ultra-red

ultra-red
WHAT IS THE SOUND OF ABSENCE?
workshop
September 25-28, 2014
Activist art implies a special accent on appropriated aesthetic forms whose political content functions as cultural analysis and cultural action at the same time. The artistic collective Ultra-red proposes a political-aesthetical project that will subvert this model. If organization is understood as a cluster of formal practices that build up relationships in order to draw analyses and strategic actions, how can art contribute to these processes? How do these processes constitute aesthetic forms already?
Ultra-red uses sound and listening as a space for political encounter in order to develop a collective mode of action and thus explore some specific issues and subjects. The workshop will focus on the district of Trešnjevka, taking as a starting point for its shared work the following questions: In what way have the transformations of Trešnjevka influenced the historical legacy of the revolution? What does it mean to be an antifascist in a city where the history of antifascism is not only attacked by revisionism, but also subject to physical and symbolic annihilation in the context of neoliberal processes and identities? What does the culture of antifascism mean today, and to whom?
Our aim is to use collective action in order to elaborate on these issues and the contradictions we are bound to encounter. Starting from these premises, we ask (ourselves): WHAT IS THE SOUND OF ABSENCE IN ZAGREB? IS ABSENCE EMPTY?

Ultra-red develops a fragile, yet dynamic exchange between art and political organization. The group was founded in 1994 by two AIDS activists, and with time Ultra-red was joined by various artists, researchers, and organizers from different social movements, such as migrant struggle, antiracism, participatory development of communities, and HIV/AIDS political action. The group has collectively produced several radio programmes, performances, recordings, installations, texts, and actions in public space. By exploring acoustic space as a place to disclose social relations, Ultra-red undertakes an acoustic mapping of controversial spaces and histories. By using sound-based research (which they call “militant sound research”), they have been directly involved in organizing and analyzing political struggle.
For additional information, please visit: http://www.ultrared.org/directory.html