15.09 – 16.09.2023, Ștefania Palace, Timișoara
Welcome to Cozzzmonautica, a tranSFfrontalier edition that reaches for the Star of Yugoslavia.
On board the Cozzzmonautica spaceship our planetary struggles in these troubled times appear inextricably interwoven. Instead of a quick exit or posh isolation, we find ourselves sharing the same predicaments and long-ignored weaknesses. We are both partial to and part of a planetary vision. Nurturing unofficial inter-regional ties makes us more aware of roads not taken. This year we will confront both Capitalocenic dead-ends and their anti-utopian scripts and try out old and new ways to imagine collectively. We will dive into SF history and dig into gaming lore.
PROGRAM
DAY 1 – 15.09
17h ✷ the official opening
Meet us at Ștefania Palace, Piața Romanilor, 1, Timișoara
18h – 19h ✷ Presentation: Darko Suvin – On Antiutopianism in Pragmatics and Narrative (online)
Darko Suvin is one of the most important critics of science fiction. His work on science fiction as a literature of cognitive estrangement was one of the first major academic engagements with the genre, and has proved both enduring and influential; he has received the SFRA Pilgrim Award for his contributions to SF scholarship, and dialogue with his ideas continues in the criticism of Frederic Jameson, Carl Freedman, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr., and others.
19h – 19:30h ✷ space & time break
19:30h – 20:30h ✷ Presentation: Miloš Petrik – The Serbian Front: From the Fringe to the Mainstream
This talk will examine in brief the history of Serbian genre film, comic books, literature, and other media, centering on the sci-fi genre.
20:30h – 21h ✷ space & time break
21h – 22h ✷ Presentation: Miloš Jovanović – Napred U Prošlost/Înainte Spre Trecut/Ahead To The Past
Miloš was born 1972 in Yugoslavia and since the beginning of the current century has been based in Bucharest. Napred U Prošlost*/Înainte Spre Trecut/Ahead To The Past is his recent exploration of digging a time-tunnel through the history of Romanian (and not only) gaming world – omnormal.com/ahead-to-the-past.
22h – 22:30h ✷ space & time break
22:30h – 23:30h ✷ Sound performance: Jelena Dunić & Marko Milićević – New Weird Balkan
A sound performance that follows Jelena’s series – New Weird Balkan, multifaceted explorations of Balkan folk tradition, through free form, psych revival, and new millennium electronic sounds.
23:30h ✷ Film screening: a documentary about the Yugoslav space program
All day ✷ kuda.org & APSOLUTNO screenings in the holodeck
DAY 2 – 16.09
11h – 13h ✷ Kids workshop: Interdimensional Ships with Rareș Moldovan – Register here
The Interdimensional Ship Workshop is inspired by the geometry of Plato’s solids, Archimedes, and Johnson, and by the aesthetics and construction logic with metallic elements found in Meccano, Erector, or Merkur-type games.
13h -14:30h ✷ Picnic at the Edge of the Galaxy
Meet us in the Poporului Park for a short picnic at the edge of the galaxy. Bring your favorite blanket & some food. We’ll bring some fresh juice & snacks.
15h -17:30h ✷ Collective comics workshop Partisans in Space with Rena Rädle & Vladan Jeremić – Register here
Participants of all ages are invited to join the collective comic book workshop “Partisans in Space” with Rena Rädle and Vladan Jeremić. Rena and Vladan share stories about imaginary characters and invite us to reflect on how these characters will navigate within partisan ecologies and address contemporary challenges. The workshop promotes a joyful and playful approach to a space exploration adventure, with an optimistic and militant spirit at its core.
17:30h – 18:30h ✷ space & time break
18:30h ✷ Dinner in space. Food by delikatessen
On Saturday we’ll be closing the event with a community dinner where everyone who wants to network/socialize within the CozZzmonautica universe, is invited. Artists, curators, visitors and non-participants will sit down at the table and will have dinner together. Through the act itself of eating, the cozZz immersion will be complete.
All day ✷ kuda.org & APSOLUTNO screenings in the holodeck
JOIN THE EVENT
“Cozzzmonautica this year is imaginatively reaching not just across vast, unreachable galactic gulfs and voids, but across the river Danube to the Balkans.
At times, the city of Timisoara felt pulled closer to Belgrade, Novi Sad, and beyond.
Since we know that the universe seems to be flying apart faster than our best models of the cosmos predict, let us not neglect regional exo-planetary contacts and move across barriers towards proximate close encounters. Cozzzmonautica in Timisoara 2023 offers a tranSFfrontalier edition that reaches for the Star of Yugoslavia.
How can we navigate on board the spaceship Earth as partisans in outer space?
On board the Cozzzmonautica spaceship our planetary struggles in these troubled times appear inextricably interwoven. Instead of a quick exit or posh isolation, we find ourselves sharing the same predicaments and long-ignored weaknesses. We are both partial to and part of a planetary vision. Nurturing unofficial inter-regional ties makes us more aware of roads not taken. This year we will confront both Capitalocenic dead-ends and their anti-utopian scripts and try out old and new ways to imagine collectively. We will dive into SF history and dig into gaming lore.
Farewell to extractive industries and the aspirations of billionaires in space. Today, Cozzzmonautica is part of a partisan resistance of a different kind, while heeding the call for a Non-Aligned Movement as a response to new Cold War fears. And as always we can gain many insights from science fiction about our current world and immerse ourselves in musical legacies and spaced folktronics from the Danube region.” – Ștefan Tiron
The project is part of the national cultural program “Timișoara – European Capital of Culture in 2023” and is financed and organized in partnership with the Municipality of Timișoara through the Projects Center. Supported by BRD-Groupe Société Générale.
Special thanks to Darius Hupov, Felix Petrescu, Mihai Drăgan, Azilul de Calculatoare, Darko Suvin, Zoran Pantelić, Robert Schilling, Julia Schulze, Vasile Leac, Lucian Barbu, delikatessen, Flavius Augustin, Alina Doroș, Florin Fâra, Vlad Gheorghe Cadar, Cătălin Bătrânu, Beatrice Baciu, Ioana Balint, Levi, Erik Kun, SIMULTAN Festival and OAR / Filiala Timiş as well as our partners kinema ikon, Minitremu and Doar Mâine.