Memory-sharing events at the Erjavčeva border crossing

Author and Project Leader: ANJA MEDVED

SHORT DESCRIPTION

The first cross-border memory-giving event, titled The Smugglers’ Confessional, took place at the Erjavčeva border crossing on December 21, 2007, when Slovenia entered the Schengen Area. On the evening the border barriers were removed, the customs house was transformed into a recording studio. Residents from both Gorizias were invited to share their memories of life along the border in front of the camera. To commemorate this historic evening, three more memory-sharing events were held at the same location in the following years: Memory Clinic (2009), Album of a City (2011), Found Portraits (2013), and Building Portraits, which took place in December 2015.

The outcomes of these public recording events include four short documentary videos and a memory archive (see below).

AUTHOR'S STATEMENT

The area we inhabit has always been a crossroads of diverse cultures, states, and social systems due to its location. Over the centuries, it has developed a unique character and identity. In the last century, this region has often been at the heart of Europe's fate. Now that the border no longer exists, the area's stories cannot solely be found in national histories but primarily in the personal memories of its people. The aim of these memory-sharing events is to preserve these memories and create an open archive that, like a family album, evolves over time. It serves as a gift from the residents of both cities to future generations, with the hope that the bloody history of this region will not repeat itself.

Anja Medved

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2015- Our Land / Alien Territoriy, Department of Research Art, Triumph Galery, Moscow, Russia;
2015- The Last Act; Project 35, Garage, Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia;
2015- Sights and Sounds: Global Film and Video; Jewish Museum New York, USA;
2015- Off-Biennale Budapest, curated by: Tijana Stepanović, Budapest, Hungary;
2014- Mednarodni festival Photonicmoments; Video in Progress; Artist in focus, Ljubljana;
2014- 2014- City Perspectives; Photon Gallery Dunaj, curated by: Kolektiv and Dejan Sluga;
2013- De_fragmentacija; Pixxelpoint 2013, International Festival of New Media Art; curated by: artist group Brida, Nova Gorica City Gallery;
2013- Smuggling Antholigies, MMSU Reka, Hrvaška, Idrija City Museum, Galeria Contemporanea Trst, Italy;
2012- Moje ulice, Vžigalica Gallery MGML, Ljubljana;
2013- Zadnja petlekta, curated by: Petja Grafenauer, KC Tobačna 001, MGML, Ljubljana;
2011- Video večer 07, Zavod Kolektiva, Photon Gallery, Ljubljana;
2011- Collector’s Item, curated by: Božidar Zrinski and Polona Lovšin, Nova Gorica City Gallery;
2010- Pixxelpoint 2010, International Festival of New Media Art, Nova Gorica City Gallery;
2010 – Paris Photo 2010, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris;
2010 – Projekt 35, selected by: Charles Esche, Indipendent Curators International, New York;
2010- Grenzung/Limite/Omejitev, curated by: Werner Koroschitz in Uli Vonbank Schedler, projekt UNIKUM iz Celovca, Gradnikova domačija, Medana;
2010 –Transitland: Video Art from Central and Eastern Europe, 1989-2009, Ludwig Museum Budapest, Hungary, curated by: Tijana Stepanović;
2010 – U3, Ideja za življenje – realno in realizem v sodobni slovenski umetnosti, curated by: Charles Esche, Moderna Gallery Ljubljana;
2009 – Bilo je nekoč na zahodu - International Festival of New Media Art Pixxelpoint, curated by: Domenico Quaranta, Mestna galerija Nova Gorica;
2009 - Photonic Luminatic – Slovenska sodobna fotografija in video, curated by: Vesna Bukovec in Metka Zupanič, Viennafair, Wien, Austria, 2008; Photoportgallery, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2008; Cankarjev Dom's Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2009

FESTIVALS

Trieste Film Festival, January 2011; Kino Otok, Izola, June 2011; SouEuF-Southeast European FilmFestival, Jena, Germany, November 2011; Skopsko leto, Macedonia 2010; Pravo Ljudski - Human Rights Film Festival, Sarajevo, BIH 2010; It’s my film - European Home Movies Network, Vicenza, Italy 2010; XXIX Premio Sergio Amidei, Gorica, Italy 2010; 13. Festival Slovenskega Filma, Portorož, Slovenia, 2010; Dnevi vina in poezije, Slovenia, 2010; Postaja Topolove 2010, Italy; Festival Fisch, Tolmin, Slovenia, 2010; Festival Premio internazionale della fotografia cinematografica "Gianni di Venanzo", Teramo, Italy, 2010; Videgrafija regiona, Akademski filmski center, Beograd, Serbia, 2009

AWARDS

• European Home Movies Network Award, Vicenza, 2010
• Big Fish Award, Festival of Independent Film, Tolmin, 2010