Maska - Current Issue

An individual or a group of people with a space to live in and create, where they don’t fear eviction and, at the same time, where others are welcome too feel good in their community; they feel heard and at home. This is a space of learning how to live together and negotiate the community’s shared values, what society is and what it can become. A space that accepts us and that we are a part of, that shapes us, gives us integrity and, last but not least, gives us a sense of belonging and the possibility of positioning that we, the dispossessed, as eternal guests or individuals not yet or no longer belonging to the space, do not have.

“Privatisation happens in many ways. [...] The fundamental characteristic of public space – its universal accessibility for all – is endangered by increasing control and surveillance.”I Social segregation also contributes to feudalisation, which is another attack on public space. Although no one is talking about it yet, the initial casualties of this feudalisation – due to increased restrictions and costs for accessing public spaces that must be purchased – will not only be fire brigades and other organisers of commercial and entertainment events, including festivities, but also, similar to the scarcity of production spaces, producers of cultural noise or non-profit events in the realm of independent and non-governmental arts and culture.

The starting point of the performance Circle, created in collaboration with Nonument Group, is a negligible point in time and space: a former railroad workers’ park in Cluj, Romania. When we started creating Circle, this particular spot was just a patch of land, which is precisely how we approached it: as travellers walking around a seemingly blank slate, an empty lot. This construction site was a vision announcing the present and the future of the city, while simultaneously erasing the old.

This paper explores the unique interplay between graffiti practices, ‘gentle privatism’, and urban space in Block 45, a large housing estate in New Belgrade. Focusing on the informal code of conduct adhered to by local graffiti artists, the study examines how these unwritten rules shape social hierarchies and community dynamics. Through an analysis of graffiti’s territoriality and its role in place-making, the paper reveals how artists navigate the tension between public and private domains, challenging conventional neoliberal urban paradigms. By appropriating public spaces, graffiti writers transform common walls into valuable canvases that reflect the collective identity and mutual respect within the ambience of Block 45. The paper argues that this form of gentle privatism not only asserts the presence of the artists but also enriches the urban landscape and strengthens community bonds. Ultimately, the study highlights the sociocultural significance of graffiti as a medium for cultural expression and social commentary within the context of privatism.

Miša Gams attended a dance performance, entitled A Place With a View (Prostor z razgledom) by Vita Osojnik. In her review she suggests that the performance, with its open hermeneutic structure of symbols, is like a riddle a viewer can interpret according to their knowledge and intuition. Respectively, she analyzes contrasts between dark and white, but primarily focuses on four natural elements (fire, water, earth, air), which she interprets as an insight into understanding the fluidity and changeability of all living things.