My Private Archive

In searching the idea for a new work, dancer and
choreographer Nina Meško decided to
discuss the process of conception and production with her friends, namely
fellow artists from the field of contemporary dance and performing arts. This
decision resulted in a clear idea which constitutes her latest project entitled
Moj
privatni arhiv / My
Private Archive, a series of discussions recorded
with – amongst others – Anne Juren, Chris Haring, Jennifer Lacey, Milli
Bitterli, Michikazu Matsune, Miguel Gutierrez
and Oleg Soulimenko. 

Nina Meško, who has already intervened in the
structure of verbal dialogue by way of her project State of Things
(created in collaboration with Tanja Lažetić, presented at the City of Women
2004), incorporates elements of self- posturing and self-criticism in her work.
Such reflective strategies by contemporary artists are essential to successful
operations within contemporary art as well as – to paraphrase Martha Rosler – a
world in which personal is not just private, but also political. Thus My
Private Archive is simultaneously performance, research, as well as an
archive.

During the City
of Women Festival, Nina Meško will hold conversations with
participating women artists, and take the gathered data to the ARTEAST
2000 + 23 exhibition in Ljubljana’s
Modern Gallery. The project,
which the author intends to pursue in the future, represents among other things
the antithesis of the concept of open archives, due to the fact that watching
or listening to archive material requires the consent of the author (Nina Meško
– discussion counterparts), by way of which the artist also draws attention to
the current issues of personal data protection and the negative consequences of
the development of control technologies.
Dunja Kukovec

Organisation
and production: City of Women,
Zavod Masa Ljubljana
In
collaboration with: Cankarjev dom, Plesni teater Ljubljana
With
the support of: Tanzquartier Wien