Performance »Soft Power« by Neda Kovinic at Kunstraum 34

Soft power is a performance resulting from current Solitude fellow Neda Kovinic’s research into the legacy of FKK culture (Freikörperkultur) in the former Yugoslavia, as well from the notions of »naturist paradise« and »social nudity« and their entanglements with contemporaneous political, economic and ecological thinking.

The origins of Yugoslav naturism stretch back to the 1950s, when the Adriatic coast attracted small groups of German naturists in search of unspoiled nature. These early nudists were primarily seeking an escape from radical conservatism in their own countries. Many nudist resorts at the Adriatic Coast have survived to this day, although accelerating capitalist expansion has brought new challenges. Visiting active historical textile-free places while placing sensory perception at the forefront constitutes an embodied mapping of political changes and, simultaneously, a way of re-kindling our connections with the natural world. The skin is perceived as a porous boundary between the internal and external forces of nature.

The performance at Kunstraum 34 merges sound material from the field, narration and body gestures and actions abstracted from direct experiences and sensory memories.

In collaboration with the dancers and sound artists Nevena Radulovic, Simonida Zarkovic and Lukatoyboy.

A cooperation between Kunstraum 34 and Akademie Schloss Solitude