School Activities

Most of the activities will take place on the island of Vis, located at about 350m above sea level, on the opposite side of the same hill where legendary Tito’s Cave is located in the middle of the island overgrown in dense forest of Allepo Pine. It is around 15min walking from Tito’s Cave so it is quite isolated compared to other places on the island, but yet at the very centre of the island and easily reached if you know the path.

Short-term phase (2021-2025)

The very beginning is hard physical work of cleaning and cultivating the vast agricultural land without any big machinery. In fact, the original environment would be carefully recovered, including the natural terraces that once served for fruitful wineyards and the stone walls (suhozid) whose traditional building goes back several millennia. While now the land is mainly covered by a forest in the midst of the hills, with one year of continous labour (from 2021 until 2022) it would be turned into a real existing oasis for The School – with an agricultural garden, solar power and water supply; private accomodation places (old renovated stone houses, Mongolian tents, tree houses) to accommodate up to 20 people at the same time, a communal space, library and outdoor public space to accommodate up to 50 people. Ideally, in summer 2022 we are launching the first annual ISSA Symposium.

Here is a list of activities during the short-term phase (most of the activities are outdoors and “pandemic-friendly”):  

  • renewing the 3 hectares of land and generally this part of the island that is rarely visited neither used for agriculture or anything else (besides rare visits to Tito’s cave by enthusiast hikers)
  • reconstruction of old stone houses and traditional stone walls
  • cultivation of land (planting olive trees, lemon and orange trees)
  • sustainable agriculture – permaculture garden with vegetables
  • the creation – and managing – of a “communal space” as the central hub and headquarters of The School that would at the same place be a the central place for getting together
  • creation of webpage and online platform for exchanging skills
  • political experimentation – building a sustainable heterotopia
  • communal evenings – both for the students/teachers and the local population (readings, concerts, cinema under the skies, looking at the stars and planets)
  • island actions/artistic performances (throughout whole year )
  • Annual ISSA Symposium (launch of School in Autumn 2022)
  • a 1 to 3 months residences for artists, philosophers, architects, musicians, agriculturists, astronomers, activists
  • creation and transmission of knowledge and ideas through the very process of recovering the land and building The School, then through the Annual Symposium and monthly residencies
  • creation and dissemination of knowledge through website, podcasts, movies, publications

Long-term phase (2025-….)

  • ISSA Library and Documentation Center – a permanent free library placed in the reconstructed old stone house that will collect relevant literature (anarchism, eco-crticism, do-it-your-self, philosophy, critical theory) and archive of literature about autonomy, the place will be turned into a reading place, where those hiking towards Tito’s cave can stop and read a few pages or look at images (archival material, old postcards, books)
  • establishing permanent exchange of knowledge with other critical pedagogy project, educators, practicioners, philosophers, artists, architects and social movements from all over the world
  • preserving Tito’s cave, the historic place were the foundations for socialist Yugoslavia were laid in 1944, turning it into a permanent exhibition and experimentation space of the Partisan period on island Vis
  • annual ISSA Symposium + annual Summer School for children
  • creation of (printed/audio) books & boardgames for children/adults
  • “communal services” for education – for instance, The School would be turned into a permanent Information Center that would at the same time serve as the center for evidenting skills and making the best use of these skills
  • workshop with products from the garden; publications; manuals