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Let's switch to green!

Saturday, April 30 2011 By natalija. | Ljubljana

Environmental changes are present in almost every conversation you can hear on the street, in the office etc., and we must keep in mind that these changes play a very important role in our everyday lives. However how big this role is, is yet to be revealed.

Ljubljana is without a doubt a beautiful city that brings diversity into an otherwise sleepy country. However, I cannot say that the city is too environmentally concsious. The use of alternative ways of transportation is almost non-existing, and bikes are mostly used by students. Nevertheless changes can be seen, recently the city of Ljubljana started a project called “Bicikelj”. Visitors and people living in Ljubljana will be able to rent a bike for a short period of time and then return it at one of the stations that are set around the city. Such kind of rent a bike is well spread throughout Europe and I am really happy that Ljubljana is finally making some positive changes in this direction as well.

Moreover, an Eco conference titled “The price of environmental services” took place in Ljubljana between the 21st and 22nd of April. The conference hosted many speakers from various fields that presented how their respectable fields are connected with ecology and environmental changes. The main topic of the conference was the importance of information when it comes to environmental changes. There was a mutual consensus that information plays an important part when it comes to fighting these changes and giving the general public the necessary information so that they can act on their own. At the end it could be seen that all fields have a lot to do with ecology and environment.

Café Babel Ljubljana also recognizes the importance of informing people about environmental changes, and because of that we decided to dedicate the following months to the environment and ecology. At the beginning of June we will organize a debate, that will show us how important environment really is and ways how every individual can easily switch to green. Our step will be small but we hope it will not go unnoticed and will hopefully bring some positive effects. Our debate is titled “Let's switch the University of Ljubljana to green”, because changes need to start happening and we hope to set a positive example for future projects and activities in this direction.

If you’re interested, keep following us and we’ll make sure to keep you updated! ;)

Author: Lara Kandus

Preklopimo na zeleno!

By natalija. | Ljubljana

Podnebne spremembe so dandanes že teme vsakega pogovora in tudi če nočemo igrajo vedno pomembnejšo vlogo v našem vsakodnevnem življenju. Kako velika je ta vloga pa se verjetno še sami prav dobro ne zavedamo.

Ljubljana je prav gotovo lepo mesto, ki na vsakem koraku ponuja nekaj za vsakogar in za vsak okus. Ne morem pa trditi, da je mesto najbolj ekološko osveščeno. Uporaba alternativnih načinov prevoza ni ravno razširjena in koles se poslužujejo predvsem študenti. Vendar pa lahko se dogajajo tudi spremembe na bolje. Kmalu bodo namreč na voljo kolesa, ki si jih bodo obiskovalci in prebivalci Ljubljane izposodili in jih potem po koncu uporabe vrnili. Tak sistem izposoje koles je že močno razširjen po drugih velikih evropskih mestih, med drugim tudi v Bruslju. Prepričana sem, da do takšen sistem spodbudil uporabo koles kot načina prevoza iz enega dela mesta v drugega.

Med 21. in 22. aprilom se je v Ljubljani tudi odvijala druga Eko konferenca z naslovom Cena podnebnih storitev. Na konferenci je sodelovalo večje število govorcev, ki so predstavljali kako so različne panoge odvisne od ekologije in podnebnih sprememb. Osrednja tema konference je bila pomembnost informacij v boju proti podnebnim spremembam. Vsi sodelujoči so poudarili, da so informacije temeljnega pomena in lahko veliko pripomorejo k boljši osveščenosti javnosti o pomembnosti varovanja okolja. Konferenca je tako v svojem zaključku pokazala, da imajo prav vse stroke veliko opravka z ekologijo in okoljem.

Pomembnosti o ozaveščanju javnosti o okoljskih spremembah se zavedamo tudi v Ljubljanski redakciji Cafebabela, zato bomo prihajajoče mesece posvetili predvsem okolju in ekologiji. V začetku meseca junija bomo na Fakulteti za družbene vede organizirali debato, ki bo poskusila prikazati kako pomembno je okolje in načine, kako lahko na enostaven način vsak izmed nas preklopi na zeleno. Ker pa je okoljska tematika zelo široka smo se odločili, da bomo začeli z majhnim, a pomembnim korakom. Našo debato smo naslovili Preklopimo Univerzo v Ljubljani na zeleno, ker menimo, da je potrebno, da se začnejo spremembe dogajati tudi na ravni univerze, saj bo na tak način postavljen pozitiven zgled za nadaljnje projekte in aktivnosti v tej smeri.

Če vas pobuda zanima, nas le spremljajte še naprej! ;)

Avtorica: Lara Kandus

The United States of Europe debate

Saturday, January 15 2011 By natalija. | Europe

Erasmus exchanges are fun, we all know that much. They’re also pretty much as diverse as the range of participants. For example, take someone who does a bit of SWOT analysis before departure, tries to take full advantage of all of the opportunities at hand and is willing to share some his experience with others and you just might stumble upon a comprehensive account of a debate on European federalism recently (12 January 2011) held in Brussels. Brought to you by Matic Bitenc, a student of European studies from Slovenia, currently spending a year in Lille.

By Matic Bitenc

One of the reasons why I decided to spend my Erasmus student exchange year in Lille was the city’s excellent location. While it leaves a bit to be desired weather wise, it’s very conveniently nestled between Brussels, Paris and London. In fact, Brussels is no more than half an hour away by train. 




Thus I was very pleased to take advantage of that fact when I received an invitation to a debate about European federalism organised by the Spinelli group in the European parliament in Brussels. The Spinelli group is an assembly, mostly consisting of European politicians and officials who believe that the solution to the global challenges facing us all is a more tightly integrated European Union, preferably along federalist lines.
While that alone might not have gotten me to come, the names of  Joschka Fischer, Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Jean-Marc Ferry on the debate panel provided the much needed motivation. Seeing the names of some friends on the registration e-mail list added much impetus too, as I was looking forward to seeing them again.










So lets take a look at some of the main issues that were discussed.




State sovereignty




The organisers wisely chose panelists with different views who wouldn’t blow in an entirely same horn. Jean Marc Ferry for example is quite opposed to a supranational state and fixed upon a return of autonomy to the people, state, the economy. He talked about a shared sovereignty, a co-sovereignty leading to co-responsibility in his words. To me it sounded as quite an empty term without a realistic basis in the background. He shared some ideas about the many national parliaments being originators of ideas, with the European parliament simply acting as a clearing house for them. Well, simply might be a poor choice of a word, as in reality such a system would be, in my view, anything but simple or effective. While I agree with a lot of his criticism of the European democratic deficit in terms of popular legitimacy, I see his view of the subject more as an attempt to regain some of nation state’s glory and autonomous powers without letting go of all the advantages supranationalism has brought us. Somehow. How French.




Joschka Fisher I think really got to the crux of the transfer of sovereignty debate. He started out by bringing attention to the fact that the transatlantic West is losing its global supremacy it held for so long. While that might be something that even the birds on the roof are already singing, as we say in Slovenia, understanding the effect of that process on national sovereignty is crucial. The core and substance of sovereignty is basically autonomous power. Can you take a decision and bring it to fruition in reality? With the economic and political rise of Asia, Europe is losing its clout in the world and its decisions matter less globally if they are even realised. National sovereignties are many times an illusion. Effectively sovereignty is being transferred to Asia with an economic process, whether we like it or not. Case in point being the Copenhagen climate summit where EU countries were left out of the room and USA and China were the ones really discussing things.




Thus we should reach over our petty nationalisms that keep us from pooling sovereignty further in the European Union. Only so will we be able to regain the European influence in the world, by speaking in one voice. This principle applies not only directly to foreign policy but to almost every other area, economy, research, anything with global implications really. As Jean-Marc Ferry wisely pointed out, that’s why globalisation is probably the main “selling point” of the European Union for the 21st century, much like keeping peace in Europe was after the second World War and most of the 20th century.

Debate panel with Joschka Fischer speaking




Democratic deficit




The question of the EU’s democratic deficit was constantly being brought up in one form or another. The problem probably lies less in the institutions (although they do account for their share of the problem), but more in the European mindset, emotional response to the EU. Or better put, the lack of those two.
We’ve got the European parliament, but voter participation in elections declines year after year. We’ve got the EP, but more power lies with the Council. We’ve got the EP, but we don’t have proper European parties, more groupings of national parties. Same with elections, it’s more of a sum of national elections, where people vote on national issues instead of the European ones, because they aren’t really the ones being brought forth.




Which brings me to the lack of a proper European public sphere, that Jean-Marc Ferry as a Habermas aficionado also pointed out. The lack of proper pan-European media, apart from the rare exceptions usually co-funded by the EU. This also means we’re not discussing the same European issues at the same time, which we should. People feel disconnected, estranged from the EU project. While there are many reasons for this disconnect, some were pointed out more. The top-down principal of European integration for example, feeling of it being forced down by some elites (which is inevitable to a point in my view).




Joschka Fischer talked a lot about the emotional dimension, how people need to relate more to the EU. In my opinion the complexity of the EU adds a lot in that detachment. The fact that I need to study this to understand the institutional framework of the EU says a lot. While I understand the need for checks and balances and political compromises, I still think the entire framework could be simplified a lot. Every citizen should be able to understand the basics of how EU politics work without the need to spend a lot of time and energy on it. Aside from that, the achievements and goals of the EU should be clearly communicated. Not in some diplomatic jargon due to the fear of rustling someone’s feathers. Clearly.
The way citizens interact with the EU should also be improved. Make it a one stop shop. Why do we have different representations of the Parliament and the Commission? While the institutions are of course separate, the citizen interacting with the EU regarding some issue shouldn’t care. Deal with it internally, hide the complexity from the user, i.e. the citizen. The EU needs better usability on all levels is what I’m saying.




The debate was interesting, even-though I get the feeling the participants could have listened and actually interacted with each other more. Was it fruitful? Well, despite the completely full auditorium it seemed to me that they were preaching to the choir of already convinced. debates like this are only useful if they lead to some concrete action from the mindshare gained. While I have my doubts, I do hope the Spinelli group with its high placed members has some more of concrete action up their sleeves.




Interested? More topics covered by Matic are available at http://www.bitenc.eu/
                                        

                                     
                                

                                                                                            

                                    
Debata o Združenih državah Evrope

                                    


                                                                                By natalija.                                        
                                                                                    | Europe
                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                             
                                                                            

                                            
Praktično vse Erasmus izmenjave druži dejstvo, da so zabavne. Druži jih verjetno tudi dejstvo, so si tako različne, kot so si različni sodelujoči študentje. Če gre denimo za nekoga, ki pred odhodom naredi malo SWOT analize, se med izmenjavo trudi izkoristiti vse možnosti, ki so mu na voljo in je izkušnjo voljan deliti z drugimi, obstaja možnost, da boste naleteli na celovito poročilo o debati na temo evropskega federalizma, ki je pred kratkim (12. januarja 2011) potekala v Bruslju. In ki vam jo predstavlja Matic Bitenc, slovenski študent evropskih študij, ki je trenutno na izmenjavi v Lillu.




Poroča Matic Bitenc




Za to, da bi svoje leto trajajočo študijsko izmenjavo v okviru programa Erasmus preživel ravno v Lillu, sem se med drugim odločil zaradi izjemne lokacije mesta. Glede vremena morda ni najbolj prijetna izbira, ampak ugoden položaj med Brusljem, Parizom in Londonom to pomanjkljivost odtehta. Od Bruslja Lille dejansko loči le polurna vožnja z vlakom.








To dejstvo sem z velikim veseljem izkoristil, ko sem prejel vabilo na debato o evropskem federalizmu, ki jo je organizirala skupina Spinelli iz evropskega parlamenta v Bruslju. Skupina Spinelli je združenje, ki ga sestavljajo večinoma evropski politiki in uradniki, ki rešitev za globalne izzive, s katerimi se soočamo, vidijo v bolj in po možnosti v smeri federalizma integrirani Evropski uniji. Morda še bolj me je k udeležbi spodbudil seznam govorcev, na katerem so bili Joschka Fischer, Daniel Cohn-Bendit in Jean-Marc Ferry. Tudi možnost ponovnega srečanja s prijatelji, imena katerih sem videl na seznamu prejemnikov registracijskega e-maila, je pripomogla k temu, da sem se odločil za obisk.








Oglejmo si torej nekaj temeljnih tem, ki so bile obravnavane tekom debate.




Suverenost držav




Organizatorji so premišljeno izbrali govorce različnih prepričanj, ki niso ravno trobili v isti rog. Jean-Marc Ferry je na primer popolnoma proti nadnacionalni državi in prepričan v potrebo po vrnitvi avtonomije ljudstvu, državi, gospodarstvu. Govoril je o deljeni suverenosti, skupni suverenosti, ki bi vključevala tudi soodgovornost. Meni se je vse skupaj zdelo podobno praznemu konceptu, ki ni zasidran v stvarnosti. Predstavil je zamisel, da bi evropski parlament deloval preprosto kot neke vrste sito za mnoštvo idej, ki se oblikujejo v nacionalnih parlamentih. No, preprosto verjetno ni pravi prislov, ker bi v resnici tak sistem, vsaj po mojem mnenju, deloval vse prej kot preprosto in učinkovito. Čeprav se s Ferryjem v veliki meri strinjam glede kritike evropskega demokratičnega deficita z vidika vsesplošne legitimnosti, se mi njegovo stališče vseeno zdi bolj kot poskus ponovnega ustoličenja konceptov nacionalne države in avtonomnih sil, ne da bi se bilo treba odpovedati prednostim nadnacionalizma. Nekako. Kako zelo francosko.




Mislim, da je Joschka Fisher zelo dobro zajel bistvo razprave o prenosu suverenosti. Za začetek je opozoril na dejstvo, da transatlantski Zahod izgublja globalno premoč, ki jo je toliko časa držal v svojih rokah. Lahko bi rekli, da o tem pojejo že vsi ptiči na veji, a razumevanje učinka tega procesa na nacionalno suverenost je nedvomno ključnega pomena. Bistvo in osnova suverenosti je avtonomna moč. Smo sposobni sprejeti odločitev in jo uspešno udejanjiti? Medtem ko doživlja Azija ekonomski in političen vzpon, Evropa izgublja svojo veljavo v svetu in odločitve, ki jih sprejema, na globalni ravni štejejo manj, četudi so izpeljane. Ekonomski procesi tako suverenost v resnici prenašajo v Azijo, če nam je to všeč ali ne. Kot odličen primer tega lahko izpostavim klimatski vrh v Kopenhagnu, kjer so bile države EU očitno izločene iz razprave, ki so jo dejansko vodile le ZDA in Kitajska.




Čas je torej, da presežemo ozkoglednost nacionalizmov, ki nam preprečujejo nadaljnjo konsolidacijo suverenosti EU. Le če bomo govorili z enim glasom, bomo lahko Evropi povrnili vplivnost na svetovni ravni. To načelo ne velja le za področje zunanje politike, temveč tudi za veliko večino drugih sfer: gospodarstvo, raziskave, vse, kar je tako ali drugače vpleteno v dogajanje na globalni ravni. Kot je modro poudaril Jean-Marc Ferry, je zato globalizacija verjetno ravno tisto, kar bi morala Evropa znati najbolje »prodajati« v 21. stoletju, tako kot je po drugi svetovni vojni in vse do konca 20. stoletja veljalo za ohranjanje miru v Evropi.





Okrogla miza z Joschko Fischerjem




Demokratični deficit




Vprašanje demokratičnega deficita EU se je v takšni ali drugačni obliki vedno znova pojavljalo. Verjetno za problem ne gre toliko kriviti institucije (čeprav nosijo gotovo tudi one svoj del odgovornosti), kot evropski način razmišljanja, čustveni odziv na EU. Ali bolje rečeno pomanjkanje le teh.  Imamo evropski parlament, nimamo pa pravih evropskih strank, le neka združenja nacionalnih. Podobno velja za volitve, ki so bolj skupek nacionalnih volitev, na katerih ljudje glasujejo o vprašanjih državnega, ne evropskega pomena, ker se evropskih vprašanj preprosto ne izpostavlja dovolj. To je pogojeno z neobstojem prave evropske javne sfere, kot je izpostavil neki navdušenec nad Habermasom. Odsotnost pravih panevropskih medijev, z redkimi izjemami, ki jih praviloma sofinancira EU. To posledično pomeni, da se istočasno ne pogovarjamo o istih evropskih vprašanjih, kakor bi moralo biti. Ljudje se počutijo odtujene od evropskega projekta. Za to nepovezanost seveda obstaja več vzrokov, a največje pozornosti so bili deležni slednji. Evropska integracija po načelu od zgoraj navzdol (»top-down« princip), občutek, da jo vsiljujejo neke elite (kar je po mojem mnenju do neke mere neizogibno).




Joschka Fischer je veliko govoril o čustveni razsežnosti, o tem, kako se morajo ljudje bolj identificirati z EU. Mislim, da ravno kompleksnost EU veliko prispeva k njeni odtujenosti od ljudi. Že samo dejstvo, da moram študirati evropske študije, da bi razumel institucionalni okvir EU, veliko pove. Razumem sicer potrebo po sistemu zavor in ravnovesja ter po političnih kompromisih, ampak vseeno se mi zdi, da bi lahko ta okvir v marsičem poenostavili. Vsak državljan bi moral biti zmožen razumeti osnove delovanja politik EU, ne da bi za to moral porabiti veliko časa in energije. Poleg tega je treba dosežke in cilje EU artikulirati jasno in razumljivo. Ne v nekem diplomatskem žargonu, ki se ga poslužuje v strahu, da bi koga užalili. Razumljivo. Tudi način interakcije med EU in njenimi državljani bi lahko izboljšali. Naj bo proga z eno postajo. Zakaj imata evropski parlament in komisija različni predstavništvi? Jasno je, da sta instituciji ločeni in različni, ampak državljana, ki bi želel glede nečesa priti v stik z EU, to ne bi smelo skrbeti. Rešujte te stvari sami pri sebi, skrijte kompleksnost pred uporabnikom, torej pred državljanom. Skratka, EU mora na vseh ravneh postati bolj prijazna uporabnikom.




Debata je bila zanimiva, čeprav sem dobil občutek, da bi se udeleženci lahko bolj poslušali in se več dejansko pogovarjali drug z drugim. Je bila plodovita? V bistvu se mi je ne glede na polno dvorano zdelo, da se je pridigalo že prepričanim. Debate take vrste so koristne, le če zaključki pripeljejo do nekih konkretnih rezultatov, dejanj. Čeprav sam malo dvomim, vseeno upam, da imajo skupina Spinelli in njeni vodilni člani v rokavu kaj asov ravno te vrste.




Več prispevkov lahko preberete na Matičevem blogu na  http://www.bitenc.eu/




Prevod iz angleščine: Natalija Majsova
                                        

                                     
                                

                                                                                            

                                    
Les Slovènes à Bruxelles

                                    


                                                                                    Tuesday, December 28 2010
                                                                                By natalija.                                        
                                                                                    | Europe
                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                             
                                                                            

                                            For the last six months the privilege of European Union (EU) presidency has been in the hands of Belgium, or officially the Kingdom of Belgium. It is during that time that we visited this country, which represents the heart of everything “EU” as part of a group of knowledge thirsty postgraduate students of various social sciences from the University of Ljubljana.


We came to Brussels with high expectations. Being Slovene, we represent one of the “younger” member states, but we already faced the difficult task of presidency in 2008 as the first new member state, so you cannot blame us if we expected a lot, if not even too much of the Belgian presidency. Keeping up the standards applied by most previous presiding states, Belgium was no exception in setting itself very ambitious goals and plans. Let us just mention some of them: ratification of the Lisbon treaty, economic growth, establishment of a new control body for the financial sector, social cohesive and environmental protection.


Inspired and guided by “true European spirit” we visited the EU institutions that are situated in Brussels and during a week’s stay we’ve witnessed a lot and have heard even more, and some of which definitely seems worth sharing.
On a cloudy day of the 3rd of December we boarded a plane for Charleroi, the southern Brussels’ airport and after a cavalry landing we spent an hour on a bus drive to the central train station, which is where our adventures began. 

Instead of taking a taxi to get to hostel like everybody else, we decided to go by foot. Our journey took more than an hour, and we got to see the “not so glamorous Brussels”. Actually, the debatably “clean” streets and all too obvious sights of well… garbage gave us the impression of having landed in Napoli instead of Brussels.
What shocked us the most was the sight of barbed wire that surrounded the Royal library and the meeting place of the Summit of EU development days. 

On top of that, what we presumed to be half of Brussels police force, heavily armed, was also on duty nearby. However, we were told that they were expecting some protests and the state of affairs was hence far from ordinary. The barricades remained there for almost a whole week, and after some time they started giving a rather prison-like impression. Maybe this is the Slovenian experience talking or our personal opinion, but the large number of policemen on the streets even during the day, started giving us a very uneasy feeling, like something bad was going to happen. In Slovenia you do not see many policemen walking the streets and patrolling. Is this what they should be doing? Because if that is the case than they are doing an excellent job at doing nothing.


Another topic that gave us a lot of thought was a debate that we had one day when returning from Oostende. The EU declared 2010 to be the year of fighting against poverty and social exclusion, and its primary goal was to increase awareness regardning this topic among the general public, which also became one of the main mottos of the presidential trio Spain – Belgium – Hungary. However, what can states really do when fighting this particular problem?


As mentioned before, the main motto of this presidency was fighting against poverty. This particular area is mainly in the domain of national governments of each member state, the EU merely being there to help and guide national policies in order to decrease the number of homeless people, especially children. However such people are not only found in the “usual” places like subways and railway stations, but also in the close proximity of the “EU district.” The fight against poverty is not just an increase in expenditures but also demands greater efficiency, and so we, regular Slovenian tourists, who were walking the “promised” streets of the EU district, could only ask ourselves why Brussels does not seem to be practicing what it preaches.


During the evenings and endless walks around the festive city centre, where you get to experience  rush hour in some of the renowned chocolateries where you even have to get a ticket if you wish to get some of that overpriced chocolate, you just have to ask yourself if all that is really necessary. Why are there ever increasing differences between social classes, when the EU is setting itself all those glorious goals and keeps living in its own glory and it does not see that this glory will soon fade if we do not act fast enough? Glamour and misery seem to go well together like ice cream goes on hot waffle. And maybe it is the magic of this particular combination that blinds people so that they cannot see other alternatives. What can we say, c’est la vie.

Authors: Jana Habjan and Lara Kandus
                                        

                                     
                                

                                                                                            

                                    
Slovenci v Bruslju

                                    


                                                                                By natalija.                                        
                                                                                    | Europe
                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                             
                                                                            

                                            
Zadnjih 6 mesecev je privilegij predsedovanja Evropski uniji (EU) pripadal Belgiji, ki je uradno bolje poznana kot Kraljevina Belgija. In v tem času smo obiskali to državo, ki je že dolgo sinonim za vse, kar predstavlja EU, kot del skupine vedoželjnih podiplomskih študentov iz raznih smeri na Fakulteti za družbene vede. 


V Bruselj smo prispeli z visokimi pričakovanji. Kot Slovenci predstavljamo eno izmed najmlajših držav članic, toda smo se že soočili s samim predsedovanjem leta 2008 kot prva nova država članica. Torej nam ne morete res zameriti, če smo pričakovali veliko, če ne celo preveč od samega belgijskega predsedovanja. Kot je v običaju, si je Belgija, tako kot vse države predhodnice postavila zelo ambiciozne cilje in načrte in naj omenimo samo nekatere izmed njih: Lizbonska pogodba, povečanje ekonomske rasti, ustanovitev novega telesa za nadzor finančnega sektorja, socialno koheziji in okoljsko zaščito. 


Navdihnjeni z evropskim duhom smo obiskali EU institucije, ki so situirane v Bruslju.V času našega obiska smo videli in slišali veliko in nekatere stvari so prav gotovo vredne omembe.
Na oblačen dan 3. decembra smo se vkrcali na letalo, ki nas je popeljalo do letališča Charleroi, ki je manjše letališče, južno od Bruslja. Po dokaj konjeniškem pristanku so potrebovali še približno uro vožnje z avtobusom do samega Bruslja, natančneje do centralne železniške postaje in tam se naše dogodivščine pričnejo. 


Raje kot s taksijem, kot vsi ostali, smo se odločili, da se bomo do našega hostla sprehodili. Naše manjše popotovanje nas je popeljalo skozi ne tako glamurozen Bruselj. Gore smeti, ki so naključno kraljevale posameznim ulicam, so začele dajati občutek, da smo namesto v Bruslju pristali v Napoliju. 


Kar nas je najbolj presenetilo, je bil pogled na bodečo žico, ki je obkrožala Kraljevo knjižnico in kraj sestanka EU razvojnih dni, poleg tega pa je bil kraj varovan, na prvi pogled, s polovico bruseljske policijske kapacitete, ki je seveda bila težko oborožena. Povedali pa so nam, da pričakujejo proteste, tako, da očitno ni šlo za vsakdanji dogodek. Barikade so obkrožale knjižnico še skoraj celoten teden in po nekaj časa so začele dajati rahlo zaporniški vtis. Mogoče je to samo »slovenska izkušnja« ali pa naše osebno mnenje, toda veliko število policistov, ki so bili prisotni skozi cel dan na ulicah in celo v nakupovalnih središčih, so začeli dajati vtis, da se bo nekaj slabega zgodilo. V Sloveniji ne srečaš ravni veliko policistov na ulicah. Mogoče je pa to ravno tisto, kar bi morali početi, kajti če je temu tako, potem naši možje v modrem blestijo v tem, da ne delajo nič.


EU je 2010 razglasilo za leto boja proti revčini in socialni izključenosti, njeni glavni cilji pa so bili povečati ozaveščenost širše javnosti glede te teme, hkrati pa je slogan postal glavno vodilo predsedujoče trojke Španije-Belgije- Madžarske. Ampak kaj lahko te države dejansko storijo za premagovanje tega problema? 


Kot smo že na začetku omenili, je bilo glavno geslo tega predsedovanja boj proti revščini. Boj proti revščini naj bi bila naloga posamezne države članice, evropski pristop pa naj bi predstavljal uporabno pomoč pri povečanju učinkovitosti nacionalnih politik pri boju proti revščini otrok in brezdomcev. A prav slednjih je bilo v evropski prestolnici moč videti vsepovsod, ne samo na običajnih mestih, kot so podzemne in železniške postaje, ampak tudi pred neposredno bližino evrobirokratske soseske. Ker boj z revščino ni nujno razumeti kot povečanje izdatkov, ampak tudi kot večjo učinkovitost, se lahko kot navadni slovenski turisti, ki pohajkujemo po ulicah euro-birokracije, vprašamo, zakaj Bruselj ne pomete najprej pred svojim pragom? 


Ob večernih sprehodih po prazničnem mestnem jedru, kjer se turisti gnetejo v posameznih znanih čokoladnicah, ter neučakano z listkom mahajo, da bi čim hitreje dobili svojo precenjeno čokolado, se človek vpraša, ali ni to vse skupaj prenapihnjeno? Zakaj se premoženjski razponi čedalje bolj večajo, namesto da bi se zmanjševali in zakaj EU ne naredi nič v tej smeri, pa čeprav si postavlja tako ambiciozne cilje. Blišč in beda sta v evropski prestolnici spojena kot sladoled na vročem vaflju. In mogoče prav ta kombinacija je nekaterim tako všeč, da jih preprosto ne moti in si rečejo  c’est la vie!


Avtorici: Jana Habjan in Lara Kandus
                                        

                                     
                                

                                                                                            

                                    
Filofest 2010 – International Student Film and Video Festival

                                    


                                                                                    Saturday, December 18 2010
                                                                                By ljubica10                                        
                                                                                    | Ljubljana
                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                             
                                                                            

                                            




__During the period from 6th to 10th December, the lobby of the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana turned into the main venue of the International Student Film and Video Festival Filofest organized by the faculty students in cooperation with the Educational Center of Slovenian Radio and Television. Faithful to high organizational standards the film festival, besides the official program, offers a rich accompanying program: lectures, panel discussions, exhibitions social gatherings and other events.
__




Unique film experience




The festival’s program is divided into a competitive and non-competitive part. The competitive part is composed only by independent student films, whose authors are amateurs without formal cinematographer’s education. The non-competitive part on the other hand consists of films and directed by film academy students.




The festival is open to all kinds of genres, from drama to documentary.




The Ljubljana Cityblog team made an interesting interview with the Filofest committee manager, Borut Kirar, a student at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana, who pointed some of the organizational aspects of the festival and talked about the festival from his own experience as the festival’s committee manager.




So, I shall start with a diplomatic introductory question. What is Filofest? Why choose a festival instead of lectures?




Well, Filofest is an International Student Film and Video Festival. This year is the festival’s third edition. This event was last held in 2007. Why films instead of lectures?  Simply because our team thinks it is important to offer to the students a wide range of activities, especially during the holiday period. During the festival, students can enjoy the art of cinema and the quality achievements of their creative colleagues from all around the world.




This is not the first edition of the festival. What has changed compared to the festival’s previous editions, any new features and improvements?




This year we tried to offer a more round up, a more fulfilled program. Our aim was to organize a high quality international film festival. The crowning event of the festival’s opening day was the concert of the wind orchestra Krka: Motion picture music at the Slovenian Philharmonic. Like all the festival’s events, the concert was free of charge. Personally, I think that this festival’s edition was one of the best we have organized so far. We started from the foundations set by the previous team and continued to upgrade them as much as we could.




We started the preparations during January 2010. I assembled a team that during the organizational process remained almost unchanged.  The team was divided into several groups each of them with its own assignments. For example, the group in charge of contact with participants sent the application form to more 6000 universities worldwide. Shortly after films began to arrive. We received 180 films from all around the world. A total of 111 films were selected and the official program was then divided into the competitive and non-competitive part. This year we also changed the proportion between amateur and professional films. About 60 percent of the films were in the competitive program whereas the rest 40 percent in the non-competitive revue program. In particular, we consider important to emphasize the independent production, since, unlike the professional production, the young amateur artists have very few opportunities to present their work to larger public.




The decision to give priority to amateur films from students, who are not part of the film academies, seems to me as a very bold and positive choice. Whose idea was this?




As I said before, the competition program includes only amateur films from students, who have nothing to do with film academies. We believe that film academy students have a great advantage before others. To include them in the competitive selection would be very unfair to the other artists. The festival’s idea is mainly to promote non-professional production as it has to be seen and therefore obtain more credit.





Filofest helps many young artists to enhance their creativity by presenting them to the larger public. What do you think would make the current situation even better?




Well, if I look through our festival, I can definitely point out the video workshop in association with the Education Center of RTV Slovenia. Four young directors had the opportunity to participate in the video workshop and produce short one-minute videos. They had 5 hours for concept design, 5 hours for shooting and additional for editing. This workshop is a very important experience and an excellent opportunity to work with a professional team. The young directors will most certainly benefit the useful tips and information from the camera supervisor and will use them in their future artistic creations.




For those who missed Filofest this year, what were the peak events of this year’s festival?




From the non-competitive part of the program, I would like to point out the projection of the Slovenian film Trieste is ours, by Slovenian director Žiga Virc, who was also a jury member. Here, I would also like to add the special projection of another Slovenian film Distortion. Podoba-Glasba (Image-Music), the art of music video a project of Matic Majcen, postgraduate student of sociology, independent movie critic and founder and editor-in-chief of the project Podoba-Glasba (Image-Music). During the presentation, dedicated to his internet magazine for the art of music video, he also held a short lecture with the title From Aristotle to the Beatles: the prehistory of music video. The presentation was accompanied by a screening of music videos. The festival had also several useful lectures, among which I would like to stress out the lecture by prof. Miran Zupanič, a university teacher of film directing at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Televison in Ljubljana (AGRFT). In his lecture, he focused on the working process of film directing. Some of the participants, those particularly interested about studying at the Academy, took an active role during the lecture.




''The essence of Filofest is the quality selection of student’s films and the synergetic organization of the festival. What was a bigger challenge for you: selecting films or managing such a large festival?
''




For me, the organization was definitely a major challenge. Within the team we formed a group that dealt with the film selection. The members were students, film enthusiasts with excellent knowledge of film culture and history and of course active in the Slovenian Cinematheque.




What does Filofest mean to you, as the festival manager?




(Smile) Above all challenge, and yes, in a way, sweet worries. But believe me, there is no bigger satisfaction for me, than to sit on the top of the lecture hall 34 and see, that the hall is full. All the things I gave up, the early mornings and all those sleepless nights simply pay off with a glimpse on that view.




To conclude; given the successful organization and the rising popularity of the festival, are there any advices you could share with other perspective organizers of new original festivals?




To the film enthusiasts I would just say: keep on filming and expressing yourselves, develop your talents. Filofest is an open festival and all the contacts you need are on our web page. Please feel free to contact us. To the organizers: Filofest is a festival organized by the Student Council and the Student Organization at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana. It is a volunteer project, organizers are not paid. All events are free and we always try to get as many sponsors as we can.




Filofest 2013?




Considering the complex and challenging organization of the festival, the organizers were thinking of the idea of Filofest as a biennale. Of course, this idea has its pros and cons. The advantage is that the organizers will have enough time to prepare yet another quality festival concept. On the other hand, a biennale may be a difficult project to carry on and the festival might loose its regular audience.








This year’s award winning films




The award for the best film of Filofest 2010 went to Neskončni vozel/Neverending knot (Slovenia), which also won the best screenplay award.





Winners:




A reason to stay/A reason to stay (Israel) – best directing




Vsake oči imajo svojega malarja/In the eye of the beholder (Slovenia) – best performance




Moje mesto/My town (Slovenia) – best fiction film




Večerna pravljica/Evening fairytale (Slovenia) – best animated film




Tek jedna partija/Just a game (Croatia) – best experimental film




Leben in Seifenblasen/Life in a bubble (Switzerland/Argentina) – best documentary




Special mentions by the jury were awarded to the director Matevž Jerman (Slovenia) and the team that created Jolly Roger (Slovenia/Mexico).





Interview by: Ana Gruša and Ljubica Damevska
Translation: Ljubica Damevska












                                        

                                     
                                

                                                                                            

                                    
Filofest 2010 – Festival študentske filmske in video produkcije

                                    


                                                                                By ljubica10                                        
                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                             
                                                                            

                                            




__6. – 10. december, čas, ko predavalnica 34 postane kino dvorana. Ekipa Ljubljanskega Citybloga  je naredila intervju z vodjo festivala, Borutom Kirarjem, dodiplomskim študentom bibliotekarstva, informacijske znanosti in knjigarstva na Filozofski fakulteti.
__




Diplomatsko uvodno vprašanje. Kaj je Filofest? Zakaj Filofest in ne redna predavanja?




Filofest  je mednarodni festival študentske filmske in video produkcije. To je tretja izvedba festivala, nazadnje je potekal leta 2007.
Organizatorjem se nam zdi pomembno, da se študentom ponudi  širok spekter aktivnosti, še posebej v prazničnem času. Študentje se lahko med potekom festivala bolj predajajo sedmi umetnosti, ki je obenem tudi bolj izpostavljena.




Letošnji Filofest ni prvi. Kaj se je spremenilo v primerjavi s prejšnjimi, morebitne novosti in izboljšave?




Letos smo se potrudili zainteresiranim ponuditi bolj zaokrožen program in seveda dokaz, da gre za resen, dobro organiziran festival. Krona otvoritvenega dneva, ponedeljek 6.12.,  je bil koncert pihalnega orkestra Krka: Filmska glasba v Filharmoniji. Koncert je bil, tako kot vsi dogodki v okviru Filofesta, brezplačen. Lahko z gotovostjo trdim, da smo priredili enega najboljših Filofestov do sedaj. Izhajali smo iz temeljev, ki jih je postavila prejšnja ekipa,  in jih potem nadgrajevali po najboljših močeh.




Nekaj o organizaciji festivala.




Priprave so se začele že med januarjem 2010. Sestavil sem ekipo, ki je med pripravami ostala več ali manj nespremenjena. Ekipa je bila razdeljena na več skupin, vsaka s svojo zadolžitvijo. Skupina za stike z udeleženci, na primer, je poslala razpis na 6000 univerz po svetu in filmi so začeli prihajati. Dobili smo 180 filmov z vsega sveta. Program je razdeljen na tekmovalni in netekmovalni. Vsega skupaj smo izbrali 111 filmov. Letos smo tudi obrnili razmerje med tekmovalnim in netekmovalnim filmom. Okrog 60 odstotkov je bilo tekmovalnih, ostalih 40 odstotkov pa netekmovalnih. Predvsem se nam zdi pomembno poudariti neodvisno produkcijo, saj imajo za razliko od profesionalne produkcije mladi amaterski ustvarjalci zelo malo možnosti predstaviti svoje delo, sploh širšim množicam.




Odločitev, da date v tekmovalnem programu prednost neprofesionalcem, torej študentom, ki niso študentje filmskih akademij, se mi zdi zelo pozitivna izbira. Čigava ideja je to?




Tekmovalni program sestavljajo izključno amaterski filmi študentov, ki nimajo nobene veze z akademijo. Menimo, da imajo študenti iz akademije veliko prednost pred ostalimi. Če bi jih uvrstili v tekmovalni program zraven amaterskih filmov, bi bilo zelo nepravično do ostalih ustvarjalcev. Že od začetkov, leta 2006, je Filofestov tekmovalni program usmerjen predvsem v neodvisne filme, ki se so zbrani v tekmovalnem progremu.




Filofest s svojim delovanjem pomaga k večji prodornosti mladih ustvarjalcev. Kaj meniš, da bi lahko dodatno izboljšalo trenutno situacijo?




Če gledam skozi naš festival, bi izpostavil video delavnico. V sodelovanju z izobraževalnim središčem RTV Slovenija je vse dni festivala potekala filmska delavnica, na kateri so imeli štirje mladi režiserji priložnost sodelovati s profesionalno ekipo (profesorja mentorja za kamero, snemalca in maskerko). Ustvarjalci dobijo besedo (iztočnico) in imajo na razpolago 5 ur za izdelavo koncepta, prav toliko časa imajo tudi snemanje in montažo filma. Končni izdelek predstavijo občinstvu, ki je ima možnost glasovati za svoje favorite. Avtor najboljšega izdelka prejme posebno nagrado med podelitvijo nagrad. Video delavnica predstavlja zelo dragoceno možnost sodelovanja. Nasveti in informacije mentorja za kamero bodo nedvomno režiserjem veliko koristili tudi pri nadaljnjem ustvarjanju.




Za tiste, ki so Filofest zamudili; viški letošnjega festivala?




Iz netekmovalnega programa bi lahko izdvojil projekcijo filma Trst je naš, katerega režiser je v letošnji žiriji. Tu bi tudi uvrstil posebno projekcijo prav tako slovenskega filma Distorzija. Izpostavil bi tudi projekt in projekcijo Podoba-Glasba. Gre namreč za prvo slovensko spletno revijo, namenjeno glasbenim videospotom. Namen spletne revije je obravnavati videospota z vidika filmske umetnosti. Spletno stran je zasnoval Matic Majcen, podiplomski študent Filozofske fakultete. V okviru Filofesta je imel predavanje tudi dr. Miran Zupanič, visokošolski učitelj filmske režije na ljubljanski AGRFT. V predavanju je poslušalcem  razgrnil proces dela pri predmetu Filmska režija.  Nekaj udeležencih je bilo takih, ki so se res zanimali za študij na AGRFT-ju.




Bistvo Filofesta predstavljajo izbrani študenti s svojimi filmi in sinergična organizacija študentov. Kaj je zate predstavljalo večji izziv: izbor filmov ali vodenje tako velikega festivala?




Bolj sem se ukvarjal z organizacijo in ekipo festivala. Znotraj ekipe pa je programska skupina, ki jo sestavljajo študenti poznavalci filma, aktivni v Slovenski kinoteki in tudi sami filmarji. Zame je organizacija večji izziv.




Kaj tebi kot vodji festivala pomeni Filofest?




Predvsem izziv, sladke skrbi. Ni lepšega občutka, kot sedeti na vrhu predavalnice 34 in videti, da je predavalnica polna. Vse stvari, ki se jim treba odreči, zgodnja vstajanja, neprespane noči, so takrat poplačane.




Za konec, glede na uspešno organizacijo in veliko popularnost festivala, kaj bi svetoval ostalim entuziastom oz. bodočim organizatorjem novih izvirnih festivalov?




Filmskim entuziastom svetujem, naj snemajo in se izražajo skozi svojo umetnost, dajejo filme na ogled in razvijajo svojo nadarjenost. Filofest je odprt za sodelovanje. Organizacija Filofesta je pod vodstvom Študentskega sveta in Študentske organizacije Filozofske fakultete. Gre za prostovoljno delo, organizatorji niso plačani. Vsi dogodki so brezplačni in vedno skušamo pridobiti čim več sponzorjev.




Filofest 2013?




Glede na to, da bi bilo treba za nov Filofest začeti delati že januarja ali februarja in je organizacija seveda zahtevna, se je porodila ideja, da bi bil mogoče Filofest bienale.
Seveda, bienale ima svoje prednosti in pomanjkljivosti. Prednost je, da je organizatorjem na voljo dovolj časa, v katerem lahko pripravijo kvaliteten koncept festivala. Pomanjkljivost bienala je, da je morda težje peljati naprej, težje pridobimo redno publiko.









Letošnji zmagovalci





Nagrado za najboljši film Filofesta 2010 je prejel film Neskončni vozel, ki je prejel tudi nagrado za najboljši scenarij.





Ostale nagrade so prejeli:




A reason to stay (Izrael) – nagrada za najboljšo režijo




Vsake oči imajo svojega malarja (Slovenija) – nagrada za najboljšo igro




Moje mesto (Slovenija) – nagrada za najboljši igrani film




Večerna pravljica (Slovenija) – nagrada za najboljši animirani film




Tek jedna partija (Hrvaška) – nagrada za najboljši eksperimentalni film




Leben in Seifenblasen (Švica/Argentina) – nagrada za najboljši dokumentarni film




Posebno omembo žirije sta si prislužila avtor Matevž Jerman (Slovenija) in ekipa filma Jolly Roger (Slovenija/Mehika).




Pripravili: Ana Gruša, Ljubica Damevska
                                        

                                     
                                

                                                                                            

                                    
Man - animal to man

                                    


                                                                                    Wednesday, December  8 2010
                                                                                By natalija.                                        
                                                                                    | Ljubljana
                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                             
                                                                            

                                            If we think about it, many of the insults we use in everyday speech involve animals or specific animal species (e.g. rodents, reptiles, insects, etc.). This brings up a lot of questions. What is the symbolism behind these animals? Which human characteristics do we attribute to particular animals in metaphors, fables, cartoons and films? Do »animal stickers« much too often stuck onto humans portray the extreme closeness and at the same time the extreme foreignness of animals in relation to humans, a foreignness much too often abused by man to legitimize our dominance over the animal world? Or is it all about merely about a certain disgusting quality that we find repulsive but still attracts our attention and imposes itself on us?


The evergreen binary opposition of nature-culture can often be interpreted as and applied to human-animal relations. These tend to open many underlying questions and problems deriving from the arbitrary opposition of nature and culture. Binary oppositions also associated with relations between man and animal would among others include the opposing poles of the sacred and profane, good and evil, up and down.... all the way down to the opposition key to our existence and identity, that of humans and non-humans.
So who or what are non-humans? Animals seem to be the obvious answer but the category may also be applied to marginalized and oppressed social groups marked as »unwanted«, non-human, animal by the dominant culture. These binary oppositions may be found in the simplest of everyday experiences, because it is through them that we continuously reshape and affirm our own identities. If I am »A«, everything different from me must be »non-A«. 

Binary oppositions thus appear to be artificially constructed, their sole purpose being helping us to survive, to be different from the Other.
This kind of reasoning may lead us to the conclusion that we are actually much, much closer to animals and people we categorize as Others than one might think. We are too much alike. There is too much of US in THEM, so we can only protect our own identity by perceiving Them through a binary opposition.


Despite the fact that today's society, which seems to be becoming more and more liberal, appears to be shifting borders and trying to find ways of incorporating marginal groups (in concrete cases being groups like homosexuals, people of African descent, Jews, etc.) into »the mainstream group«, we are also living in an era of permanent change and constant fear. There will always be someone who will be perceived as different, perhaps a new Other, who will remain a potential threat to the existence of the Subject. Everything different from me (and considered through the lenses of uniqueness and individuality everything IS different from me), threatens me. Because it may essentially turn out to be LIKE me. Which is why it is better to keep it at a safe distance, somewhere far away. Everything that is ours is glorified, it dominates us, and everything that is not ours is resented or looked upon with disgust. Even if we seemingly deal with one Other by accepting them as part of our society, there will ALWAYS remain someone else, a different Other who will serve our need to stabilize our identity. »We« do not exist without »Them«. 

Luckily, thinking attracts thinking and contemplating »Us« and »Them« was the primary goal of a two-day project which took place in Ljubljana on the 29th and 30th of November 2010 (AKC Metelkova, different locations), organized and run by the Association of students of Culture studies, Kult.co.
A series of lectures, art and theatre workshops, film screenings and debates were all dedicated to investigating man's attitude to animal as part of a project titled Man – animal to man. 

This was the second time the project took place, the focus this year being the fable, a didactic literary genre which depicts traits of human character by portraying them through animals. Events organized in the framework of Man – animal to man examined different aspects of the fable and its influence on man's attitude toward the animal world, nature, society and culture. 

The varied programme of the project was aimed at encouraging younger members of society to demonstrate an active, critical attitude through participating in workshops and a Student fable contest.
The conclusion and definitely one of the highlights of the project was a social night at the Café of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum where the participants got to see the final product of the two-day long theatre workshop – a short play, hear the winning student fable and had a chance to make donations to the animal asylum in Maribor in exchange for hand-painted T-shirts made by the participants of the art workshop.


To sum up, a contribution, perhaps small in size but definitely grand in quality, to encouraging greater tolerance towards Others and reminding us about the problematic binary opposition  of human vs. animal. 

Written by: Barbara Polajnar

Translation: Natalija Majsova                                        

                                     
                                

                                                                                            

                                    
Človek človeku žival

                                    


                                                                                By natalija.                                        
                                                                                    | Ljubljana
                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                             
                                                                            

                                            
Če pomislimo, za žaljivke pogosto uporabljamo prav živali in prav določen živalske vrste (npr. glodavce, plazilce, žuželke ipd.). Na tem mestu se odpira ogromno vprašanj. Kakšna je simbolika teh živali? Katere človeške karakteristike pripisujemo določenim živalim v metaforah, basnih, risankah in filmih? Ali gre razloge za 'živalske nalepke' ljudem iskati v obenem pretirani bližini in tujosti živali človeku, skozi katero ljudje tudi legitimiramo lastno dominacijo nad živalmi? Ali gre za gnusno, ki odbija, a hkrati običajno tudi pritegne našo pozornost in se nam vsiljuje?


Zmeraj aktualen binarizem natura-kultura je lahko pogosto interpretiran in prenesen tudi na razmerje žival-človek. Razmerje med živaljo in človekom pa pravzaprav odpira vsa globlja vprašanja in probleme, ki sicer izhajajo iz arbitrarne delitve natura-kultura. K tem binarnizmom, ki se prav tako nanašajo na razmerje med človekom in živaljo, bi lahko kot nek začetek niza dodali še delitev na sveto in profano, dobro-zlo, zgoraj-spodaj ... vse do za nas ključnega binarizma, ljudje-neljudje. In kdo/kaj so neljudje? Lahko so živali, lahko so tudi marginalizirane in diskriminirane družbene skupine, ki jih dominantna kultura označi za nezaželene, za neljudi, za 'živali'. Te binarizme lahko najdemo v popolnoma vsakdanjih situacijah, saj ravno preko njih vedno znova izoblikujemo in potrjujemo lastno identiteto. Če sem jaz a, je vse, kar je meni drugačno, ne-a.


Binarizmi so torej ustvarjeni popolnoma umetno, da preživimo, da smo drugačni od Drugega. Tako lahko pridemo do sklepa, da smo si z živalmi in prav tako z ljudmi, ki jih označujemo za Druge, pravzaprav še preblizu. Še preveč smo si podobni. Oni so še preveč MI, zaradi česar z vzpostavitvijo binarizma zavarujemo lastno identiteto.


Navkljub temu, da vedno bolj liberalna družba morda sicer premika meje in se trudi čim bolj sprejemati marginalne skupine (pa naj bodo to homoseksualci, temnopolti, Judje...) v 'mainstream skupino', živimo v času nenehnih sprememb in konstantnega strahu. Zmeraj bo namreč obstajal nek drug, morda celo novi Drugi, ki bo potencialna grožnja subjektovi eksistenci. Vse, kar je drugačno od mene (in na ravni unikatnosti in individualizma vse JE drugačno od mene), me ogroža. Vendar prav zaradi morebitne podobnosti. Zato naj ostane na varni razdalji, tam nekje. Vse kar je naše, se poveličuje, je dominantno, vse, kar ni, preziramo ali se nam gnusi. Čeravno navzven opravimo z enim Drugim, ki postane del naše skupnosti, vedno BO obstajal nek drugi ali novi Drugi, ki nam bo stabiliziral lastno identiteto. Brez »Drugega« »Mi« ne obstajamo.


K sreči razmišljanje ne sameva, konec koncev je podporo našlo tudi v dvodnevnem dogodku od 29. do 30. novembra v Ljubljani (na različnih lokacijah po Metelkovi), v izpeljavi študentskega Društva kulturologov Kult.co. Serija predavanj, likovnih in gledaliških delavnic, filmskih projekcij in debat je odpirala prav temo človekovega odnosa do živali pod naslovom Človek človeku žival.



Projekt je letos potekal drugič, rdeča nit tokratnega dogodka je bila didaktična literarna zvrst, v kateri živali upodabljajo človeške lastnosti, basen. Dogodki v sklopu Človek človeku žival so obravnavali različne aspekte basni, njen vpliv na odnos človeka do živali, narave, družbe, kulture. Projekt je z raznolikim programom želel spodbuditi predvsem mlade in v njih spodbuditi aktiven, kritični angažma tako na delavnicah, kakor tudi na natečaju za najboljšo študentsko basen.


Dogodek se je zaključil z druženjem v Kavarni Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja, kjer se je uprizorila kratka predstava dvodnevne gledališke delavnice, prebrala zmagovalna prispela basen, udeleženci likovne delavnice pa so ročno poslikane majice z drugimi prisotnimi zamenjali za prispevke za azil za živali v Mariboru.


Morda majhen, a zelo kvaliteten doprinos k širjenju strpnosti do Drugih in opominjanja na problematičen binarizem človek-žival.


Barbara Polajnar
                                        

                                     
                                

                                                                                            

                                    
Ljubljana G&L Film Festival

                                    


                                                                                    Saturday, November 27 2010
                                                                                By Deklina                                        
                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                                     

                                            The 26th Ljubljana Gay and Lesbian Film Festival - promoting diversity and fighting against discrimination since 1984                                        

                                        

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Penguin 75

                                    


                                                                                    Thursday, November 25 2010
                                                                                By Deklina                                        
                                                                                    | Ljubljana
                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                                     

                                            
The exhibition of the best 75 book covers from the past decade on display in Ljubljana, Slovenia. 
                                        

                                        

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For all the film lovers

                                    


                                                                                    Thursday, November 11 2010
                                                                                By Deklina                                        
                                                                                    | Ljubljana
                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                                     

                                            A dedication to the ongoing 21st Ljubljana Film Festival
10.11. - 21.11.2010, Ljubljana, Slovenia                                        

                                        

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21st Ljubljana International Film Festival

                                    


                                                                                    Monday, November  8 2010
                                                                                By ljubica10                                        
                                                                                    | Ljubljana
                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                             
                                                                            

                                            




2 more days until the start! :D




One of the biggest and most important autumn events in Ljubljana.




Stay tuned!
                                        

                                     
                                

                                                                                            

                                    
Our first blog entry and a small contribution to St. Martin's day

                                    


                                                                                By ljubica10                                        
                                                                                    | Ljubljana
                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                             
                                                                            

                                            
Yesterday afternoon I was struck by all those abundant aromatic wine perfumes and delicious culinary masterpieces coming from the center of the city. Ok, well, most of all I was struck to see a dynamic flow of people holding elegant wine glasses, laughing, talking out loud and enjoying all those pleasant flavors. I wish every November Saturday afternoon was as crowdy and noisy as it was yesterday – a face that Ljubljana is keeping only for certain festivities such as St. Martin's day.




Ok, enough of introduction and melancholic late autumnal thoughts.




Ljubljana wine route is an annual event that takes place in the center of Ljubljana on St Martin's day. The numerous stalls set up along the Ljubljanica river banks offer tasting of young wine and serve culinary delights from different regions in Slovenia. Before I proceed with a very brief, brief, almost none, historical overview of St Martin’s day, I would like to add a small tip: if you find a certain wine from a certain region especially appealing, do not hesitate to compliment the winemaker. Chances are you’ll go home with a bottle of excellent wine.




According to Slovenian tradition on St Martin’s day grape must officially turns into wine. Although, Ljubljana is not situated in a wine-growing region, it represents a strong commercial center for the country’s wine growing regions and it holds a flattering title of a City of Vineyards and Wine.




Ljubljana Wine Route is actually a nice warm up for the Slovenian Wine Festival – the leading wine event in Slovenia, held every year from 18th to 19th November in two prestigious hotels in the center of the city.




Apart from the cloudy and windy annoying early November days, this Saturday gave Ljubljana the new spirit of the anticipating winter and mulled wine season and a smell of wet yellow leaves mixed with cinnamon flavor coming from the huge barrels of hot steaming wine.




More info: http://en.slovenskifestivalvin.si