Special Place in the City by KOLEKTIVA

Special Place in the City is a project initiated in 2004 by the Slovenian artists Vesna Bukovec, Lada Cerar and Metka Zupanič.
The artists who are organised in the art group KOLEKTIVA explain their project as following:

"Special Place in the City is an ongoing project of art group KOLEKTIVA from Slovenia. Inside this parent project we create small independent projects in various cities. The aim of each new child project is to approach a new city with a slightly different strategy and create a new artwork.

The main guidelines of the parent project is to explore relations between an individual, a space and a city, examining why a place could be special to someone and what prompts an individual to perceive a place differently. Thus we chart new emotional maps and discover locations which people sense intimately. Inhabitants of every city are asked to present their special place and tell its story, regardless of whether it is positive or negative. The focus is on two aspects, the first being the intimate perception of individuals’ stories. There is a psychological element in observing an individual and its personal history linked to a location. Watching unique portraits of inhabitants and their disclosures offers a voyeuristic pleasure and a possibility of identifying. The second essential aspect is the city. Stories of individuals provide a new or different reading of places, and uncover multiple meanings created by the experience and memories of the inhabitants.

Our long term vision is to create a wide collection of urban living strategies in European (and maybe even worldwide) cities consisting of stories, memories, facts, opinions, ideas, receipts, advices and solutions from as many people and cities as possible. We want to build an alternative “tourist guide” of each city which can offer a different view of the space and its inhabitants based on participation of the local individuals and communities. Our main goal is not only to produce an interesting “reading” for the foreigners, but to mark, preserve and render visible a collection of personal stories and histories for the future generations of the citizens."

http://www.special-place.net/?page_id=6