The art work on the façade of the Cukrarna Palace was destroyed last night
Last night, vandals destroyed an artwork by Katharina Cibulka, one of the artists currently presented in an exhibition at the City Art Gallery Ljubljana, which was installed on the façade of the Cukrarna Palace. The event dismayed and saddened both us and the artist. We are afraid that the action testifies to a great degree of intolerance in our society, leaves a bitter aftertaste in relation to the new development projects in the capital and shows a hostile attitude to socially critical art.
The work entitled SOLANGE (which is German for “as long as”), which was installed on the façade of the Cukrarna Palace, was inspired by the questions of feminism and especially the quest for social justice. The work brings attention to a wide range of gender-related social inequalities, raises doubts about the existing power structures and demands the strengthening of the role of women. The artwork with the writing “As long as the hope we spread is stronger than the fear we face, I will be a feminist.” was installed on the façade of the Cukrarna Palace on Friday, 30 April, upon the opening of the exhibition When Gesture Becomes Event at the City Art Gallery Ljubljana.
The exhibition was premiered at the Künstlerhaus gallery in Vienna, in the context of the Austrian-Slovenian Year of the Neighbourhood Dialogue 2019/2020. In the past SOLANGE art work was exhibited in numerus countries (e.g. Morocco, Austria).
“The vandalism we witnessed is a reflection of the times we’re living in, which is why the City Art Gallery Ljubljana will suggest to the artist that her damaged work remain on the façade of the Cukrarna Palace as a mirror to all of us, reminding us where we’re heading as a society and how much fear is still present among us,” said Blaž Peršin, the director of the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana.