Globalism and New Exclusions

[Jaka Zeleznikar]

In the framework of the exhibition
AGENT OF CHANGE - DOCUMENTS I
by Tadej Pogačar and the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum
(on view until 3 February 2002 in the gallery of the International
Centre of Graphic Arts in the Tivoli Mansion)

We announce and invite you to attend a discussion on Globalism and New
Exclusions, with participation of the Comitato per i Diritti Civili
delle Prostitute (Committee for Civil Rights of Prostitutes) from
Pordenone, Italy, to be held on Friday, 1 February 2002 in the
International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC) in Ljubljana.

Tadej Pogačar's P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art has occupied
MGLC from 13 December 2001 to 3 February 2002. During this time he
performed various interventions in the premises of the new host, not
only with the museum items shown at the exhibition but also interfering
into the very operational structure of the host institution: he has
temporarily occupied the position of the MGLC Director and thus actually
acted as an agent of change - and an initiator of different events in
the framework of the exhibition.
On the meeting of MGLC personnel on 25 January 2002, chaired by the new
parasitic director, the following programme was approved:


EVENTS ON 1 FEBRUARY 2002
- 6 p.m.: Formal address by Tadej Pogačar and his guests, and the
unveiling of the (first known) Monument to an Unknown Prostitute in the
MGLC front yard.

- 6.30 p.m.: Discussion on Globalism and New Exclusions. Two speakers
and their guests will introduce the organisation and its operational
mode, with emphases on the principle of the self-organisation of
marginal institutions, the development of modes of survival, and the
strategies and tactics of parallel economies practised by prostitutes
and sex workers in their work. This is also a subject explored by the
P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum. The speakers will be Daniela Manu, member and
activist of the Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute, and Pia
Covre, Co-Director of the Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle
Prostitute; members of the Stella polare programme from Trieste will
also participate, as will representatives of Ključ from Slovenia and
Jurij Popov - the journalist, who is investigating the prostitution in
Slovenia. Ključ is a non-governmental institution engaged in the fight
against the "white slave" commerce, which was founded in November 2000.
The discussion will be held in English language.

- The evening will continue with a party in the MGLC Club, featuring the
Lolita band and DJ Herr Habicht.

This year, the Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute (Committee
for Civil Rights of Prostitutes) celebrates its 20th anniversary. It was
co-founded in 1982 by Carla Corso, "the most famous Italian prostitute"
(as claims Jurij Popov, reporter and photographer researching Slovene
prostitution, in his Red Lights' Shadows). Carla Corso was also the
first contact of Tadej Pogačar; he made an interview with her, which is
presented in the video included in the Agent of Change - Documents I
exhibition at MGLC. Tadej cooperated with the Comitato already last
summer at the Venice Biennial: he organised, in the Pavilion of Sex
Workers in Giardini, the 1st World Congress of Sex Workers and New
Parasitism, which ended with the March of Red Umbrellas. This Pogačar's
project, entitled CODE:RED, Sex Worker, attracted great interest, while
the media labelled it as a big provocation of the Biennial.

 

Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute (Committee for Civil
Rights of Prostitutes) is financed by European foundations supporting
social and health programmes. Its main office in Pordenone offers all
kinds of assistance to prostitutes (including hiding them in a secret
apartment when necessary), while similar projects also run in other
Italian cities, such as Stella polare in Trieste (some representatives
of this project will also come to Ljubljana). The principal aims of the
organisation and its programmes are: to provide for the social
protection of the prostitutes wishing to quit this type of work; to back
those who continue with their "street" work; to take care of their
adequate health care and their conscience; and - most importantly - to
provoke and enhance positive public debate on prostitution as a job and
its social inclusion without intolerance and discrimination. The
protagonists performing these programmes cooperate with social services,
health institutions, police, government, universities, and labour
organisations.
Throughout the years of its functioning, the Comitato has been
prosperous and effective in changing the public opinion about the
commerce of sexual services.

What about the relationship between the virtual art institution and
social groupings?
Even a brief glance at the history of the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum
reveals that its essential features are flexibility and adaptability.
The publicly available information on the museum have made the
impression that this is a highly organised art institution in permanent
expansion, which can excellently adapt to circumstances and has a
clearly defined operational programme.
Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute - organisation for the
protection of sex workers from Pordenone, Italy - has also been marked
by successful incorporation into different social strata. 
How to organise a marginal organisation and survive is the issue that
forms an adequate basis for the partnership between the Comitato and
Tadej Pogačar's  P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum.

Tadej Pogačar has recently participated at several exhibitions and
projects, including the Steirischer Herbst festival in Graz, Austria;
the OSTENSIV exhibition in Leipzig, Germany; the Borders: Suspense 2001
exhibition in Slavonski Brod, Croatia; the Slovene Way exhibition in
Bologna, Italy; and the DO IT project in Museo de Arte Carillo Gil in
Mexico City, Mexico.


Additional information
Lili Šturm
International Centre of Graphic Arts
Pod Turnom 3, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Phone: + 386-(0)1-2413818
E-mail: lili.sturm at mglc-lj.si