<nettime> the sincere intolerance

[Aleksandar Gubas <eurindie@sezampro.yu>]

The following text was written as an on-line contribution to the
Medi@terra festival. It was designed as a set of answers to the
questions asked in the festival's material.

* * * * * * *

CAN WE RAISE THE SUBJECT OF A BALKAN IDENTITY OR NOT?

I believe we can. Maybe it's a prejudice, but it seems to me that the
people from this region really behave in a specific way, different from
the rest of Europe.

CAN WE DESCRIBE THIS COMMON IDENTITY?

The Balkans, as a geopolitical and socio-psychological term, usually
means something wild, dark and obscure - at least when seen by the
Western eyes.
I will take Serbia as a paradigm. Serbia is oftenly seen as irrational
and savage. And there is some truth in it. But I don't see it as
something bad. Serbia itself simply provokes and challenges the world to
consider the very nature of the civilization.
Under the pressure of the Christianity, the Western civilization deeply
suppressed what psychoanalists call Id. Instead of accepting the
existence of the Shadow in the man and the society, and trying to make a
balance with it, the West either missed the chance to recognize the
Shadow in itself, or to affirm it. The Western sexual revolution of the
sixties was a cool thing, but it stopped in the middle of its way - it
did not deal much with the emancipation of the individual or the other
side of the instincts. It rather propagated sexual freedom in its
reduced form of another Western instant and shortcut wise sayings of the
the-road-less-travelled kind, and similar obscurities.
Serbia is (or WAS before October 5, 2000 - as optimists would like to
believe) the Reign of the Shadow. But this fact, at least, recognizes
the existence of the Shadow - which is the first step towards an attempt
to solve the Shadow problem. I believe it's more honest than denying the
Shadow. Denying and suppression lead to the internal contradiction,
which is exactly what happens to the West ever since Columbo. And this
is very dangerous, especially now, at the dawn of the new millennium.
NATO-Serbia conflict in 1999 was a conflict between a powerful schizo
and a stubborn savage. (And the truth was victim, as usual.)
Well, at the end, how could we describe the Balkan identity?
Maybe as _the_last_oasis_of_sincere_intolerance_. That's why all those
funny Soros courses of non-violent conflict resolution didn't bring any
result here. I attended a lot of well-fundraised bullshit workshops
where I was given a tipically Western instruction to say something nice
about the nearest person in the workshop, usually completely unknown to
me - while my first idea was that his/her breathe and armpits stink just
like mine (or something like that). I was just natural - after all, I am
a Balkanian.

HOW CAN WE DEFINE A COHERENT CULTURAL AND SOCIAL IDENTITY OF THE BALKAN
AREA BARING IN MIND ITS CHARACTERISTIC AS A CROSSROAD OF DIFFERENT
CIVILIZATIONS?

There is no coherent cultural and social identity here. The Balkans is a
complicated mixture of Orthodox, Muslim and Catholic. Balkan nations
know nothing about each other: the Bulgarians have romantic stereotypes
on the Serbs, the Croats believe that each Serb is a natural born
killer, the Serbs from Serbia see the Bosnian Serbs as a bunch of
primitive shepherds and bear hunters, etc.
On the other hand, everybody here eat, fart and sleep. And overreact.
And have many other tribes in their neighbourhood. What's common here is
that experience of suspicious neighbouring.
There is another important element of so-called Balkan identity:
impossibility to be put in preset categories. It always gets on my
nerves when I fill in some stupid on-line form for this and that: each
form requires me to choose one of the preset categories for me, which I
simply can't do. These forms were created by the Westerners, and the
Balkanians don't fit in it.

IS THERE A GLOBAL IDENTITY BEING DEVELOPED IN THE BALKAN AREA?

I would like that to happen. I would like that hypothetical new global
identity to be defined as the resistance to the linear globalisation.

CAN WE DEFEND A BROADER SENSE OF GLOBALIZATION THAT WOULD PROTECT
TRADITIONS AND DIFFERENT CULTURAL IDENTITIES AS FAR AS BALKAN AREA AND
ARTISTS WORKING IN THIS AREA ARE CONCERNED?

I don't think so. The tribes should remain the tribes. After a decade of
previously described tolerance workshops, I am sick of this fake
tolerance. Interest, not love, is what can keep the peace - at least,
the interest in living peacefully.
And what about the artists? They will network with other artists who do
the similar things, no matter where are they from. "Globalisation"
should not be understood as a given homework to "protect traditions and
different cultural identities". It's a bullshit NATO phrase.
"Globalisation" should be a spontaneous networking with the similar
individuals. 

DO WE NEED A CLOSER COOPERATION BETWEEN CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL CENTERS
BASED IN THE BALKANS?

That's what we need all the time - but it must be spontaneous, not a
given task.

ARE DIRECT COMMUNICATION AND COOPERATION LINKS BETWEEN BALKAN CULTURAL
AND EDUCATIONAL CENTERS STRONG ENOUGH?

I wouldn't say so - as far as I know.

HOW DOES MULTICULTURALISM AND DIFFERENT RELIGIONS AFFECT COMMUNICATION
AND COOPERATION PROCEDURES BETWEEN ARTISTS AND CULTURAL CENTERS IN THE
BALKAN AREA?

When I communicate with some other Balkan artist, I don't think about
his/her religion. This is the last thing I would think about.
And multiculturalism is one of the most boring phrases the political
correctness has ever invented. I see a person as an individual
primarily, whose cultural background may become the object of my
interest later - first I'm interested in somebody's attitudes,
interests, taste, walk, voice, eyes, hands, legs (if female)...
"Multiculturalism" is a word I can't even spell, and I don't use it.

WHAT ARE THE CULTURAL LINKS WITH OTHER EUROPEAN CENTERS?

I don't know. As far as my job is concerned, I have good links with some
British and American and Australian artists. Some other Serbian artists
I know are good with the people from Middle European countries, etc. I
think it varies from one case to another.

DO BALKAN ARTISTS EXPRESS COMMON NEEDS?

Do they know which are their common needs?

WHICH IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BALKANS AND THE EU?

In one sentence: the Balkans is desperately crying for money, while the
EU doesn't understand (or maybe doesn't really care about) anything
here. A silly situation.

DOES THERE A BALKAN CULTURAL NETWORK ALREADY EXISTS AND, IF IT DOES, CAN
WE NAME IT?

Some forms of Balkan cultural networks exist, but I think they are not
efficacious enough.
And can we name it?
My counter-question is: why should we do that?

WOULD THERE BE AN INTEREST IN EITHER CREATING A NEW ONE OR RE-SHAPING
ALREADY EXISTING BALKAN CULTURAL NETWORKS?

My answer would be YES. But this should not be a network just for the
network's sake. This should not be just another art managers' network
for taking money from the resigned West and for selling crap - this
should be initiated by the artists themselves.
And this should not be only one network.

WHICH, ACCORDING TO YOUR OPINION, SHOULD BE THE STRUCTURE AND THE AIMS
OF THIS NETWORK?

The structure: a productive organisation with its mailing list.
The aims:
- INFO! Art managers tend to manipulate the information, and the
information must reach the artists and belong to them.
- Breeding new initiatives and projects, i.e. the art itself.
The aims should not be:
- Regional conflict resolution (it's a Utopia, and there are other means
for that).
- Anything else outside and beyond the art itself.

WHICH IS THE ROLE OF TERRITORY AS AN ELEMENT OF INSPIRATION?

Territory? I don't see it as an element of inspiration. Bosnia reminds
me on a triangle and Croatia to a horse-shoe, and Italy to a boot, but
it doesn't inspire me at all (unless I smoke some weed). I don't think
in the terms of territory.

CENTER AND PERIPHERY OF CULTURE. HOW COULD WE STATE OUR POINT OF VIEW ON
THE SUBJECT?

Maybe I'm wrong, but let's try in this way: the Center is the place with
the greatest concentration of artists, while the Periphery is the place
with the greatest need for art. These two should meet each other, but it
costs. Who will give the money?

Thanks for your patience,
Aleksandar Gubas

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