Maja Bjelica
Invited by the city Piran, Slovenia
“But the windows and doors remain closed, and like Europe, you are rope(d) at home. Some of us will stay roped but out of commitment and care.”
You, Rope(d) at HomeApril's full moon shone in all its might, not hampered by the glittering screen of the Metropol hotel, which has been shut down now for weeks. We have already forgotten how Portorož is without this blinding light! The wind, the Burja, helps the moon in making every wave of the sea sparkle. The silence enjoyed these nights recalls the all-time ubiquity of noise, the hustle and bustle of when our touristic place is full. Only the seagulls party these nights, maybe some cats too; a grace of peace usually unrecognizable to Portorož.
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Did we forget "home"? Did we really need to allow this infamous visitor, this "invisible enemy" a place, a home, in order for us to breathe again? Did we need this for the city to start beating at its own pace instead of doing it for a crowd of random visitors who come and go from year to year without looking at the suffering, overwhelmed environment? It seems that this forgotten memory, even if experienced in this moment, will not inspire decision-makers in our community to take this moment as an example of a more peaceful life, absent of daily haste and need for pompous events which aim to satisfy the demands of those who are not even present. This is not about not wanting visitors, but perhaps primarily understanding that visitors know how to appreciate authenticity - the pulse of a place that is shaped primarily by locals - and not by guessing the wishes of unknown comers.
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In caring for our homes we closed inter-communal traffic precisely because of the “tourist crowds” which come to stroll along the coast. Now no one can go from municipality to municipality and we cannot visit loved ones who in these times are far and distant. But no worries! We have social networks, smart machines that take us to our neighbours, friends, family, and not least to our colleagues and co-workers. In this way, we can observe developments in neighbouring countries, in Europe and around the world. Through the news we receive and monitor pandemic "events", pain, fears, despair. Some of us, after many years, started following the news again, and again have become sick from it.
While we are not allowed to leave our homes the outside invades our dwellings through the many screens. Europe remains at home but is entering our homes despite its isolation. Europe is waiting for everything to be "normal" again. Has it ever been? Given that the biggest current concern is how the economy will recover I cannot believe it in the affirmative. Economic growth is not a normality, it cannot be, at least until society does not operate inclusively, caring, in solidarity, respectfully, hospitably. |
Europe remains at home. Hopefully, even if it is utopian, there will be no return to "normality" but a difference, an otherness. The fact that we indulged in self-isolation, social distancing, with considerable ease and without much resistance, shows that we were at least tired if not exhausted from the so-called "normality". We would like to see a different normality, to move the norms beyond the environment of the economy and into the field of interpersonal concern, environmental awareness, attentiveness to being; the opening of new doors and windows.
But the windows and doors remain closed, and like Europe, you are rope(d) at home. Some of us will stay roped but out of commitment and care. |
Zavezani domaAprilska polna luna je sijala v vsej svoji mogočnosti – ni je oviral bleščeči, že nekaj tednov ugasnjeni ekran metropolskega hotela. (Tako rekoč pozabili smo že, kako je brez te svetlobne gmote nad Portorožem!) Burja je mesecu pomagala, da je razblestel vsak morski val. Tišina, ki se je je bilo mogoče naužiti v teh nočeh, opozarja na siceršnjo vseprisotnost hrupa, vrveža, ki ju je naš turistični kraj prepoln. Le galebi so žurali te noči. No, morda tudi kakšna mačka. Milina miru, ki je Portorož že ne pozna več.
Smo pozabili, kako je doma? Ali mora res med nas zloglasni »nevidni sovražnik«, da bi dovolili prostoru, domu zadihati? Da bi začel biti zase, v svojem ritmu, z lastnim korakom, namesto da to počne za množico naključnih obiskovalcev, ki iz leta v leto prihajajo in grejo, ne da bi se ozirali na okolje, ki zaradi preobremenjenosti trpi. A zdi se, da ta pozabljeni spomin, četudi ga pravkar izkušamo, ne bo navdihnil odločevalcev v naši skupnosti, ki bi lahko sedanji trenutek vzeli za zgled mirnejšega življenja brez vsakodnevne naglice in potrebe po pompoznih prireditvah, ki naj bi zadovoljile še tako zahtevne okuse tistih, ki jih v našem kraju večinoma – ni. Ne gre za to, da si ne bi želeli obiskovalcev, temveč bi bilo morda treba predvsem razumeti, da ti znajo ceniti pristnost, utrip kraja, ki ga sooblikujejo v prvi vrsti krajani, ne pa ugibanja o željah neznanih gostov. Hja, no, saj smo ravno v skrbi za domači kraj zaprli medobčinski promet, ravno zaradi tistih mnogih »trum turistov«, ki so prihajali na sprehod na našo obalo. Tako zdaj nihče ne more iz občine v občino, ne moremo obiskati najbližjih, ki so v teh časih tako ali drugače oddaljeni. Nič zato! Saj imamo socialna omrežja, pametne aparate, ki nas popeljejo k sosedom, prijateljem, svojcem, nenazadnje tudi h kolegom in sodelavcem. Tako lahko opazujemo tudi dogajanje v sosednjih državah, Evropi, po svetu. Preko novic sprejemamo in doživljamo pandemično »dogajanje«, bolečino, strahove, obup. Nekateri smo po mnogih letih znova začeli spremljati novice in od tega malodane zboleli. Mi ven ne smemo, zunanjost pa vdira v našo zasebnost preko mnogih zaslonov. Evropa ostaja doma, a vstopa v naše domove, kljub izolaciji. Evropa čaka, da bo vse spet »normalno«. Ali je sploh kdaj bilo? Glede na to, da je trenutna največja skrb, kako si bo opomoglo gospodarstvo, ne morem verjeti v pritrdilni odgovor. Ekonomska rast ni normalnost, ne more biti, vsaj dokler družba ne deluje inkluzivno, skrbno, solidar(nost)no, spoštljivo, gostoljubno. Evropa ostaja doma. Upajmo, četudi utopično, da ne bo »normalnosti«, temveč drugačnost. Dejstvo, da smo se samoizolaciji, družbeni distanci prepustili s precejšnjo lahkoto in brez večjih uporov, kaže, da smo bili od tako imenovane »normalnosti« vsaj utrujeni, če ne izmučeni. Želeti bi si bilo drugačne normalnosti: premika iz sveta ekonomije v polje medosebne skrbi, okoljske ozaveščenosti, pozornosti za bivajoče. Odpiranja novih vrat in oken. Medtem, okna in vrata ostajajo zaprta, mi pa zavezani doma. Vsaj nekateri, tudi zavezani domu. |
Maja BjelicaMusophilian, Portorožanian, musicologist, philosopher, anthropologist, musician, producer, photographer, saltfield worker, herbalist. She has lived in Portorož most of her life and sporadically in other cities and countries around Europe. She is a representative of a local NGO named Muzofil Association, where she and her colleagues work on socially engaged artistic and creative projects, her field of work being mainly music, photography and cultural heritage. She obtained a PhD in Anthropology and works as an assistant researcher in philosophy and various interdisciplinary fields.
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About Europe at Home
This project invites different European cities to bring an artistic perspective on the particular moment of our history – the COVID-19 pandemic - that was lived “at home”. “Europe at Home” is a project carried out by Faro – European Capital of Culture 2027 Candidate City. For more information, please send us an email. |
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