Spolka: Spaces of Collectivity - exhibition at Gallery VI PER

 Unique from the formalized work full of manuals is the encounter with testing new, equally valid and resilient forms of collaboration. Workshop, world café, round table, community meeting. In the aesthetics of space and formats with witty names, there is an enhancement and streamlining of the often demanding situation of collective conversation. On the other hand, Pavlov's reflex of rejection of participation is caused precisely by the unnatural setup, the estranged terminology, and the spatially formalized interaction. What specific kinds of spaces of collectivity does the postsocialist present create, and how do these spaces influence our everyday realities and vice versa?

Spaces of collectivity serve as a distinct analysis of the phenomenon, the functioning of which, but also its unavoidable, purposeful, and sometimes unpleasant aesthetics, we have become accustomed to. In the course of questioning, we investigate the processes that enable collectives to emerge and function in our Central European context. We include the space in the process, which is a co-creator of the collective arrangement and, as a silent actor, enters into the conditions under which the collective arrangement takes place and into that which the collective actually thinks about, in terms of usefulness, satisfaction, but also pain. The space functions as a network of relationships, a fire around which anyone can situate themselves as comfortably as they wish. It becomes a language, not a goal.

Collectives are observed through the formats of workshops, which are often an instrumentalization and acceleration of collective presence, as captured moments in time. Only traces remain - artifacts. A flipchart with notes, a round table with unfinished coffee and notes, fragments of recorded conversations for analysis. Artifacts that are a tool and aid to the interpretation of each interest and (co)creation of common space, but do not fill it themselves. In these fragments, we find doubts about the obvious. Collectivity and the spaces in which it occurs are representations of the grasp of creating collective forms and methods of managing space according to the work of Spolky.

The exhibition Spaces of Collectivity does not provide answers, but questions. It is a discussion and reflection on the collective and collective spaces that open up in connection with social changes in the current intersection of creative work, activism, and innovative business. The individualism of late modernity brings anxieties. Thus, social revolt can also represent a shift towards collective thinking on all fronts. However, while this value is emphasized, its idealistic understanding clashes with personal and historical experiences.

Spolka is a collective of architects and sociologists dealing with urbanism and engaging the public in the creation of cities.