EXHIBITIONS
& COMMUNITY

SHORT HISTORY OF MINING
Didactic Installation

Mücsarnok Kunsthalle Budapest, 2010

A Short History of Mining is the final segment of the documentary-participatory art project in the community realized in collaboration with former miners and members of their families in Labin region in Istria, Croatia.[1]

The installation features material collected within the project workshop that was originally presented in form of a multimedia exhibition in the municipal gallery in Labin.

Whereas the original exhibition showed video, audio and object installations, a collection of memorabilia and documents as well as drawings, sculptures, painting created by project participants, this installation features a compact version of the exhibition omitting video and audio material. The large format digital print collage consists of texts, photos and documents that the participants wrote, created or provided. The project participants also modeled the two sculptural portraits that are part of the installation as well.

Content-wise, the installation documents the local history of mining, which has a very significant and important place within the history of the former Yugoslavia. It starts with the uprising of the miners in 1921, and the establishment of the Miners Labin Republic, which lasted for 40 days as first historical revolt against fascists. Furthermore it touches on the period of communism and the miners’ strike in 1987 which anticipated the fall of Yugoslavia, and ends with the memories and statements of ex-miners who were forced to retire at an early age, as the last coal mine in Labinština closed down in the late 1990s.

The installation was commissioned by Mücsarnok Kunsthalle Budapest for the exhibition Over The Counter– The Phenomena of Post-socialist Economy in Contemporary Art curated by Zsolt Petrany and Eszter Lázár.

[1] See the Miners’ Memories project description and list of participants.

GENRE&FORMATS
Project: participatory-documentary and communication art project; research; community project; project with specific social groups.Artwork/s and artifacts: large format digital print, handout brochure with explanatory and didactic texts, wall drawing/text, 2 sculptures.

CREDITS
Contribution to the research, project participants: Mladen Bajramović, Sergio Baskjera, Ibrahim Čizmić, Špiro Dmitrović, Sergio Faraguna, Senad Hujdurović, Hasnija Karlović and the ERA Student Theater Workshop, Ahmed and Elmasa Kavgić, Karla Kravanja, Denis Licul, Branka Lovrin, Vaso Majinović, Marijan Milevoj, Mara Mrđanović, Marijan Nikić, Željko Radeljević, Beco Redžić, Dušan Saviž, Leona Štemberger, Josip Štemberga. Sabina Salamon, curator, Kristina Tenčić, curatorial assistant, Mladen Bajramović, curatorial assistant, David Smithson, modelling workshop, sculptures. Installation team: Kristina Leko, David Smithson. Curators: Eszter Lázár, Zsolt Petrany. Supported by: Mücsarnok Kunsthalle Budapest, Cultural Office to the City of Zagreb, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia. Photos: Kristina Leko.