NSK State

The Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) movement launched the NSK State in 1992. The NSK State should not be understood neither as a substitute for, nor as a continuation of Neue Slowenische Kunst; with the formation of the NSK State Neue Slowenische Kunst actually reached its objective and it ceased to exist as a joint movement and collectively organised action. The historic NSK groups have (again) been separately developing their specific agendas within their media fields and in principle they do not interfere in further developments regarding the constitution of the NSK State.

The NSK State was conceived as a utopian formation which has no physical territory and is not identified with any existing national state. It is inherently transnational and describes itself as "the first global state of the Universe". It issues passports to anyone who is prepared to identify with its basic founding principles and citizenship is open to all regardless of national, sexual, religious or other status. It now has several thousand citizens across numerous countries and all continents, including a large number in Africa.

In 1992 and during the next few years a series of temporary NSK State "Embassy" and "Consulate" events in Moscow, Ghent, Berlin, Sarajevo, Dublin, and elsewhere were held. The First NSK Citizens’ Congress at Haus der Kulturen der Welt took place in Berlin in October 2010.

Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK)

The collective movement Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK), comprising the groups Laibach, Irwin, Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre (which later evolved into Noordung), Novi kolektivizem (NK) and the Department of Pure and Applied Philosophy, was founded in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 1984, just as socialist Yugoslavia began to fracture. Its aim was to redefine the relation between art and politics, between culture and ideology. Its basic organisational principle was collectivism, a method of work was defined as retro-principle and the whole stylist formation was called Retro-avant-garde. The movement lasted approximately till 1992 when with the emergency of new political, ideological and economic reorganisation of Europe (the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, the decline of the Eastern bloc, war in Yugoslavia, and the birth of new national entities, including the independent state of Slovenia), the Neue Slowenische Kunst officially launched the NSK State.

NSK State in Time

The NSK State itself is a collective work, a social sculpture, formed by both the iconography and statements of its founders and its citizens' responses to these and to the existence of the State. It has no formal "government” and no "central committee". It only has citizens, diplomats, bureaucrats, and executioners. The last two deal with technical issues and formalities. The State is based on self-management and non-alignment and it coexists as a parasite within already established bodies on the entire area of Time.

The right to NSK State citizenship is acquired through ownership of the NSK passport. By signing the adjoining statement the bearer of NSK passport pledges to participate on a best-effort basis to support the integrity of the NSK State. The NSK State passport is a document of a subversive nature and has a unique value. The applicability of the passport is unlimited and subject to the responsibility of its holder but in general the NSK passport may not be misused for criminal, ideological, religious or political purposes conflicting with the contents of NSK and/or jeopardising its integrity, reputation and good name. Today, with already more citizens than the Vatican, the NSK State has a strong potential to develop into a serious international and global force. So far over 15,000 passports have been issued.

The NSK State is now left to its own devices, entirely responsible for itself and solely depending on all its citizens. It will only exist as much as they will believe in it and as much as everybody will contribute to its collective being.

External links

NSK State website
NSK Times blog
First NSK Citizens Congress Berlin - EU supported project
Good Times in Berlin article on the congress by Ian Parker, 2010 (the English version below)

NSK State

Contents

Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK)

NSK State in Time

See also

External links

Operated by

Financed by