In a series of lectures, Saša Nabergoj, head of the World of Art programme in the frame of SCCA – Ljubljana, is trying to defend the right to leisure in contemporary hyper-productive society. She examines the 18th century, when our obsession with work and productivity began. The capitalist economic system was formed in the Enlightenment, and within this system rational discourse on work and economy emerged. At the same time, however, an alternative discourse celebrating laziness was established. In this discourse lie the roots of resistance to participation in a social project based on the work ethic, and the beginning of scepticism about the belief that productivity and the production of goods are the ultimate goals in life. The generally accepted circle of supply and demand fuelling the consumer society of the 21st century is questioned with reference to artists such as Kazimir Malevich, Marcel Duchamp and Mladen Stilinović. Laziness is presented as an alternative which can turn the need for (multi)production into freedom for production.

Saša Nabergoj works as a curator, writer, editor and lecturer in the field of contemporary art. She studied art history at the University of Ljubljana. She is an assistant director at the SCCA, the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Ljubljana, which is a non-profit production, research and educational organisation. Its main objective is to produce, encourage and communicate innovative artistic and interpretative practices and to link them internationally.

Luisa Ziaja and Nora Sternfeld, theorists and curators from Schinittpunkt, a partner organisation based in Vienna, gave a lecture to the students of Kulturpunkt’s Journalistic School. The Lecture and reading sessions were given on January 22nd and 23rd.

As students were also attending Open Institutions, a conference dealing with contemporary models of open institutions held at the same time, lectures given by Ziaja and Sternfeld fit perfectlly in the weekend’s topics. Their lectures were focused on the theme of contemporary exhibiting practices and current discussions on post-representational exhibiting which was followed by the theme of educational turn.