Nonument! - invitation to the symposium at CAMP

In the shadow of the demolition of the Transgas building, CCEA - Center for Central European Architecture is organizing an international symposium focused on hidden, abandoned, and forgotten monuments of the 20th century. The symposium will present case studies of these buildings, monuments, and infrastructure projects across Europe, focusing on approaches to their preservation, restoration, and new uses.
On June 13-14, 2019, the international symposium NONUMENT! will take place at CAMP in Prague, aimed at presenting hidden, abandoned, and forgotten monuments of the 20th century, known as nonuments. CCEA, in collaboration with project partners from Slovenia, Austria, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Cyprus, will showcase European "nonuments" and explore possibilities for their use today, under completely different political and historical circumstances.
“Through this, we aim to contribute to the discussion on how to deal with buildings, artworks, and other monuments that remain forgotten and become a topic only when it is already very difficult to halt their demolition, as in the case of Transgas. For this reason, we chose Transgas as our theme,” said the symposium organizer Yvette Vašourková from CCEA.
The symposium will feature research results and interventions by project partners, lectures from external experts, and discussions with both professionals and the general public. Among others, Austrian art historian Elke Krasny and Lithuanian artist Deimantas Narkevičius have accepted the invitation to the symposium. The contributions will cover topics such as the perception of socialist buildings over time, the relationship of infrastructure projects to ideology, and the question of whether it is even possible to integrate projects aimed at an entirely different future into our present.
Additionally, expert workshops will be part of the symposium, aimed at finding solutions to the issues of heritage protection in the Czech context. A workshop titled When Will You Start Respecting Me? led by Veronika Vicherková from the Faculty of Architecture at ČVUT will address the inflexibility of the heritage protection system in the Czech legal framework. The workshop I Am a Dependent Object! led by artist Katarína Hládeková and art historian Markéta Žáčková will focus on the removal of art from public spaces and the legislative gaps that allow such treatment.
The Nonuments project is developed in collaboration with the MAPS – Mapping & Archiving Public Spaces project, with the support of the European Union and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. Project partners include MoTA (Slovenia), W24 (Austria), TAČKA KOMUNIKACIJE (Serbia), ARTOS Foundation (Cyprus), and House of Humour and Satire (Bulgaria).
Those interested in attending the symposium can register at the email address: [email protected]. The number of places is limited.

Organizer: Center for Central European Architecture


Program of Symposium Nonument!, June 13-14, 2019, Prague, CAMP

June 13, Thursday
9:00 – Registration

9:15 – Introductory Remarks

9:30 – Nika Grabar (SI), architect: Nonument!

10:00 – Martin Bricelj Baraga, Neja Tomšič – Nonument Group (SI), artists: McKeldin Fountain, Baltimore
First Panel: Conflict and Suppression
10:15 – Jürgen Weishäupl (A), artist: Anti-Aircraft Towers, Vienna

10:45 – Pavel Karous (CZ), artist

10:55 – Ljubica Slavković (SRB), architect: Searching for Public Interest in Belgrade: Legalizing the Wild City

11:25 – Martin Zet (CZ), artist: Removed and Covered Statues of Miloš Zet

11:35 – Discussion
11:50 – Coffee break

Second Panel: Infrastructure and Ideology
12:00 – Danica Sretenović (SI), architect: Pioneering Railway

12:30 – Vladimír Turner (CZ), artist: Ephemeral Monuments

12:40 – Martin Bricelj Baraga, Neja Tomšič – Nonument Group (SI), artists: From Nowhere to Nowhere – Pioneering Railway

13:10 – Nicolas Grospierre (PL/FR), artist: Subjective Atlas of Modern Architecture

13:40 – Katarína Hládeková (SL), artist, Markéta Žáčková (CZ), theorist: Brno: Statues in the Streets

13:50 – Discussion
14:00 – Lunch
15:00 – Special Lecture: Elke Krasny (A), theorist: Exhibiting Memories and Exhibiting Mourning
Third Panel: Memory and Post-Socialism
16:00 – Anelya Ivanova (BG), artist: Buzludzha – The Apothesis of Socialist Art in Bulgaria

16:30 – Vít Halada, Benjamin Bradenský (SK), architects: Iconic Ruins

16:50 – Ole Frahm – Ligna Group (D), artist: Re-legislation, Overcoming, Alienation. Radioballet as Performative Memory

17:20 – Petr Dub (CZ), artist: Public Borders

17:30 – Veronika Vicherková (CZ), architect

17:50 – Discussion
18:05 – Coffee Break
18:20 – Special Lecture: Deimantas Narkevičius (LTU), artist: Too Long on a Pedestal
19:20 – Concluding Discussion

June 14, Friday
9:00 – Introduction

9:00 – Workshops
1 When Will You Start Respecting Me? – led by Veronika Vicherková (CZ), architect
2 I Am a Dependent Object! – led by Katarína Hládeková (SK), artist, and Markéta Žáčková (CZ), theorist
10:30 – Special Lecture: Miloš Kosec (SI), architect: Nonumental Infrastructure
11:30 – Workshops – Outputs and Discussions
11:30 – Lunch

Fourth Panel: Backward Flow
12:30 – Ladislav Zikmund-Lender (CZ), theorist: Topography of Demolition: The Case of Transgas

13:10 – Peter Szalay (SK), theorist: Mirror of Unwanted Heritage: Narcissism or Cynical Egoism?

13:40 – Hans van Houwelingen (NL), artist: Unfinished

14:10 – Discussion
14:20 – Coffee break

Fifth Panel: Impossibility of the Future
14:30 – Vladimir Dulović (SRB), theorist: Genex

15:00 – Viktória Mravčáková (SK), architect: How to Get Good Art into the City?

15:10 – Elizabeth Sikiaridi (GB) and Frans Vogelaar (NL) – Hybrid Space Lab, architects: Deep Spaces

15:45 – Discussion
16:00 – Special Lecture: Branislav Dimitrijevič (SRB), architect: “Egypt” rather than “October”: Dissent in the Interpretation of Yugoslav National Liberation Monuments, Past and Present
17:00 – Conclusion of the symposium

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