Friday 04 Oct
working action
We are building the school, the school is building us
All together
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There is no ISSA without working actions, and there are no working actions without fun. This October we’re preparing very special working actions that will include dry stone walling, planting, constructing of all sorts. Besides physical work, there will be cooking and various other sorts of activities. The first working action will at the same time be an introduction to ISSA at the spot where it all started.
Transport from Komiža to ISSA will be arranged for all registered participants. If you didn’t register on time (20th August), don’t worry, you can still take part in all programs and working actions uphill at ISSA, you will just need to organize your own transportation.
workshop
Dry Stone Walling
Igor Mataić, udruga Pomalo
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The art of building dry stone walls has been an integral part of the Mediterranean for centuries, even millenia. “Pomalo” is an association composed of islanders, longtime visitors and friends of the island of Vis united in protecting the cultural heritage, natural environment and sustainable life on the island. Through various workshops, “Pomalo” trains participants in concrete techniques and tools like dry stone walling.
talk
Mirroring Each Other in Solidarity
Memory of the World
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During our Komiža sojourn we will introduce participants to the Memory of the World, discuss the collective effort to secure the resilience of shadow libraries such as Ubu by means of proliferating mirrors, and digitize a box of ephemera from Gajo Petrović’s personal library. With us up the hill is Marcell Mars
exhibition
Making Friends with Chaos
Franco Bifo Berardi
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Join us for a special world premiere of paintings by philosopher Franco “Bifo” Berardi and get ready for neuro-semiotic stimulation in the midst of the Adriatic. “When it’s too late, I get nervous”, says Bifo, “I need painting, I need to take part in the proliferation of chaos.” For the first time, you will have the opportunity to meet Bifo the painter. Who says he is not a painter, just making friends with chaos.
About Franco “Bifo” Berardi
talk
Thinking after Gaza: Civilization, history and evolution in the wake of the Zionist genocide
Franco “Bifo” Berardi
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In the wake of the Zionist genocide we must rethink the basic notions we learned after 1945.
Read more about Franco “Bifo” Berardi
screening
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent
Film by Nebojša Slijepčević, followed by Q&A with Goran Bogdan
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The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent (Čovjek koji nije mogao šutjeti) is a Croatian short drama film, directed by Nebojša Slijepčević and released in 2024. The film dramatizes the Štrpci massacre of 1993, when 24 Bosniak Muslims were pulled off a train by the Serbian White Eagles paramilitary group and massacred; it centres on Tomo Buzov, the sole non-Bosniak passenger on the train who tried to stand up against the attackers The film premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Short Film Palme d’Or.
Read more about Goran Bogdan
Saturday 05 Oct
workshop
IssaFix – Print, Repair, Reuse
Luka Vlahović & Marina Andrijašević
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Island life implies unique challenges, especially in the contemporary era of climate crisis and capitalist hyper-production. 3D printing offers open source, cheap and innovative solutions that can be used for knowledge sharing and learning together, while solving very practical issues. IssaFix introduces the world of creating custom objects, from repairing broken household items to designing practical tools for very specific needs. Whether you’re a DIY enthusiast, avid recycler or small entrepreneurs or craftsmen, this workshop empowers you to become more self-sufficient and to reduce waste. Discover how 3D printing can transform your old household items and unlock your creative potential. No prior experience is necessary, just a curious mind, desire to learn and an item you’d like to repair.
Workshop with creative duo of Luka Vlahović and Marina Andrijašević
workshop
Your Own Private Pirate Radio Station
!Mediengruppe Bitnik
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Radio is a surprisingly straightforward media – you only need to assemble a few electronic components for a low-range broadcast with your own micro FM transmitter.
In this workshop participants will solder their own low-range FM transmitter using a predesigned printed circuit board by piradio.de (a Berlin based free radio initiative). Once assembled, this board will give every participant a 0,15 Watt transmitter with mini-jack input and a battery as power source. We will experiment with different ways to use our FM transmitters: As a tactical tool, an artistic device, a communications media.
No soldering experience required! Bring along a laptop, cell phone or similar device to input sounds into the FM transmitter (mini-jack plug on device).
Workshop is for kids and adults. Number of participants is limited, please register at radio@bitnik.org“. We cannot handle more than 20 participants 🙁
talk
Re-existing together? Towards relational, experiential onto-epistemic mutuality
Madina Tlostanova
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The current complex crisis, incorporating enviro-climatic, geopolitical, onto-epistemic, quasi-imperial-colonial and many other aspects, calls for the concerted and deliberate human actions for its at least relative alleviation and for the future dimension to return. However, political reality is fragmented, instrumentalized, conceptualized exclusively in short terms, marked by the endless rivalry of hostile identities, the loss of any unifying ”terrestrial” vision, and inability to act prefiguratively. This makes it almost impossible to shift from resistance “re-existence” — existing again and otherwise. The exhausted ability for collective political imagination is unable to break away from the long-outdated normative concepts and assumptions increasingly divorced from reality, and come into dialogue with previously marginalized contesting positions, texts and experiences, in order to imagine the world otherwise. The talk will reflect on possible grounds, intersections and entanglements which can help in shaping an open and fluid mutuality and tentatively, solidarity-in-difference in the process of worlding otherwise. This emerging relational experiential onto-epistemic togetherness indicates a shift towards imagining a redirected future that would come to life through the agency of changing communities and coalitions striving for re-existence.
Read more about Madina Tlostanova
conversation
School on the beach
Memory of the World, Chto Delat, Forest University, Aventura & others
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When revolutionary students during the spring of 1968 raised barricades by tearing up pavement stones, they recognized that the stone sets were placed atop sand. “Beneath the pavement, the beach!” soon became the slogan that embodied the deconstruction of urbanization and modern society both literally and metaphorically. In the same way the School on the Beach is both literally taking place on a beach in Komiža and at the same time points towards the necessity to rethink both the form and content of contemporary education. We will gather on the beach for a conversation with various collectives who have been constructing different ways of being together, convivial tools and strategies to create better futures in the present ruins of capitalism.
Read more about collectives: Memory of the World, Chto Delat?, Forest University, Aventura
guided tour
A tour through revolutionary island
Srećko Horvat
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The island of Vis is, like every other island, not simply a tourist haven with romantic scenery, sounds and smells. Every island tells a story of thousands of years of living together and transmitting local knowledge, interaction with other cultures and geographies. It is at times a story about imperialism, colonialism, fascism, global tourism, but also a witness to resistance and inventive forms of preserving island culture. This is an atypical island tour that will, through walking through Komiža, shed light on its revolutionary history.
Read more about Srećko Horvat
performance
Priredba
Literary guests and performers
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Our special event (“Priredba”) will take place in Komiža and includes most of our guests together with local poets, writers and musicians. It is at the same time a communal celebration of living together and by now a traditional evening of unique performances and artistic exploration bringing together the richness of the island’s expression and many voices from all over the world. A feeling of togetherness and fun is guaranteed.
Sunday 06 Oct
working action
We are building the school, the school is building us
All together
Read more
We’re continuing where we stopped, working and constructing around the School, this time with special activities and workshops (Dry Stone Walling, Naan-Aligned Cooking and others)
workshop
Dry Stone Walling
Igor Mataić, udruga Pomalo
Read more
The art of building dry stone walls has been an integral part of the Mediterranean for centuries, even millenia. “Pomalo” is an association composed of islanders, longtime visitors and friends of the island of Vis united in protecting the cultural heritage, natural environment and sustainable life on the island. Through various workshops, “Pomalo” trains participants in concrete techniques and tools like dry stone walling.
workshop
Circular Water System as Convivial Tool
Drugo More, ZMAG, !Mediengruppe Bitnik, Daphne Dragona, Jamie Allen, Srećko Horvat
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TBA
workshop
Naan-Aligned Cooking
Kevin Kenjar
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This extravagant cooking session up the hill at ISSA is at the same time an homage to the Non-Aligned Movement and contemporary exploration of various culinary combinations coming from its numerous member states. Naan-Aligned Cooking started as informal cooking sessions with Kevin Kenjar in Rijeka, an Austrian-American anthropologist who has been exploring the tradition of Non-Alignment through cooking. This is the first time Naan-Aligned happening on island of Vis.
Read more about Kevin Kenjar
Monday 07 Oct
workshop
IssaFix – Print, Repair, Reuse
Luka Vlahović & Marina Andrijašević
Read more
Island life implies unique challenges, especially in the contemporary era of climate crisis and capitalist hyper-production. 3D printing offers open source, cheap and innovative solutions that can be used for knowledge sharing and learning together, while solving very practical issues. IssaFix introduces the world of creating custom objects, from repairing broken household items to designing practical tools for very specific needs. Whether you’re a DIY enthusiast, avid recycler or small entrepreneurs or craftsmen, this workshop empowers you to become more self-sufficient and to reduce waste. Discover how 3D printing can transform your old household items and unlock your creative potential. No prior experience is necessary, just a curious mind, desire to learn and an item you’d like to repair.
Workshop with creative duo of Luka Vlahović and Marina Andrijašević
workshop
For a Global Mutiny Against an Empire of Negligence
Pirate Care
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The Pirate Care workshop invites both adults and children to join us in an exploration of radical imagination and playful collective action. Together, we will transform ourselves into pirate carers, crafting adventurous strategies that foster solidarity and mutual aid in our contexts. Embracing a playful and reflective approach, we will also challenge and rethink certain social norms. The workshop will include storytelling about legendary pirates and epic carers from the past (and present) to inspire and guide us.
Read more about Pirate Care
conversation
60th anniversary of Praxis
Nadežda Čačinovič, Boris Buden, Ankica Čakardić, Mira Oklobdžija
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On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of founding Praxis, a Marxist-humanist journal that stressed the significance of the early humanist writings of Marx and pleaded for a creative adaptation of Marxism in the context of Yugoslav self-management, this conversation will delve in the origins and history of Praxis and Korčula Summer School, with a look towards the future and its relevance for us today. As part of the anniversary, Memory of the World will digitise a box of ephemera from Gajo Petrović’s (one of the founders of Praxis) personal library that was donated to ISSA by his granddaughter.
Read more about Nadežda Čačinovič, Boris Buden, Ankica Čakardić & Mira Oklobdžija
performance
Speedrun to Nowhere Land
Total Refusal & guests
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Live-in-game performance
Far beyond the walkable map in the game “Red Dead Redemption 2”, in an area where the polygons are chunky, the textures flat and the landscape abstract, lies a tropical island: an almost magical world with white beaches, thick jungle and colourful parrots, all arranged around a colonial fortress town. This poetic landmark, almost an exaggerated visualization of an insular utopian fantasy in the tradition of Western intellectual history, can be found on the fringes of the digital landscape.
Together with guests, media guerrilla Total Refusal, dresses up as bird avatars and make their way to the island. On the fly, they chat about topics such as the lack of utopian visions in games, the abundance of dystopian genres in popular media as well as the question of how to noclip out of the toxic pragmatism of capitalist realism. A collaborative attempt to reflect on possible futures in the form of an open-ended, avian lets-play.
Read more about Total Refusal
conversation
To Read Together
Želimir Periš, Anja Zag Golob, Saša Savanović, Marko Pogačar
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Reading is certainly playing an integral, still most often key role in any educational process. Literature joins the aesthetic level to the cognitive one and – without disregarding its own ethical and political dimension – gives priority to the pleasure of the text. The “To Read Together” program brings local and regional writers, who will read from their prose and poetry books. In the Q&A part, we will hear more about their artistic work, but also about their involvement in the community, different ways of activist and political engagement, and the ever-present relationship between the artistic and the political. The first session brings together novelist, short story writer and poet Želimir Periš, prose writer Saša Savanović and poet Anja Zag Golob. Marko Pogačar will be talking to the authors.
screening
Neptun’s Tempest
Film by Katarina Stankovic
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On the island of Vis, a diverse group – including ISSA – discusses their future, reflecting on the decline of storytelling and listening cultures. Fishermen, youth, intellectuals, and others, gather in cinematic dialogue, shaping the collective protagonist. Their debates on growth versus environmental protection connect past, present, and future, bridging local and global perspectives.
More about Katarina Stankovic
Tuesday 08 Oct
workshop
IssaFix – Print, Repair, Reuse
Luka Vlahović & Marina Andrijašević
Read more
Island life implies unique challenges, especially in the contemporary era of climate crisis and capitalist hyper-production. 3D printing offers open source, cheap and innovative solutions that can be used for knowledge sharing and learning together, while solving very practical issues. IssaFix introduces the world of creating custom objects, from repairing broken household items to designing practical tools for very specific needs. Whether you’re a DIY enthusiast, avid recycler or small entrepreneurs or craftsmen, this workshop empowers you to become more self-sufficient and to reduce waste. Discover how 3D printing can transform your old household items and unlock your creative potential. No prior experience is necessary, just a curious mind, desire to learn and an item you’d like to repair.
Workshop with creative duo of Luka Vlahović and Marina Andrijašević
workshop
Esperanto – the subversive utopia of talking together
Judith Meyer
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Wars can only be sustained through propaganda and, importantly, by ensuring that the common people on opposite sides don’t talk to each other, because they might find out that the warmongers are their common enemy. This is where the language Esperanto offers a solution, which has been adopted by idealists, intellectuals and activists as well as some socialist governments, including Tito’s Yugoslavia. Even today there are millions who speak it and who form a close-knit tribe spanning the entire globe. Naturally you’ll never hear about it in the English-dominated media, so come to this workshop to learn about Esperanto and to start speaking a little yourself!
Read more about Judith Meyer
conversation
To Read Together
Rumena Bužarovska, Marija Andrijašević, Marko Pogačar, Saša Savanović
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Reading is certainly playing an integral, still most often key role of any educational process. Literature joins the aesthetic level to the cognitive one and – without disregarding its own ethical and political dimension – gives priority to the pleasure of the text. The “To Read Together” program brings local and regional writers, who will read from their prose and poetry books. In the Q&A part, we will hear more about their artistic work, but also about their involvement in the community, different ways of activist and political engagement, and the ever-present relationship between the artistic and the political. The second session brings together prose writer and poet Marija Andrijašević, short story writer Rumena Bužarovska and poet and prose writer Marko Pogačar. Saša Savanović will be talking to the authors.
Read more about Rumena Bužarovska, Marija Andrijašević, Marko Pogačar and Saša Savanović
conversation
School on the Beach
ISSA, Memory of the World, Chto Delat, Forest University, Aventura & others
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We are back to the beach, with all participants, for an informal gathering that will this time centre on self-reflection (what have learned about the school, about the island, about ourselves), what can be improved and how, what are our next collective steps in creating a network of similar autonomous projects from different disciplines, taking various forms and coming from all corners of the world.
talk
Computer Says No! Practices of Tracking, Control, and Resistance
!Mediengruppe Bitnik
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With the advent of social media and algorithmic governance in the mid 2000s, surveillance through technology has become ubiquitous and multilayered: Many aspects of our lives are now shaped by data-driven analysis and decision-making. Data on all aspects of our lives is collected through apps, sensors and cameras capturing data from our bodies, our movements, our media usage and social media habits.
Drawing from their research into how data affect our realities, !Mediengruppe Bitnik looks at what the shift to data-driven forms of organisation mean and how surveillance and data-gathering have become a central part of the technologies we use. What does it mean to surrender vast amounts of personal data to unidentified, potentially unregulated sources? Who – besides our friends – is viewing our posts on social media and to what end? What does it mean when our data is used to asses us for a new employer? Or to deny or grant permission to cross a border? To evaluate our eligibility for health insurance? To what extent is mass observation and data access acceptable? Where is the fine line between new technological advances making our life easier—whether it is physical or virtual—and becoming manipulative?
We look at the power imbalances involved in data collection by corporations, social media, and the state. We look at the mechanisms interplaying between controllers and data subjects and explore whether we can counter abstract systems of control. How can we use practices of deconstrution, intervention and art to empower ourselves to “see” the surveillance and avoid abusive technologies.
talk
Islands of the Future
James Bridle
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James Bridle lives on the island of Aegina, Greece, and writes about relationships: with non-human people, technological systems, materials, myths, and mountains. ‘Islands of the Future’ is a call to understand ourselves as already living in in the conditions that are coming for everyone, everywhere, and to learn, teach, and build shared ways of being in the world.
Read more about James Bridle
party
Dancing together
Kӣr, Tadi, Feta
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In cooperation with Festival Polja and Dog Beach.
“If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your school”, this could have been something Emma Goldman said. Don’t worry, there is lots of dancing on the island of Vis and this evening is reserved for deep house, power electronics and a combination of sounds from the Balkans and all over the world.
Wednesday 09 Oct
“Pomalo” Day
All together
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The philosophy of “pomalo” is clearly connected to the original Greek meaning of the word “school”, namely σχολή (scholē), meaning “leisure”. There is no serious education without serious vacation. Today is the day when hopefully nothing happens and we will work hard on nothing to happen. It’s a day reserved for “pomalo”, just hanging on the beach, reading a book, walking or swimming, whatever you prefer.
A few useful tips:
Accommodation: There is plenty of private accommodation available in October and you can find it through the usual websites we don’t want to promote. There are two remaining hotels from the socialist era: Hotel Biševo in Komiža (https://modra-spilja.hr/en/hotel-bisevo/) and Hotel Issa in Vis (https://vis-hoteli.hr/en/hotel-issa/).
Please note that camping is prohibited on the island (although you might not face significant trouble if you camp for a few days, however we are not equipped to accommodate people uphill at ISSA).
Transportation to the island of Vis: There are a few ferries (2,5h) and catamarans (1,5h) running daily from Split to the island of Vis. You can find their schedule here
Program: Most of the programs are taking place in Komiža (island of Vis) with two working actions – with cooking, workshops and special activities – uphill at ISSA HQ. We will organise transport from Komiža to ISSA, but only for registered participants.
If you didn’t register, you are still very welcome to join us at ISSA, but you will have to organise your own transportation (there are plenty of rent-a-bike or rent-a-car options, as well as hiking – it takes around 2h to walk from Komiža to ISSA)
Working actions at ISSA: please make sure to bring proper shoes, enough water (at least 2L per person) and working gloves. All registered participants will receive additional details in September.
See the participants of the event
We will be joined by Franco “Bifo” Berardi, Total Refusal, Madina Tlostanova, James Bridle, Rumena Bužarovska, Silvia Federici (per live-stream), !Mediengruppe Bitnik, Srećko Horvat, Chto Delat?, Judith Meyer, Marko Pogačar, Želimir Periš, Marija Andrijašević, Anja Zag Golob, Saša Savanović, Pirate Care, Forest University, Memory of The World, Nadežda Čačinovič, Kӣr & Tadi, IssaFix, Drugo More, Jamie Allen, Daphne Dragona, Ankica Čakardić, Boris Buden, Goran Bogdan, Jovana Stojiljković, and many others.