EVENT: Symposium NONUMENT! Prague, 13-14 June 2019
In the shadow of the demolition of the Transgas Building, the CCEA – Centre for Central European Architecture – is organising an international symposium on hidden, abandoned and forgotten monuments of the 20th century. The symposium will present case studies of such buildings, monuments and infrastructure projects across Europe, focusing on approaches to their conservation, restoration and reuse.
The international NONUMENT! Symposium will be held in Prague’s CAMP on 13th–14th June 2019, aiming to present the forgotten monuments of the 20th century, the so-called “nonuments”. CCEA in collaboration with partners from Slovenia, Austria, Serbia, Bulgaria and Cyprus, will present European nonuments. The focus will be on their use today, under completely different political and social circumstances.
“We would like to contribute to discussion on how to deal with buildings, artworks and other monuments that remain forgotten and become the centre of attention only when it is too late to save them from destruction, like in the case of Transgas. This is why the Transgas situation has been chosen as our theme,” said Yvette Vašourková from CCEA, symposium organiser.
The research and interventions of the project partners will be presented at the symposium, as well as lectures from external experts, followed by a discussion between experts and the general public. Austrian art historian Elke Krasny and Lithuanian artist Deimantas Narkevičius are some of the speakers accepting the invitation to the symposium. The lectures will address the topic of transformation, such as perception of socialist buildings in time and the relationship of infrastructure projects to ideology. Moreover, we will be asking the question ‘is it possible to incorporate the projects designed for different future into our present?’
In addition, the symposium will include professional workshops aimed at finding approaches to the issue of monument protection in the Czech context. The workshop When Will You Respect Me? led by Veronika Vicherková from the Faculty of Architecture of CTU will address the problem of rigidity of the system of monument protection in the Czech legal system. The workshop I am a dependent object! led by the artist Katarína Hládeková and art historian Markéta Žáčková will focus on removing art from the public space and legislative loopholes allowing for this to happen.
The full description of the initiative, relevant links, and the programme of the symposium are available here.
Those interested in participating in the symposium can register at the e-mail address: nonument@cceamoba.cz. The number of seats is limited.
The Nonument! project is being developed in collaboration with the MAPS – Mapping & Archiving Public Spaces project, supported by the European Union and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. The project partners are MoTA (Slovenia), W24 (Austria), TAČKA KOMUNIKACIJE (Serbia), ARTOS Foundation (Cyprus), House of Humour and Satire (Bulgaria).