Within the project Industrial Heritage of Korčula island there will be a presentation of the VR installation Shipbuilders of the Mistral by Dijana Protić, Marta Stražičić and Manja Ristić. The exhibition premiered in Korčula in August 2021. On the opening day 3.12. VR can be viewed from 18-21h. The exhibition stays open until December 10, 2021.
The project Industrial Heritage of Korčula island was officially launched in 2014 within the Grey Area Association in Korčula. The project is conceived as an inclusive collaborative platform, a multi-year scientific and artistic research that combines an interdisciplinary cultural-anthropological, ethnographic, artistic and curatorial approach, including dialogue and cooperation with the local community, institutions, associations and initiatives. The project is primarily focused on the area of Vela Luka, where we tackled two spots (the Jadranka fish processing and canning factory and the tin packaging factory 8. Mart) through several texts and artistic work by Božena Končić Badurina.
For the past three years, emphasis has been placed on the third important case study – the Greben shipyard. Dijana Protić’s artistic research began in 2017 with a focus on women’s perspectives and work experience in Greben, and the backbone of the research was set by the stories of women former Greben workers. Although the initial idea was to turn the research into a film, the medium of the VR installation soon proved to be an important new element for deepening the theme and possible interpretation of the shipyard’s “silenced” female history.
In collaboration with Marta Stražičić and Manja Ristić, the project gained a new visual and acoustic dimension that reflects new forms of presentation of industrial heritage and specific female memory crucial for (re) writing official and unofficial local history. A female voice guides us through the exploration of the abstracted space of Greben. Her memory intertwines several life and professional stories of narrators / former female workers in Greben, with a special emphasis on work in the so-called plastics, a key area in which women were mostly employed. Project raises awareness of the extremely health-vulnerable and unprotected position that women were in. At the same time, we learn about the micro experiences of emancipation and financial independence that women gained while working in Greben. In addition, it alludes to the relevance of the women’s collective, both in joint women’s work and the interpersonal support that such a community creates. (Lea Vene)
Production: Siva zona – prostor suvremene i medijske umjetnosti, GMK – Galerija Miroslav Kraljević, Sintoment – udruga za multimedijalnu umjetnost i afirmaciju kulture
Author: Dijana Protić
Curator: Lea Vene
Leaders of the project Industrial heritage of Korčula island: Marija Borovičkić and Lea Vene
Art direction, VR modeling and technician: Marta Stražičić
Composer: Manja Ristić
Narration: Marija Borovičkić
Design: Andrija Mudnić
Technical support: Skygorilla
Program supported by: Ministarstvo kulture i medija Republike Hrvatske, Gradski ured za kulturu Grada Zagreba, Dubrovačko-neretvanska županija.
Work of GMK is supported by Kultura nova Foundation and INA d.d.
