At the Project space of the Museum of architecture and design, Nonument Group introduces itself with an exhibition with a suggestive title: The Exhibition is Outdoors. It is focused on the phenomenon of nonuments, a term used to describe architecture, monuments, public spaces and infrastructure whose meaning has transformed as a consequence of social or political changes. The exhibition serves as an introduction to the work of the art and research group by showcasing the database of nonuments and staged art interventions, as well as scheduled events in the field.
With their analyses of the historical context, markings in the field and/or art interventions, the Nonument Group interweave the spaces of the past and the future, everyday spaces and spaces of art. The exhibition layout, which intends to present the work method in three sections, also poses various questions: the unfinished database opens up the question of archive, art interventions are displayed as mere fragments of the staged work, and the upcoming markings of nonuments in the field are linked to events that will take place outside the museum during the exhibition, with the documentary material to be added later on. The exhibition layout thus remains an unfinished whole that is constantly being added to, and – crucially – directs the attention to the field, outside of museum space.
The Exhibition is Outdoors thus sheds light on the nonument phenomenon from three different angles and by providing a multi-layered experience opens up the question of the possibility to perceive different dislocated events and time fractures in parallel, as well as utilizes space to explore the dividing lines between architecture, art, memory and heritage, which are difficult to pin down.
Three events in June and July 2021 will complement the exhibition at the Museum of architecture and design (MAO), Ljubljana:
9 June 2021: TGH-64: Nothing can happen here
Sound drive (Pre-event for the opening of Cukrarna)
Savin Sever’s parking garage, one of his masterpieces, is characterised by a distinctive duality: it is a revered example of modernist architecture of the 1960s and at the same time a neglected and “useless” building. With a sonic drive through the garage, Nonument Group will draw attention to the specific structure of the building, which is not only architecturally fascinating, but, even in its supposedly problematic present existence, full of vitality and individual improvisations. Through an open reading, the structure already offers the changing city around it a platform for renewed, technologically up-to-date, socially engaged and city-forming content.
29 June 2021: Bloudek ski jump, Ljubljana
Field workshop
The last remnant of the former Bloudek Ski Jump in Galetovo acts as an authentic Ljubljana “folly” – an unusual tower in the middle of the forest, whose measured design and monumental presence are at odds with its dilapidated state and, until recently, the threat of demolition. The workshop will present the dilemmas of preserving the tower and the various memories it holds, while at the same time drawing from the traces of the former uses of the tower and the terrain around it. It will attempt to make sense of the changing nature of spatial markers and stories evoked by abandoned or otherwise re-contextualised objects.
23 July 2021: Belvedere, Vila Bled
Closing event and discussion
Vinko Glanz’s tea house on the shore of Lake Bled, built upon Jože Plečnik’s three mighty pillars, which were according to the original plans meant to support the new castle of King Alexander, raises questions about authorship, integrity of architectural work, recycling and building on the remains of abandoned projects.
The sequence of different architectural commissions, interruptions and alterations on the present Vila Bled estate is also a suitable setting for a discussion on the relationship between landscape, nature and architecture, which all endure and change at different speeds, blurring the boundaries between ruin, renovation and and maintenance.
IMPRESSUM
Custodian: Nika Grabar
Exhibition design: Martin Bricelj Baraga, Neja Tomšič
Nonument index preparation: Miloš Kosec
Marking elements: Nika Grabar
Texts for on-site events: Miloš Kosec
Graphic design: Damjan Ilić
Exhibition elements production: Martin Lovšin
Photographer of on-site events: Peter Giodani
Print: dpi print
Technical crew: Nikola Pongrac, Martin Lovšin, Igor Vuk
Produced by: MoTA – Museum of transitory art / Co-produced by: Museum of architecture and design / The event at TGH-64 co-produced by: Museum and galleries of Ljubljana