Age Of Plenty, 2015
Age of Plenty aims to expose the processes of change taking place in the urban and geographic area around the cities of Gorizia (IT) and Nova Gorica (SLO), where unemployment has rapidly increased. Commercial properties are often vacant and many businesses are closing. The border between the two cities is not just “permeable” but physically redundant.
The project examines in what forms the border, once a physical presence, still manifests itself between the two cities. Just twenty-five years ago, the two cities were divided by the “Iron Curtain” and by Cold War. On one side unemployment was a “familiar” phenomenon; on the other, entirely unknown.
The purpose of the project is to give voice to the locals on the theme of work, unemployment and the role of public spaces (especially via Rastello), exploring ways to utilise the available social capital through cooperation and community.
The project consists of photographic and sound installations disseminated along the main streets of Gorizia and Nova Gorica surrounded by a series of workshops held by local associations, craftsmen and creatives, working in different fields (such as glass craft, cake design, creative recycling and other manual activities), aimed at promoting the exchange of expertise; to demonstrate new and traditional crafts; to stimulate the creativity of the participants, encouraging them to think about new ways in which their knowledge and skills can be reinvented. It is hoped that the project will facilitate the development of networks of institutions, citizens, mentors and professionals, looking for solutions.
Commissioned by 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning for In/Visible Cities 2015.
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Article by Natasa Kovsca, Revija Fotografija, Autumn 2015