On June 21st, the Slovene Ethnographic Museum in Ljubljana, Slovenia, hosted an NSK State event on the year's longest day. The event, titled “Art Is Not A Luxury, But A Necessity”, featured a book presentation by Alexander Nym, who edited the recently published "Reden an die Europäische Nation: Weapons of Mass Instruction".
The selection of the event venue was made thoughtfully. The Slovene Ethnographic Museum (SEM) was chosen, as it is currently exhibiting "Folk Art between Home and the World," curated by Dr Bojana Rogelj Škafar, which showcases SEM and IRWIN's NSK Folk Art collections. The exhibition is extended until the end of 2023, making it an extraordinary two-year and three-month-long event. The decision to select SEM as the venue for our event also coincided with its 100th-anniversary celebrations, which added to its importance.
Lili Anamarija No, Charles Lewis, Alexander Nym and Miran Mohar of IRWIN
In the lecture, Alexander looked into the techniques and theoretical approaches applied by NSK and the NSK State in Time, exploring how the latter can be used as a matrix for gauging actual states' policies. The tools provided by NSK State enable a closer look at whether supposed democratic policies further democracy, or rather pave the way to subvert it.
Upcoming NSK State Reserve Book "All Money is Ours"
We also got a sneak peek of the upcoming book FIAT, a lush volume documenting the NSK State Reserve project, edited by Charles Lewis of NSKNY, which is set to be released in September. Even though it's not out yet, we were able to catch a glimpse of the cover and preview a few pages. It was exciting to read the motto on the spine, "All Money is Ours."
There is no NSK or NSK State related event without Peter Mlakar and his speech
At the panel, Miran Mohar of IRWIN, Alexander Nym, Charles Lewis and Lili Anamarija No were answering questions from the audience; among others, we heard some intriguing anecdotes of how the books came about.
“It is common for communities to create artworks, but in our case, the artwork known as NSK State has created a community.”
Dr Bojana Rogelj Škafar and Valnoir
The presentations and panel were followed by a walk through the exhibition with Dr Bojana Rogelj Škafar, the author and curator of the show, giving us a tour of the Slovenian folk art part of the exhibition, and some of the present NSK State folk artists and IRWIN spoke about the NSK State part, among them Valnoir, giving insights into the chronology and occasions of his artworks.
David K
David K, who had not been at the exhibition opening in 2021, saw his works displayed for the first time and gave us a detailed insight into his works.
The tour was marked by IRWIN’s expressed thrill about NSK State, an artwork living its own independent life already for over 30 years, and concluded with Alexander Nym’s realisation that “It is common for communities to create artworks, but in our case, the artwork known as NSK State has created a community.” A community of true comrades.
In the words of some NSK State folk artists and citizens, the event turned out to be almost like a small NSK State congress, as the share of those who had been delegates/present at the First NSK Citizens’ Congress in Berlin in 2010, was firm: Alexander Nym, Charles Lewis, David K, Jean Valnoir, Lili Anamarija No, Peter Mlakar, Igor Vidmar, and IRWIN.
