Nina Hoechtl and Julia Wieger (SKGAL): In Archives – Artistic Research with Situated Movidas

World of Art | 19th Generation | Public lecture

Thursday, 4 April 2024, 6 pm
SCCA Project Room, Metelkova 6, Ljubljana

Drawing on examples of their collaborative work since 2012, SKGAL (Secretariat for Ghosts, Archival Politics and Gaps) – Nina Hoechtl and Julia Wieger will discuss what they call “situated movidas” (movements, manoeuvres) in their artistic research. Their work is underlined by the question of how to grapple with colonial, capitalist, and patriarchal dynamics inherent in visual practices. SKGAL’s engagement with situated movidas springboards from the legacy of artists who question static and mainly formal object production, focusing instead on process-, time- and experience-oriented art. In different formats, such as mix-media installations, moving images, writing, and curating, SKGAL bring together disparate elements, neglected materials, and intricate ghosts to create imaginative connections and responses. In their lecture, SKGAL will present how situated movidas provide the possibility to critically examine the spatiotemporal, embodied, material, and ghostly relationalities inherent to specific sites relevant to their projects.

Free of charge. The event will be held in English.

The Secretariat for Ghosts, Archival Politics and Gaps (SKGAL) was initiated by Nina Hoechtl and Julia Wieger in 2012 in Austria. In their recent installation project ENTRÜSTET EUCH! (DISARM YOURSELVES! BECOME OUTRAGED!, 2022) SKGAL work with flyers from STICHWORT, the Archives of the Women‘s and Lesbians’ Movement (Vienna), produced for feminist peace actions. The materials of the installation point to the past and offer a glimpse into the future. Their exhibition project DARK ENERGY. Feminist Organising, Working Collectively (2019) on feminist art archives and their awarded film project HAUNTINGS IN THE ARCHIVE! (2017) on the complex history of the VBKÖ are the remarkable outcomes of their long-term collaboration and thorough research. These projects show the complexity and richness of SKGAL’s interdisciplinary approach, being especially resourceful in bridging different fields and media, from film to art to architecture and archival research itself.

Nina Hoechtl is a visual artist, researcher, curator, and teacher. Based in UNAM’s Center of Gender Research and Studies (CIEG), Hoechtl conceives and practices research as a transdisciplinary endeavour combining artistic, archival, and analytical practices with the study of visual arts, in particular visual culture and queer, post- and de(s)colon/ial/izing feminist theories and practices.

Julia Wieger is trained as an architect and works as an artist, researcher, and educator. In her artistic research, she uses conversational approaches to engage with archives and archival research, manifestations of reproductive labour, and the production of emancipatory and/or spaces from feminist and decolonising perspectives. She teaches at the Institute for Art and Design at TU Vienna.

Photo: SCCA-Ljubljana archive

Title image: Ipek Hamzaoglu

Organised by SCCA-Ljubljana.
The World of Art school programme is created in partnership with Cukrarna/MGML.
Supported by: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, City of Ljubljana – Department of Culture