, authority and control. A rich festival programme offering everything from concerts, exhibitions, children’s programme, dance performances, performances, lectures, workshops, discussion panels and meeting with the artists… Abracadabra! Let the magic begin. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABRACADABRA The word “abracadabra” is believed to have magical powers. When uttered from the mouth of a magician, it becomes a magical formula for incredible changes and transformations; it may enchant, disenchant, cast a spell, cure a fatal disease, bring luck, transform a Prince Charming into a frog or an old witch into a beautiful girl, a snake into a fabulous bride, a wealthy kingdom into the desperate ruins of a civilisation. Or vice-versa. It has power over reality, it is beyond logic and ratio, i.e. in the world of the imaginary administered by imagination, dreams, beliefs… Has the pessimistic reality stripped us of the hope for a better world, a more beautiful future, which lingers deep down inside every individual? Due to the political and economic collapse that threatens us every day as we open our eyes and look into the world, the most precious corner of the human mind – where the utopias, ideas and wishes for the righteous, the beautiful, the magical and the different thrive – becomes ever more distant. The foundations of Western civilisation have been considerably infected by a series of rapid changes rushing headlong into the unknown, which, upon reflecting on our own future and destiny, provoke collective fear and anxiety. The reality conditioned by media additionally aggravates the general issue of lost direction, the feeling of insecurity and of being cast out. When, in his lecture Art and Life, Life and Art, the artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña says that the politicians have taken our imagination and replaced it with fear, he triggers with a poisonous arrow a mechanism for confronting disturbing questions and feelings that are not only individual but collective. The euthanasia of imagination can also be noted in various professionals who offer in media their visions and answers to the questions as to what – given the current socio-political and economic condition of the local and global community – will the near future bring. Failing to provide an answer, the experts all too often ‘direct’ us to clairvoyants or to other such similar alternative diplomats. In this apocalyptic time, when predictions of the end of the world or of the system as we know it are ever more frequent, we chose the topic “Abracadabra” in order to – through various artistic projects and disciplines – address the constructs of socio-political and individual transformations. Rather than immersing ourselves in the transcendental, we were interested in the relation between the rapidly changing contemporary times and the construction of new mechanisms and positions in society and the individual alike. We were drawn to the mystics and magic as a particular critique of the pessimistic state of things. The same as every year, the festival’s programme is transdisciplinary and encompasses artists of various generations with projects that have a strong experimental tone, an interest in genre hybridity, participation, etc. We strived to supplement the cultural mosaic of events with practices and artists not very often seen in the local cultural sphere and that provide a hint of different(ness). This year’s novelty is a residence programme, organised in collaboration with Tobacco 001 Cultural Centre, hosting the Polish-German artist Justyna Koeke. She will present three projects, unusual yet witty artistic actions distinguished by a specific aesthetics inspired by a curious fairy-tale world. Another novelty is a post-festival event, the co-production exhibition

17. INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS – CITY OF WOMEN Abrakadabra 5.-15. oktober 2011 http://www.cityofwomen.org/ music by: Chinawoman video trailer made by: Robertina Šebjanič & Urša Bonelli Potokar ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In October, the city of Ljubljana will transform into the City of Women. The common denominator for artists and other guests, hosted in the spirit of this year’s festival motto – Abracadabra! – is the “magic” of the outlived and non-functional patriarchal patterns, socio-political conventions and moral and ethical norms and values that sometimes prefer something more abstract and elusive than an individual human being – namely, the “magical power” of religion, ideology and political beliefs, which can serve to liberate an individual or transform them into a tool for manipulation and enslavement in the name of consumerism, (neo)capitalism, religious fanatism, craving for money, lust for power, authority and control. A rich festival programme offering everything from concerts, exhibitions, children’s programme, dance performances, performances, lectures, workshops, discussion panels and meeting with the artists… Abracadabra! Let the magic begin. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABRACADABRA The word “abracadabra” is believed to have magical powers. When uttered from the mouth of a magician, it becomes a magical formula for incredible changes and transformations; it may enchant, disenchant, cast a spell, cure a fatal disease, bring luck, transform a Prince Charming into a frog or an old witch into a beautiful girl, a snake into a fabulous bride, a wealthy kingdom into the desperate ruins of a civilisation. Or vice-versa. It has power over reality, it is beyond logic and ratio, i.e. in the world of the imaginary administered by imagination, dreams, beliefs… Has the pessimistic reality stripped us of the hope for a better world, a more beautiful future, which lingers deep down inside every individual? Due to the political and economic collapse that threatens us every day as we open our eyes and look into the world, the most precious corner of the human mind – where the utopias, ideas and wishes for the righteous, the beautiful, the magical and the different thrive – becomes ever more distant. The foundations of Western civilisation have been considerably infected by a series of rapid changes rushing headlong into the unknown, which, upon reflecting on our own future and destiny, provoke collective fear and anxiety. The reality conditioned by media additionally aggravates the general issue of lost direction, the feeling of insecurity and of being cast out. When, in his lecture Art and Life, Life and Art, the artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña says that the politicians have taken our imagination and replaced it with fear, he triggers with a poisonous arrow a mechanism for confronting disturbing questions and feelings that are not only individual but collective. The euthanasia of imagination can also be noted in various professionals who offer in media their visions and answers to the questions as to what – given the current socio-political and economic condition of the local and global community – will the near future bring. Failing to provide an answer, the experts all too often ‘direct’ us to clairvoyants or to other such similar alternative diplomats. In this apocalyptic time, when predictions of the end of the world or of the system as we know it are ever more frequent, we chose the topic “Abracadabra” in order to – through various artistic projects and disciplines – address the constructs of socio-political and individual transformations. Rather than immersing ourselves in the transcendental, we were interested in the relation between the rapidly changing contemporary times and the construction of new mechanisms and positions in society and the individual alike. We were drawn to the mystics and magic as a particular critique of the pessimistic state of things. The same as every year, the festival’s programme is transdisciplinary and encompasses artists of various generations with projects that have a strong experimental tone, an interest in genre hybridity, participation, etc. We strived to supplement the cultural mosaic of events with practices and artists not very often seen in the local cultural sphere and that provide a hint of different(ness). This year’s novelty is a residence programme, organised in collaboration with Tobacco 001 Cultural Centre, hosting the Polish-German artist Justyna Koeke. She will present three projects, unusual yet witty artistic actions distinguished by a specific aesthetics inspired by a curious fairy-tale world. Another novelty is a post-festival event, the co-production exhibition