performance / Tajči Čekada & Ivana Kalc
About the Performance
The artistic series of performances called “Worksites” always focuses on the critique of the economy of labor or questions the meaning of work within a particular context that proves to be relevant in a given space or time. The specificity of each performance is the demonstration of an action that contradicts itself and can last forever, remaining trapped in some kind of status quo, thus emphasizing the absurdity of certain aspects of human
behavior. Each “Worksite” is symbolically numbered, derived from the context of the theme being addressed. In the context of choreography and performance style, each “Worksite” is based on a precisely established protocol of movement of certain work sequences that are put into a repetitive mode of movement and repeated.
In 2019, the artists performed Worksite 101 on Goli otok (Bare island), which bears the name of the most infamous part of the political prison on an island Goli otok, also known as Petrova rupa(Peter`s hole). The artists transformed the sequence into the work of prisoners by carrying heavy stones from one pile to another and then back again to the same pile. The one-hour performance refers to the senselessness of repetitive actions that were used as a means of psychological torture, destabilization, and maximum exhaustion of prisoners. In addition to the slow pace of work, the artists covered themselves in clay from the location, further blending into the landscape of Goli otok and becoming invisible.
About the Artists
Ivana Kalc, born in Rijeka, Croatia, is a freelance dance artist. After her formal education in Rijeka (studies: German language and literature; History), she continues with contemporary dance studies in Austria (SEAD - Salzburg, Anton Bruckner Private University - Linz). After her Bachelor of Arts degree, she received the DanceWEB scholarship in Vienna (ImpulsTanz Festival 2008) and lived and worked in Germany and Austria as a dancer and dance teacher. In 2009 she founded the artistic organisation Kabinet, through which she produced her own work ("Markacije," "Siblings Kalc/Where does it all lead?," "We're in this together," “Naša stvar,” “Dancing moms”). After 2010, she returned to Rijeka, Croatia and worked with many Croatian and international artists in the field of contemporary dance theatre and performed at many festivals at home and abroad.
Born in Rijeka, Tajči Čekada distinguishes herself as an interdisciplinary artist operating within interventions in the social and media environment, performance, video, photography, and costume design. Over the course of twenty years in her artistic career, she has accomplished 37 solo and 70 group exhibitions. Through continuous experimentation with various media, she has crafted a distinctive expression imbued with a specific kind of humor. Her performances and actions are often realized outside gallery spaces, predominantly aiming to provoke social norms, religious conventions, and ethical standards. The primary focus of her research encompasses ecology, feminism, xenophobia, nationalism, religious ideologies, and sustainable economics. Her work seldom exhibits a repetitive character, and in recent years, she increasingly dedicates herself to interventions in public spaces, particularly through the manipulation of the media environment.