Even if it’s easy to be free, what’s your definition of freedom?

Photo: Bojan Mrđenović
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Drugo more and Goethe-Institut Kroatien are happy to invite you to Luxflux Rijeka, a one-day event which will take place on Friday, November 30, 2018, starting at 7 pm in Filodrammatica (Korzo 28/1, Rijeka).

We will present the outcomes of the Luxflux programme, which started last year and has been jointly carried out by Institut Pierre Werner, University of Luxembourg, Goethe-Institut Kroatien, Luxembourg Center for Architecture (LUCA), Kasemattentheater and Drugo more. Namely, within the framework of the Freiraum European project, 38 Goethe-Instituts and their partners in the arts and civil society were developing creative answers to the questions of the state of freedom in Europe’s cities. Rijeka and Luxembourg have been randomly chosen as a tandem which subsequently developed a Luxflux project, which deals with the two dimensions of the topic of freedom: Luxembourg is questioning public space as a space of freedom, while Rijeka is wondering whether or not we can guarantee individual freedom(s) in our society.

After holding a series of workshops in the two cities during June and July, teams from Rijeka and Luxembourg exchanged their conclusions and guidelines, using them as the starting point for creating artworks and projects.

Admission is free, of course. Find out more about the Freiraum project here.

The Place, It  Has a Name

Balancing on the border between art installation, performance and post-dramatic theater, The Place, It Has a Name is a piece developed by playwright Ian De Toffoli, actress Elsa Rauchs and artist Lisa Kohl, which will be presented in the large hall of Filodrammatica, at 7 pm. The work defines the “space of freedom” and deals with its meaning for all of us. It is based on the statements about freedom presented and elaborated during the workshop held in Rijeka with the students of the Academy of Fine Arts and the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Rijeka, led by Maša Poljanec and Leo Kirinčić.

Photo: Tanja Kanazir / Drugo more (Flickr gallery)

The project is also inspired by SF films which speak about the possible space of escape from the limits of the world, particularly Andrey Tarkovsky’s 1979 film Stalker, as well as the Luxembourg Pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale, whose topic was “Freespace”. The piece attempts to capture what may be understood as “space of freedom”: a space for projecting desires and aspirations, a place of leisure, or limitless and protected area which invites us to roam. It also explores the question of how people adopt and simultaneously experience the free space, and how it gradually fades into illusion.

Authors: Elsa Rauchs, Ian De Toffoli and Lisa Kohl
 
Light and sound design: Karl Humbug
 
Coordination: Diane Krüger (Goethe-Institut / Institut Pierre Werner)
 
– language: English

Red Building, photo: Bojan Mrđenović

At 8 pm in the Filodrammatica Gallery, designers Leo Kirinčić and Maša Poljanec will present the Case Study of Red and Blue. Their speculative design installation has a starting point in the conclusions of the workshop on the freedom of space, held by Dr. Katrin Becker at the University of Luxembourg. The installation closely relates to Rijeka, dealing with the problematics of a specific architecture project of socialist housing construction, whose important aspect was the creation of an environment where the tenants would have a meeting place and where they would be able to create a community.

The installation focuses on two housing complexes, Red and Blue, built in 1978. Their architect Ninoslav Kučan wanted to create a complex that will fulfil the basic needs of its tenants. Therefore, he planned a promenade in between the complexes with shops, kindergarten, bars, meeting places, etc. But, the ideas in architecture are only sometimes realized as planned, sometimes they are totally rejected, or, as in most cases, only partially realized.

The tenants of the Blue Building built walls between the segments of the complex, thus creating several buildings only connected through construction elements but not through social connections any longer, which destroyed the original idea of communal and public space. The tenants of the Red complex, on the other hand, didn’t make that intervention and they still have a promenade, a space that is not functioning according to original plans, but with a certain life going on there.

Photo: Tanja Kanazir / Drugo more (Flickr gallery)

Case Study of Red and Blue is based on a comparative analysis of those two complexes, trying to find out why certain decisions were taken and how those decisions impacted on the lives of the present tenants. The explorers wanted to explore how space organization influences social organization, and vice versa. They also wanted to find out how, if anyhow, our freedom is related to the space where we spend most time of our lives. The results were translated into an installation that gives insight into a specific social context and a very original idea of Red and Blue buildings, into the narratives of tenants, and into speculative scenarios for the future use of the promenade.

Designers: Leo Kirinčić a Maša Poljanec
 
– the exhibition will be on view on Satruday and Sunday (December 1 and 2), from 5 to 8 pm.