petition against the demolition of slovene cultural center/squat (1 Viewer)

[gril]

hi,



last year i lived in ljubljana for a while, this place was great. it was squatted and taken over by artists in the 90's. its a small enclosed ex-military complex. they tried to knock it down before, and in order to save it the artists in the community covered the buildings in mosaics and paintings, and changed half knocked down buildings into organic architectural features.



theres about 5 or 6 community run bars, which seem to be the only gig venues in the city. some of slovenias most important artists have studios in the center and have made work for it.



i only found out about this today, but it seems like they haven't started demolition yet. if you're interested please sign the petition.





http://new.petitiononline.com/metelko/petition.html





<quote>

PETITION AGAINST THE DEMOLITION OF METELKOVA CITY CULTURAL
COMPLEX IN LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA

May, 31, 2005

METELKOVA CITY CULTURAL CENTRE is a former ex-Yugoslav military
complex in the center of Ljubljana, squatted by artists, activists,
cultural workers, etc. from Ljubljana / Slovenia in 1993.

METELKOVA CITY CULTURAL CENTRE represents one of the most
prominent cultural/artistic landmarks of the city of Ljubljana.

It's reputation reaches well over the borders of the state of Slovenia.

Dated this Wednesday, June 1, 2005, the State Inspection for
Environment and Space of Slovenia announces the beginning of the
demolitions of some objects of Metelkova. It is our firm belief that such
a demolition opposes civilized norms of the world we all share.

We thus urge you to use all your influence in finding a more
constructive solution for the future of this unique cultural phenomenon.
Such a solution should, of course, take into full account the will of
groups and individuals who created (and continue to do so) Metelkova
City Cultural Centre.

Your act - signature, your voice - may be of great help for us who go
into defending this unique cultural, artistic, social and political space,
that is known all over the world.

Support us in our struggle for the last free and urban space in the
centre of Ljubljana! So send the petition, spread the word, inform
colleague musicians, artists, activists...

Sincerely yours,

Forum of Metelkova City Autonomous Cultural Centre

... Send a copy of your letter to [email protected]

AND TO:

Ms. Danica Simsic / mayor of the City of Ljubljana, [email protected]

Mr. Igor Omerza / vicemayor of the City of Ljubljana, [email protected]

Mr. Milos Pavlica / vicemayor of the City of Ljubljana, [email protected]

Mr. Slavko Slak / vicemayor of the City of Ljubljana, [email protected]

Bureau of the President of the State of Slovenia, [email protected]

Ministry for Culture of RS, [email protected]

Sincerely, The Undersigned
</quote>

 

[W.]

hope they've organised more resistance than a petition. good luck to them.

 

[subbuteo !]

this place is great we played there while on our tour this summer .heres part of a scene report i got for my zine today thats relevant to this.


as for more than a petition .these people are well organised and im sure they have.also when we were there they were telling us the place is very famous and popular so it will have the surport of a lot of "civilans" .im sure they'll do more than graffiti some satues.







"At this moment, Metelkova (squatted ex-military barracks in Ljubljana) is the only place in the capital of Slovenia, where it is possible to make underground concerts. Metelkova was squatted in 1993 and remained autonomous till 1997. Now half of it is legalized (and ran by Municipality of Ljubljana) and it is become quite commercial, and half remains 'autonomous', but it doesn't act like a squat at all, so we hardly consider it that way. There are several clubs, an anarchist infoshop/library Škratova čitalnica, gay and lesbian clubs, and art studios.
Metelkova is a social institution: 'non-profit, non-governmental, multicultural, urban venue open to all art, culture, social and humanitarian work, social integration, community benefit', but in the end it all leads to unavoidable commercialization. More and more people, who want to be 'alternative' and 'different', come here. It is a vicious circle – people of Metelkova are trying to keep the underground spirit, but they have to adapt at least a little bit to sustain and improve Metelkova and to satisfy visitors' expectations, but because there is more and more conformist visitors coming, the alternative is very slowly driven away. We had some threats of demolishion of one smaller building in the last 3 months, but nothing happened, so it is just another way of building up the pressure from the autorities."