Memorial Centre Lipa Remembers was opened in 2015 as a branch of the Maritime and Historical Museum of the Croatian Littoral Rijeka. The Centre is dedicated to the commemoration of the atrocities that occurred in Lipa on 30 April 1944, when the Nazis and Fascists killed 269 residents, mainly women, children and the elderly, and set the entire settlement ablaze.
Besides fostering a culture of remembrance at the national and international level, the Centre is dedicated to the articulation of anti-war messages and the conveyance of universal appeals to conscience. A necessary prerequisite for all of the above is an awareness of the extent of the loss and contemplation of the following questions: How can the emptiness created by the atrocities be depicted? How can the absence of the slain residents of Lipa be made a component of our existence today? How can the inconceivable be conceived, and how can the unportrayable be portrayed?
Given subjects will be addressed within artistic programme “Recognizing the absence” as part of the Seasons of Power flagship of the Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture.
We shall endeavour to find the answers within the framework of the second series of artistic interventions in the public spaces of Lipa – within the very topography of the war. This is a call for proposals that, while reflecting on violence and suffering, will avoid literal depictions thereof. Setting forth from the supposition that extending the boundaries of art simultaneously extends the boundaries of knowledge, preference shall be accorded to proposals that affirm experimental and intermediary artistic practices.
This is additionally a call for proposals that will examine the scope of social influence that contemporary artistic practice has at its disposal – particularly with regard to an understanding of categories that are otherwise difficult to comprehend (trauma, atrocities, genocide) and to awareness-raising and advocacy for desirable forms of behaviour. Social impact may also be achieved by a direct approach, through art projects based on social inclusion (community art) and cooperation with the local community.
Finally, this is a call for proposals that contribute to appreciation of the symbolic potential of Lipa in contemporary peace-building processes.
Submission deadline: 25 August, 2019
Complete Public call text
