Harmonija, well, ok ... 

Fourth edition from 18 september - 4 october 2015.

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Welcome to the feel-good zone! The relaxing scent of democracy, the cuddly softness of peace, the heavenly sound of equality, the heart-warming rustling of tolerance and above all, also – what do you mean, also?! – the sweet taste of prosperity.

However, the comfort zone is shrinking rapidly. From one day to the next you could find yourself out in the cold again, friend. But virtually the whole world is already there – that is, all those who have less to feel good about – and is knocking ever louder on the door. The promise of the feel-good zone can no longer keep up with reality; it is brought to the limits of the bearable by every objection. This means: no upsetting memory, conspicuous behavior or disturbing desire, on no account!

This is exactly the starting point for WIENWOCHE 2015 with "Harmonija, well, ok ...". Disruptions are badly needed, and not just on account of the disruption itself. "Conflict is the essential core of a free and open society", wrote the US civil rights campaigner, Saul Alinsky, already in 1971 in his book, "Rules for Radicals". Whoever questions the present, the quotidian and the desires, the here and now and utopia, has to disrupt the already eerie harmony and re-negotiate. Not to be in agreement, to annoy, to intervene, to put a spanner in the works, to contradict, to thwart, to impede. And simultaneously: discover, fantasize, invent, think ahead, plan, organize and engage. Finally find waysto share democracy, peace, equality and prosperity with one another, therefore: disrupt in order to change!

From September 18 to October 3, 2015, precisely in this sense, 17 projects are going to disturb the peace and are taking on the "happy medium" for it is all too willing to compromise, presenting itself as an apparent emergency lane toward social harmony. This is because: "Diri harmonia nai mrni harmonia!" (Romani for “Your harmony is not my harmony!") 17 projects that ensure ambiguity instead of clarity, bring about courage instead of fear, praise vision instead of pride and drive change instead of defense. Action instructions deriving from memories of the past just like from the archives of the future, thought-provoking impulses and monuments for objections and arguments. Projects with good but not any good-night bedtime stories. Stories that have to do with ghosts of a past that is not readily remembered. Stories that focus on the repressed deeds of great 'heroes'. And, last but not least, stories, in which future actions are planned that almost no one would ever reckon with.

This is what is going to happen as of September 18: Get out of the pseudo comfort zones and jump into turmoil! Don't be disturbed, let's be disturbing!

For the WIENWOCHE team
Can Gülcü and Radostina Patulova