inframe of cycles Ventilator 2025
Concept: Petja Golec Horvat
The Milan Manifest project is a performative research by artist Petja Golec Horvat, part of this year’s Ventilator cycle. The project is based on an exploration of the phenomenon of stage directions—notations of actions in dramatic texts—which are not necessarily mere instructions, but can be understood as triggers for reflection. Through openly structured performative events, it investigates how an individual, through their physical presence and speech, shapes an event, space, and time—where stage direction, in this context, becomes the space between word and body.
“The body does not operate solely through gestures; movement is not necessarily a vocabulary of emotional states. To be responsive, present. Words in space need no duplicates. Listening, through which thought travels. A sufficient degree of ‘withering away’ in illustration...”
It is about establishing a relationship with the medium, about positioning oneself within it. It comes down to a simple question of identity and the understanding of circumstances, as well as the personal materialization of concepts. In this way, it hints at the artist’s personal inquiry, where—through conversations with her grandfather—she uncovers stories and understands them as heritage: they become crucial to the development of a performative practice that not only narrates, but experiences.
The project is conceived as a process that will unfold across five public events, alternating between locations in Maribor and Ljubljana.
