Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies (KSEVT)

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Kulturno središče evropskih vesoljskih tehnologij (KSEVT)
Na vasi 18, SI-3205 Vitanje
Elena Dokuzov, Acting Head
Past Events
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Architectural Union for Vitanje 2012 KSEVT.JPGThe building designed by four architectural bureaus which established the Architectural Union for Vitanje (AZZV): Bevk Perović Arhitekti, Dekleva Gregorič Arhitekti, Ofis Arhitekti and SADAR + VUGA Architects, 2012

The Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies (KSEVT) opened in Vitanje in September 2012. The building design is the work of four architectural bureaus which established the Architectural Union for Vitanje (AZZV): Bevk Perović Arhitekti, Dekleva Gregorič Arhitekti, Ofis Arhitekti, and SADAR + VUGA Architects.

Described as "a living room" of Vitanje inhabitants and a space for the synthesis of art and science focused on the culturalisation of space and "post-gravity art" by its inceptors, KSEVT promises an interaction between the local, the regional, and the planetary.

In September 2015 the international symposium Out of the Cradle '15 / Habiton in Vitanje encompassed presentations of the first art satellite in orbit. Matters of Gravity, an exhibition of a Mexican group of 9 artists and 1 scientist, is on view until 3 January 2016. Recently, a short-term exhibition entitled The Slovenian Space Academy presented the collaborative projects between Slovene organisations and The European Space Agency (ESA).


Architectural Union for Vitanje 2012 KSEVT.JPGThe building designed by four architectural bureaus which established the Architectural Union for Vitanje (AZZV): Bevk Perović Arhitekti, Dekleva Gregorič Arhitekti, Ofis Arhitekti and SADAR + VUGA Architects, 2012

The Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies (KSEVT) opened in Vitanje in September 2012 to complement the Herman Potočnik Noordung Memorial Centre. The building design is the work of four architectural bureaus which established the Architectural Union for Vitanje (AZZV): Bevk Perović Arhitekti, Dekleva Gregorič Arhitekti, Ofis Arhitekti, and SADAR + VUGA Architects. KSEVT's programme is based on the concept of the culturisation of outer space, introduced by Dragan Živadinov, Dunja Zupančič, and Miha Turšič within the Delak Institute.

In 2014 the KSEVT team represented Slovenia at the Architecture Biennale in Venice with The Problem of Space Travel - Supre:architecture project.

Miha Turšič's hunger strike in October 2015 was also a plea to the Government of Slovenia to reconsider the status of KSEVT, and the role of arts and culture as development agents, respectively. In December he resigned from his function of acting director. In March 2017 the Government became a co-founder of KSEVT in order to secure systemic financing, thus matching the municipal funds. Elena Dokuzov was appointed the acting head of KSEVT.

Building

The Integrated Revitalisation of the Vitanje House of Culture into KSEVT project received funds in 2009 through the Development Investing in Public Cultural Infrastructure programme, run by the Ministry of Culture. The fascinating building of 2500 m² replaced the old cultural centre and is inspired by Herman Potočnik's plan for the first geostationary space station from 1928. It is situated in the hilly landscape between the neoclassicist Church of the Mother of God, the Gothic Church of St Peter, and the former Bishop's Mansion.

Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies KSEVT 2012 exterior Photo Helena Bozic.jpgCultural Centre of European Space Technologies (KSEVT), a space for the synthesis of art and science focused on the post-gravity art, Vitanje, 2012. Since 2017 the programme is run by Herman Potočnik Noordung Space Center.

The ground level includes the Vitanje Library and a multi-purpose circular hall with 300 seats. The first floor with research facilities is dedicated to the KSEVT programme.

Programme

The permanent exhibition Herman Potočnik Noordung: 100 Monumental Influences is based on 100 of Herman Potočnik Noordung's drawings, used in his book The Problem of Space Travel - The Rocket Motor. The display covers Potočnik's life and time, the early rocket technologies, space architecture, usage of the Earth orbits, space wear, the Treasures of Modernity collection, and, last but not least – Slovenia in space.

Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies KSEVT 2012 permanent exhibition Photo Helena Bozic.jpgA replica of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite in the world to be put into outer space, part of the permanent exhibition at the Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies (KSEVT), 2012

Next to permanent exhibition, in October 2013 an exhibition VOYAGER/DR. MAVRETIČ was set up, presenting the work of Dr Anton Mavretič and the space probe Voyager. On the occasion Mavretič donated his archive to the National and University Library. In November 2014 an exhibition Spectral Modulator by Edvard Zajec, a Trieste born Slovenian and one of the world pioneers in computer art, opened for the wider public. A Trieste born Slovenian and one of the world pioneers in computer art had conceived a Spectral Modulator some decades ago, and now finally found the right team of people and the resources to set it up.

In September 2015 the international symposium Out of the Cradle '15 / Habiton in Vitanje encompassed presentations of the first art satellite in orbit (Artsat1: Invader) and lectures by international guests, among them Dr Yuri Baturin. Matters of Gravity, an exhibition of a Mexican group of 9 artists and 1 scientist, is on view until 3 January 2016.

International cooperation

On a regional level KSEVT generates connections between Trieste, Italy (liaising it with the Trieste Constructivist Ambient from 1927); Pula, Croatia (Potočnik's birth town); and Graz, Austria. KSEVT already cooperates with the Russian State Museum in St Petersburg and the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C..

In 2011 the Centre prepared the Memorandum on the Culturalisation of Outer Space that the Slovene President Danilo Türk presented to the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as a new dimension of cooperation between Slovenia and Russia. The document foresees the first (professional) artist spaceflight, presumably in the person of the Slovene primaballerina Mateja Rebolj who has also collaborated with Dragan Živadinov in the Noordung Cosmokinetic Cabinet.

At the 14th International Architecture Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia in 2014 the exhibition at the Pavilion of Slovenia (Arsenale) was curated by the Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies (KSEVT). The project delved into the fundamentals of architecture through the opus of the pioneer of space architecture, Herman Potočnik Noordung.

From 30 September to 4 October 2015, at KSEVT Vitanje, an exhibition entitled The Slovenian Space Academy presented the collaborative projects between Slovene organisations and The European Space Agency (ESA). Vitanje in Space: Sunita, an art documentary, which addresses the problem of living in space through the eye of science and art, was premiered on the occasion.

The international residency programme should focus on the interdisciplinary research of the cultural context of the human interaction with space and will host artists, scientists, and philosophers.

KSEVT founders

Initially, the Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies (KSEVT) was founded by Miha Turšič, Dragan Živadinov, Municipality of Vitanje, Delak Institute and Planit Institute.

From 30 September till 16 October 2015 Miha Turšič, KSEVT's co-founder and acting director, was on a hunger strike due to a complete bureaucratic blockade of the activities and development of the institution by the Slovenian Ministry of Culture. Apart from a particular claim regarding KSEVT, he demanded a raise of the budget for culture to 2 % of the Slovenia Government Budget. The hunger strike took place in the reconstruction of the Trieste Constructivist Cabinet at the Moderna galerija (MG). The strike's archive is available on the J'Accuse ...! In December 2015 Miha Turšič resigned from his function of KSEVT Director.

In March 2017 the Government decided that the state would enter the Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies (KSEVT) as a co-founder to secure systemic financing.

See also

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