An Apology for Modernity

NSK STaTE PavIlION — 57Th vENIcE BIENNalE 2017 11 May – 15 July 2017 Exhibition: Palazzo Ca’ Tron, IUAV University of Venice Commissioned by IRWIN Inaugural lecture by Slavoj Žižek Curated by Zdenka Badovinac and Charles Esche 11 May 2017, Aula Magna Tolentini Installation by Ahmet Öğüt AN APOLOGY List of contents FOR MODERNITY It is cruel to refuse shelter to refugees. For the state in time, transgression of But it is much more cruel to make people the bounds of the ethical idea is as serious Introduction by IRWIN 2 refugees. The refugees fleeing to Europe as violation of the boundaries for the state are put in an impossible situation of seek - in space. It is imperative for NSK as the Zdenka Badovinac and Charles Esche, NSK State ing help from the perpetrators of their suf - state in time that we take a categorical Pavilion in the context of the 57th Venice Biennale 3 fering and misery. We, the liberal Western stance toward these developments. Since world, have destroyed their life world. we cannot expect our Western leaders to Editor’s note by Mara Ambrozič 4 The governments of our states in space act ethically, we take the burden of moral have done it. We as their citizens are all responsibility and guilt on ourselves and Slavoj Žižek, The Courage of Hopelessness 4 complicit in the crimes our elected and sincerely apologize to the refugees, as well unelected leaders have committed or as - as to those who were unable to or chose Eda Čufer, It is Time to Rethink the State: sisted in the regions from which the not to flee, for all the crimes and suffering On NSK State 5 refugees flee. We as citizens have done we have inflicted on them. nothing effective to prevent or stop those Slavoj Žižek, Es Gibt Keinen Staat In Europa 8 crimes from happening. By this omission, For the state in time, taking an ethical we have not only condoned the destruction stance means opening a political perspec - Ahmet Öğüt’s statement 9 of the lives of others, but utterly corroded tive. We need to figure out politically what our own moral and political world as well. is to be done. We must begin to work hard Delegates 9 In the process, we have become stupid and on ceasing to be stupid and ugly, on re - ugly. How are we supposed to help the deeming our mind and soul. We need to ad - Workshops 10 refugees when we, reduced to powerless - dress the causes of evil instead of getting ness, cannot even help ourselves? lost in fighting culture wars among our - Claudio Donadel, Beyond Borders 11 selves over the effects of the crime. We need NSK, as the state in time, understands to alleviate the humanitarian crisis – that NSK Ofﬁcers 12 that the state is the actuality of the ethi - is self-evident. But it is of no lesser urgency cal idea. The state is the basic condition that we articulate and bring about a long- Róza El-Hassan, for individuals’ moral and political life, term political solution. We need to free our - for their freedom. In today’s world, a selves from the ultimately criminal powers Whom shall we ask for amnesty? 13 human being is nothing without the state. that rule us and reestablish democracy in But the Western liberal governments our home countries, and commit ourselves Jela Krečič, The Final Countdown: Europe, Refugees and the Left 14 have violated the borders and destroyed with all due humility to help restore po - states from Afghanistan to Libya. The litical life in the countries from which the Biographies 14 people from those countries were forced refugees have fled. We need to stop the to flee our bombs and the violence of our senseless business of destruction and reaf - NSK State Venice Pavilion in Vienna 15 terrorist proxy armies. When we destroyed firm the majesty of the state both in time their states, we reduced them to nothing. and space. How to get there 16 For as an old humanist adage goes, si nisi cives nisi homo . Having annihilated these The text Apology for Modernity was sent by email to a sample of Impressum 16 people as citizens, we are degrading them 1500 NSK citizens who were asked to respond with answers: as humans even when we give them shelter. yes, I agree with this statement or No, I don’t agree with this statement. The results of this small inquiry are (at the time of print - Much more often, however, the refugees ing, 25.04.2017) as follows: 86,5 % voted yES, 9 % voted NO. 4.5% of answers were undefined. Since we do not have all t he have to submit themselves to insults after email addresses we would like to encourage NSK citizens to they have suffered injury. send their vote along with their passport number to the following NSK STaTE PavIlION NEwSPaPEr – frEE cOPy address: [email protected]. your vote will be strictly confidential. www.NSK-STaTE-PavIlION.Org NSK STaTE PavIlION — 2 57Th vENIcE BIENNalE We thank Zdenka Badovinac and Charles and with the help of the latter opened the possi - NSK STATE Esche for their enthusiasm and commitment in bility for the humanitarian protection applicants conceiving and developing the project, for their accommodated in the Veneto Region to partici - PAVILION IN courage in accepting our invitation to participate pate in the project – but also recognized in this in such a risky project, as well as for the trust specific art project a potential channel for dis - THE CONTExT Of they have thus placed in us. seminating information about the issues relating Due to its specific concept, the project also to migrant communities. In his written proposal THE 57TH VENICE involves a number of outstanding collaborators he presents an innovative program for cross- without whom the project would simply not border cooperation and implementation of a BIENNALE have been possible. Ahmet Öğüt is the author of reception policy based on the vast experience the exhibition's installation, which has by far of Italian civil associations in this ﬁeld and the NSK State in Time, which was established in outgrown the functionality of a design, becom - problems resulting from inadequate collabora - 1992, has more than 15,000 citizens today and ing an autonomous work of art. The delegates tion offered to Italy by the rest of Europe in this their numbers keep growing. Although it is true Bisan Abu Eisheh, Azra Akšamija, Djordje respect. The curators of the exhibition recog - that in terms of population size NSK State in Balzamović, Safia Dickersbach, Claudio Don - nized his proposal as an important contribution Time cannot compare to most other states, one adel, Michael fehr, Róza El-Hassan, Kendell to the entire installation. We extend our utmost can claim that in terms of the structure of its cit - Geers, Sarah Lunaček, Sohrab Mohebbi, Victor thanks to all the above-mentioned individuals izens it is already a superpower in the field of Mutelekesha, Ahmet Öğüt and Malina Suliman for their significant contributions to the articula - contemporary art. Its citizens include a number have enabled communication between the proj - tion of the project. of exceptional, world renowned artists, art theo - ect and the individuals who have personal expe - We are also grateful to all who have made rists and curators, who even the world’s most rience of migration. Slavoj Žižek will give a this project possible. Just as we would have developed countries in this field would envy us lecture entitled The Courage of Hopelessness at had a hard time undertaking the project without for. So it was not hard for us to find among the opening of the NSK State Pavilion and Jela the support of the a/political foundation, we NSK citizens a top team of curators and invite Krečič has proposed to publish a collection of could not have finished it without the coopera - them to present the remarkable achievements of texts entitled The Final Countdown: Europe, tion and support of Blaž Peršin and Museum NSK citizens in the NSK State Pavilion, which Refugees and the Left , which will shed a critical and Galleries of Ljubljana; Galerija Gregor will be put on display this year for the first time light on the central theme of the project. She Podnar, Berlin; Wiener festwochen, Vienna; in Venice, along with the pavilions of eighty- will also select the texts and edit the publication. Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia; four other countries. The selected curators were Tomaž Mastnak has proposed and authored the Department of Culture of Municipality of given total freedom in formulating the concept text An Apology for Modernity . Claudio Donadel , Ljubljana; RPS d.o.o.; KD funds; Stratkom; and theme of the exhibition and in selecting the a specialist in migration policies, who was VOKA Ljubljana; IUAV University of Venice; participating artists, activists and theorists. And asked to help in the realization of the project, Co.Ge.S. Cooperative for Immigration Policies, we have tried our best to help them realize their has not only interceded in communication Mestre; NSK State Reserve, New York; and ideas as fully as possible. between the curators and local associations – UBT University Pristina. We thank Anton Vidokle and e-flux for their generous media support as well as Wolfgang Schlag and Birgit Lurz for their decision to present the NSK State Pavilion in Vienna. Last but not least, we express our heartfelt thanks to Mara Ambrožič for her dedicated and professional work as the project’s director, who watched over the entire project together with us.

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