Petra Kelemen, Sanja Potkonjak i Nevena Škrbić Alempijević održale su izlaganje „From Factory to Festival: Space, Art, and Community in Sesvete“ na međunarodnoj znanstvenoj konferenciji „Participation in Art/Museums“, organiziranoj na Filozofskom fakultetu Sveučilišta u Zagrebu 4. i 5. rujna 2025.

 

Sažetak izlaganja:

 

This paper discusses how ruinscapes of deindustrialised sites can be reimagined and reactivated as spaces for social cohesion through public events. In such contexts – in which spaces bear the marks of economic decline, social fragmentation, and power struggles – cultural, artistic, and activist interventions are often framed as alternative ways for individuals and communities to engage with their surroundings. This analysis centres on the cultural project “Q’ART u tvom KVARTU”, held in May 2025 at the site of the former Sljeme industrial complex in Sesvete, a neighbourhood in Zagreb. The event is part of the broader platform “Projekt Ilica: Q’ART Community ART&CARE”, which has included festivals on Ilica Street since 2017 and, since 2023, events in various Zagreb neighbourhoods. “Projekt Ilica: Q’ART” defines itself as an initiative that “integrates contemporary art, community, and radical inclusivity with the aim of social regeneration”. The paper explores how this integration is realised in the specific context of Sesvete. As part of ongoing ethnographic research, the authors have followed a three-day festival, including its planning process and the responses that followed. This case study, focused on the former Sljeme factory and the various visions for its future, is situated within a broader research project that traces Zagreb’s postindustrial transformations (HRZZIP-2022-10-2473). It analyses the roles attributed to the festival by its organisers, its physical transformation of the site, and its potential to signal or challenge future uses of the space. It is grounded in anthropological approaches to postindustrial transformations and draws on theoretical frameworks from the anthropology of public events and the anthropology of space and place. Special attention is paid to community engagement by addressing how local cultural institutions, artists, schools, NGOs, grassroots initiatives, entrepreneurs, and local inhabitants participate in the festival, how they build connections and interpret the space and its significance for Sesvete.

 

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