Mladi levi: SIMPLE EXERCISES

Nonument Group is a Slovenian research and art collective focusing on architecture and public space as a site of socio-political transformations.
Mladi Levi festival has already seen them peering over the walls of the Ljubljana’s Plečnik Stadium and following the historical evolutions of the parks in the theatre essay Circle. This time, they are presenting the exhibition and collective exercise Free Exercises, which sheds light on the history of public gymnastics and sports infrastructure as a space of collective memory in a contemporary perspective. In collaboration with the sports associations Sokol Bežigrad and Tabor – the latter of which is now based in the Ivan Vurnik’s Sokol Hall – they have developed a reinterpretation of the historical Sokol exercise choreography. The exhibition space will be activated into an interactive performance comprising of a series of guided exercises in the spirit of former group gymnastics as a gesture of physical memory and collective consciousness. Free Exercises is not just a research and art project, but a space for reflection on abandoned or forgotten places, on the importance of physical culture, movement and community, in the past and present. Join us in bringing history back to life through movement!

Concept and design: Nonument Group (Neja Tomšič, Martin Bricelj Baraga, Nika Grabar, Miloš Kosec)
Event dramaturgy and script: Nika Grabar, Neja Tomšič
Design and scenographic elements: Martin Bricelj Baraga
Music: Swan Meat, Gašper Torkar
Sound recording and design: Gašper Torkar
Research and design assistance: Sara Bogičevič
Performing: members of the Sokol Bežigrad sports association
Produced by: Nonument Group
Supported by: Ministrstvo za kulturo RS, Mestna občina Ljubljana

Photo by: Katja Goljat