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Andrej Tisma: Networker Statement No 4 (hopefully not the
last one) for the Netcongress 1992
Networking Under Embargo
Dear friends in the whole wide world. As you know, Yugoslavia, the
country in which I am living, and networking for twenty years, is under
the TOTAL EMBARGO. Food, fuel, import and export trade, transportation,
scientific, technical, sports and cultural exchange are now under
international blockade. Really a horrible feeling.
The politicians, who are the real target of the embargo will not feel it
on their skin. But children, women, old people, and a million of refugees
will be the victims. Hunger, poverty, civil war or international military
intervention could be our future.
We, the intellectuals who have protested and fought against the war in
Yugoslavia from its beginning, we feel innocent in this situation, which
is totally unpredictable.
Now for me NETWORKING is much more important than before, because it is
now the only channel for cultural and any other kind of exchange with the
rest of the world. So I will continue my communication with you as long as
Post Office allows that. After that I can only continue with telepathic
communication, or keep waiting for the Kustermann's Personal Delivery to
get some news from you. In the meantime let's share our dreams about
happiness, democracy, justice and brotherhood. LET LOVE RULE THE WORLD!
Andrej Tisma June 7, 1992
Translation in English of the text from the "No Embargo For Arts!"
catalog
His international mail-art project No embargo For Arts! Vlado Njaradi,
young artist from Vrbas (Serbia), has started in May 1994, exactly on the
second anniversary of the imposing of cultural isolation on Yugoslavia
(Serbia and Montenegro) by the entire international community. The motive
for this action was a strong disagreement of the artist with the imposing
of cultural embargo on Serbia and Montenegro, with forced interruption of
links between creative people, like never before in the modem history.
Because, creative people by their nature are fond of communication and
exchange, and closing of frontiers and channels of interrelationships for
them means not only insanity and injustice, but also an attack on their
beings.
At the invitations for participants in this project Njaradi has put a
note: "Help art be released from embargo", and as the deadline
for receiving their works he set "the end of embargo on art of Serbia
and Montenegro". He sent out to the world several hundreds of
invitations with such appeal, which had twofold function. On one hand to
point at the position of artists in our country and induce solidarity of
the whole creative world in fight for free flow of cultural issues, and on
the other hand literary breaking trough the blockade, by foreign works
entering our country. As a result of this well conceived action Njaradi
has received works from about 50 artists from 14 countries in the period
od four months (til the lifting of embargo on October 5th), which is a
good proof of understanding and support by foreign artists. And this is
more obvious when we take a look at the contents of received works.
By this action Njaradi has joined the few years long engagement of a group
of Yugoslav networkers who were showing to the world public the
untenability of the situation where art and culture are isolated, by
series of anti-embargo congresses during 1992, declarations, publishing
the "Cage" magazine, by performances and exhibitions abroad. The
fall of blockade has signified the end of Njaradi's project, by making it
further unnecessary, and it gave back the deserved position to our artists
in the world, which has shown its uncivilized face during the last two and
half years.
Andrej Tisma
October 24,1994
Embargo Art
Embargo Art is everything that an artist can do in conditions of
international blockade of his country. In a situation where there is lack
of fundamental materials for creation; when there is a lack of fuel for
transportation and heating; shortages of food; when it is impossible to
travel abroad; when foreigners are not coming to his country; when there
is no money for traveling even 100 kilometers from his own home; when the
rent is high; where there are dismissals of workers, it is difficult to
sustain family, and there is shortage of medicines and hygienic devices.
Also the world has stopped the trade with his country, as well as the
cultural, scientific and sport exchange, and is threatening the cutting of
telephone and postal links, even with bombardment.
The main activity of the artist under embargo is to win a possibility,
time, and space for his creativity. That means to surmount all shortages
and bans, to restrain concern, to reach inner peace, to get inspiration
and in the moment of enlightenment to feel as if the embargo doesn't
exist. All that the artist gets to do in such state of mind is EMBARGO
ART.
May 18, 1993. (From Cage, Number 3.)
