BIO25—Resilience of the past. The Value of Land by studiofolder

The Value of Land

Faraway, So Close 25th Biennial of Design 25.05â&#x20AC;&#x201D;29.10.2017 MAO Ljubljana, Slovenia

“If there is any hope for the world at all, it does not live in climate-change conference rooms or in cities with tall buildings. It lives low down on the ground, with its arms around the people who go to battle every day to protect their forests, their mountains and their rivers because they know that the forests, the mountains and the rivers protect them. The first step toward re-imagining a world gone terribly wrong would be to stop the annihilation of those who have a different imagination—an imagination that is outside of capitalism as well as communism. An imagination which has an altogether different understanding of what constitutes happiness and fulfillment. To gain this philosophical space, it is necessary to concede some physical space for the survival of those who may look like the keepers of our past but who may really be the guides to our future. To do this, we have to ask our rulers: Can you leave the waters in the rivers, the trees in the forest? Can you leave the bauxite in the mountain? If they say they cannot, then perhaps they should stop preaching morality to the victims of their wars.” Arundhati Roy, Walking with the Comrades, Penguin, 2011

The Value of Land In the 868 days that separate the first and the twelfth battle of the Isonzo, over 500,000 people lost their lives on the mountainous terrain of the Upper Soča Valley, under the hits of the enemy’s artillery, the rigor of some of the snowiest winters of the century, the treacherous grades of the Alps, hunger and exhaustion. During those days, the front line that was seen as the strategic stronghold of the vast, inhabited territories beyond, remained relatively static, while everything around it—peaks, slopes, forests, meadows, and rivers—was shattered by shells and sectioned by trenches. Today, the evidence of these events is hardly visible on the rock formations that overlook the town of Kobarid, as it blends into the incessant rhythm of geological change and weather erosion. The ground is where we need to look for knowledge about the past and to plan for the future. As an accumulation of soil, minerals, debris and footprints of atmospheric transformations, it’s an endless archive of information about the environments of the past. At the same time, there’s no long-term strategy that can hold without a precise assessment of the Earth’s natural resources. In an era when big-scale transformations can be accomplished in a short time—and when governments have become inept at long-term planning—how land is imbued with value is of particular urgency. Three interlocking stories define the coordinates of this research: they unfold along different stretches of time yet they are all entangled in this small area of the Eastern Alps, between the sources of the river Soča and the lower heights of the Banjšice Plateau. Each of these stories attempts to uncover something that cannot be seen in the first place, while presenting the tools to uncover the hidden layers embedded in the land. These narratives are explored through the objects, documents, maps, images, diagrams, theories and technologies that link them to widely different interpretations of what can be defined as the value of the land.

I As the loudest event in recorded history, World War I radically changed humanity’s approach to sound. With the advancement of firearms and their range of deployment, concealment behind and within the ground became a necessity, which in turn caused drastic visual impairment within the front line. To compensate, sound ranging was introduced to the battlefield. First conceived by Lawrence Bragg in 1915, the technology was used to detect, through the triangulation of sound waves, the position of the enemy’s artillery. A simplified version of the apparatus was built by the Italian Office for Inventions, directed by prof. Vito Volterra, which led to the development of phono-telemetry, which, unlike the automated British system, was entirely manual and ran by speciallytrained soldiers. Operating in the mountainous landscape of the Soča Valley—where no accurate military maps existed and sight was further obstructed by the terrain—phonotelemetry was a system for seeing where the eye could not see, transforming the land into a geometrical echo chamber. It was the first time that knowledge of topography and geology became paramount to military success, as prof. Volterra reunited the most brilliant mathematics and physics professors, directing their attention to the battlefield; applied science was now inevitably intertwined with warfare.

II After the end of the war and the transformation of the Office for Inventions into CNR (the National Research Council of Italy), prof. Volterra shifted his focus to mathematical biology. He pioneered the modeling of natural ecosystems through a set of differential equations that bear his name and determined the mathematical representation of the non-linear relationship between the populations of predator and prey. In many ways, these equations incepted modern ecology: the natural world was beginning to be quantifiable, and its evolvement could be mathematically predicted. These achievements were the basis of the research of C.S. Holling,

who systematised the interplay between anthropogenic changes and nature, thus introducing the concept of ecological resilience. By 1972, system theory became such an accurate branch of science, that with Jay Forrester’s World Model, published in The Limits to Growth, the behaviour of the entire planet—rather than a single ecosystem, population or resource—could now be foreseen. In the late 2010s, with the prediction of the collapse of the earth’s equilibrium, growth would become, for the first time, a value which is not desirable.

III During the same years of Forrester’s model, an artist group in Slovenia was actively advocating for geomancy. An alternative perspective on the environment, landscape, and territory, geomancy—from the Greek “foresight by earth”, or the Arabic term ilm al-raml, “science of the sand”— interprets the ‘lay of the land’ as a repository of hidden energies within patterns of rocks and soil. These beliefs have been rooted in the local communities of the Soča Valley long before modern religions took over. They made their way into a syncretic process, developing over time without changing their essence, until they were manifested in the work of OHO, and later, Marko Pogačnik, one of the co-founders of the collective. In 1968 the group presented one of their most iconic pieces: Triglav (literally meaning ‘three-headed’) where the group members inserted their head through a black tarp to embody the three-peak mountain—the Slovenian national symbol. In 1991, during the Yugoslavian Civil War, Pogačnik designed the official Coat of Arms of the Republic of Slovenia. His design, which included Mt. Triglav and other representations of natural elements, creates “an energetic field protecting the country and stimulating the inner potentials of Slovenian territory.”

Inspired by these ideas, a framework is defined which is not to be seen as opposition to either science or reason, but one where the hierarchical discrimination between human, nature, and land should be removed. Beyond exploitation, quantification or commodification, beyond projecting to the land any historical, national and religious values, and beyond an obsessive need to demarcate and possess, OHO and this research attempt to glimpse at a different idea of progress. How can the landâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shared value be singled out from the ongoing political discourse, so that it wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be questioned in the future? How can we represent its complexity, without oversimplifying it into the basic opposition of preservation vs. exploitation?

1 – PHONOTELEMETRY (↑) 2 – ARCHIVING THE POSITION (↑) The phonotelemetry was a sound-ranging The use of phonotelemetry often technique for the determination of the clashed with the reality of the battlefield, position of enemy’s artillery by the sound in which the hearings were made. emitted by its fire, developed during The refraction and the reverberation WWI. In order to improve this technique, of sound in mountainous areas, such the Italian Office of Inventions, directed as Kobarid, were making the work by Vito Volterra [see 13], had to include of the field-operators very strenous. mathematicians in its team of researchers, Their listenings were recorded in datawho were working on the rules and sheets and on maps—like the ones equations which govern the propagation here exhibited—on which the positions of sound in abstract. Their effort resulted of enemy’s artillery were noted down in a series of diagrams and schemes, according to the reliability of the data. as the one here represented, used to If several recordings were consistent, theoretically inform the construction the station was indicated with a red dot; and positioning of sound-locators and If the measurement was less sure, to instruct the operators on the front. a green dot was used; If the position In this diagram the 0 point represents was merely alleged, the dot was white. the supposed position of the artillery, “Artillery Special Group II Phonotelemetric while A, B and C are three listeners. Section—Sketch of the Austrian gun batteries The D and E are the intersections spotted between the 15.07 and the 05.11, in between the radius 0A, the radii BD 1916”, Fondo E-6, Archivio dell’Ufficio Storico and EC. Knowing the speed of sound, dello Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Rome and the position of the sound-locators the differences between the radii can easily—in theory—deliver the exact position of 0. “III Phonotelemetric Section—Enemy gun batteries’ position spotted between the 21.09 and the 07.11, in 1916”, Fondo E-6, Archivio dell’Ufficio Storico dello Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Rome

3 – AN OVERVIEW OF THE TERRITORY The Soča valley covers an area of 96 square kms, stretching between the Julian Alps and the city of Nova Goriča. This 3D model frames the research’s area of interest, focusing of the battlefield between Italian and Austro-Hungarian troops in WWI. The highest peak is the Krn, which constitutes the main vantage point over the valley and has been a theatre of the mutual massacre between the two armies. Laying just below Mt. Krn, the town of Kobarid seems like a natural bottleneck for those following the river from Bovec—in the North of the valley—to Tolmin. The grid projected on the model simulates the use of phonotelemetry [see 1] developed in WWI and deployed to acoustically detect the enemies’ artillery stations.

4 – STRATEGIC VIEWPOINTS (↓) This panoramic leaflet was shot from Mt. Rombon, Italian northernmost vantage point over the Soča valley. The town of Bovec (12) was controlled by the Austro-Hungarian troops. On its left, the trenches and artillery positions are indicated (8); behind them, the last turn of the Soča river (9) is visible to the Italian position. The first battles of the Isonzo were often characterized by the attempts of both sides to gain the control of strategic peaks in the valley, which would provide a considerable competitive advantage as a viewpoint and as firing stations. Royal Italian Army, “Campagna di Guerra 1915-18, Panorami del Fronte Carnico”, Archivio dell’Ufficio Storico dello Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Rome

5 – THE END OF THE WAR (↑) WWI ended in 1918, November, 11th, at 11 a.m. precisely. As recorded by a sound-ranging apparatus on the American front, this tape synthetically captures the end of the hostility in whole Europe. The sound-locators on all the fronts, which served to identify the position of enemies’ artillery for months, were suddenly listening to the now silent environments. In that instant, the Austro-Hungarian army was starting the retreat towards the inland, crossing back the Soča River, leaving the few kilometers of land conquered with the death of more than 200,000 soldiers, just one year before.

horizontal cones for determining the azimuth onto the target, while above and below are the vertical cones for determining the elevation angle. Each sound-locator had two listeners, operating while standing still and linked to the machine with two 1.5 m tubes plugged over their ears. W. Müller (1998), Sound locators, fire control system and searchlights of the German heavy flak units, 1939-45, Schiffer Publishing

"11 Nov 1918 Sound Trace 2", militarysurvey.org.uk, REA

6 – SOUND LOCATORS (↑) The passive acoustic-locators represented in these pictures are WWI models. On the right and left are the

7 – HIDING THE FIRE (↑) The spread of phonotelemetric methodologies trying to spot the position of the artillery hidden in the surrounding

environments was also due to the developments of the military scientific departments in dimming the light of the shooting cannons. In these pictures, we see the results of the experiments of the Italian scientific officials: in pic. 1, 2, 3 the shots are loaded with ballistite only; in pic. 4, 5, 6 the shots are loaded with an asbestos bag with 30 gr. of salt; in pic. 7 the grams of salt were doubled; in pic. 8 there were 100 gr. of salt; pic. 9 is the only shot captured in the daylight, in the same condition of pic. 4, 5, and 6. Images from Fondo E-6, Archivio dell’Ufficio Storico dello Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Rome

9 – SATELLITES Real-time data-driven computer generated animation, which creates sensory experience and exploration tool of the invisible for a naked eye satellites—powerful sky actors hovering above the earth surface. Inspired by a technique of airplanes detection using listening device developed during WWI in order to overcome the supremacy of aircraft, the installation tries to obliterate/wipe out the Panoptikon effect by rising awareness of invisible observers. It is an attempt to mimic/ take the approach of the obsolete device through nowadays possibilities of data visualisation techniques and information calculated from it. The visualisation updates daily with orbit data available from space-track.org and calculates current positions of objects visible above the horizon from the perspective of the visitor of the exhibition place at MAO 46°03'01.9"N 14°33'48.5"E

10 – SEDIMENTA (↓) 8 – DOCUMENTING THE WAR (↑) The pictures here shown are selected from the archives of the AustroHungarian army. They draw attention to the intervention of men on the land for the purposes of war. The tunnels, the housings, the artificial paths, the casemates, the artillery foundations, the searchlights, all the infrastructures built at the back of the trenches left behind traces in the whole valley. One hundred years later, metal scraps are still found by the farmers in the fields and the climbers on their hikes. Images from Kriegspressequartier Alben 1914-18, Isonzofront, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Wien, Austria

These photos visually narrate the fragmented landscape of Mt. Krn. A hundred years ago, this accumulation of stratas saw one of the bloodiest

battles fought in World War One, the Battle of Caporetto, during which the bombing severely damaged the mountain itself. Today, the rocks illustrate the witnessed trauma and present a petrified text of human history, a topographic testament to the embedded anthropogenic forces. Each component of the mountain range are fragments that carry out the meaning of the whole; by compressing and isolating these elements, the photographed layers build a genealogy of the recent past. Photos by Anna Positano, 2017

11 – TOURNAMENT AT ŠUMIKU Turnir pri Šumiku is a short documentary by Mako Sajko, shot in 1965. In the surroundings of the Šumik waterfall a leader of the herd roars to gather around the hinds. The herd’s system equilibrium is challenged by a lonely stag, who challenges the hegemony of the leader. The predator-prey systems’ narrative is here opposed by a monospecies system in which the contrast is not dictated by the intrinsic differences and complementarity of two species, but by the similarity between the two main actors of this short movie. Jakob Jež‘s musical composition accompanies the phases of the competition almost emulating the soundscape ambience [see 18]. Mako Sajko, Turnir pri Šumiku / The Sumik Tournament (1965), 12’, 35mm. Thanks to the Slovenian Film Centre for lending the film

12 – THE COMPETITIVE EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE (↗) The American biologist and zoologist, Joseph Grinnel (1877-1939), inventor of the field observations’ recording method known as Grinnel System, was

the first to formulate the competitive exclusion principle, wrongly attributed to Georgii Gause. In 1904, he wrote: “Two species of approximately the same food habits are not likely to remain long evenly balanced in numbers in the same region. One will crowd out the other.” This theoretical principle will be the basis of the Lotka-Volterra equations. Grinnell et al. (1930), Vertebrate Natural History of a section of northern California through the Lassen Peak region, University of California Press, Berkeley California J.Grinnell, T.I.Storer, Animal life in the Yosemite, An account of the mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians in a cross-section of the Sierra Nevada, University of California Press, Berkeley California, 1924

13 – VOLTERRA AND THE PREDATOR-PREY EQUATIONS (↓)

In 1926, the Italian biologist Umberto D’Ancona could not explain why in the Adriatic sea the number of predator fish caught had exponentially risen. He realized it was a consequence of the reduction in fishing activity during the war and he asked to his father-in-law, Vito Volterra (1860-1940), president of the CNR (National Council of Researches) and eminent mathematician, if he could find a mathematical representation of the phenomenon. Volterra came up with a differential equations system which was able to explain the non-linear relationship between the populations of predators and prey, which appeared to be circular. One year before, the same equations were independently created by the American mathematician Alfred J. Lotka, hence their official name Lotka-Volterra Equations. Volterra was actively involved in the scientific research for the Italian army during WWI. He founded the Office for Inventions (Ufficio Invenzioni e Ricerche), made to deliver new technologies to the Italian front.

15 – THE WAGE IS THE PREY The Class-Struggle Model of economic growth is explicitly based on the LotkaVolterra equations. In the model, the American economist, Richard M. Goodwin (1913-1996), gave the role of predators to the workers, whose prey is the wage. Through the implementation of the equations he mathematically represented Marx’s theory of economic cycles. In 1960, the ecologist and philosopher, Garrett Hardin had already spotted the theoretical proximity of economics and ecology regarding the competitive exclusion principle. To Hardin, this isomorphism was figuratively evident in the case of Ricardo’s law of comparative advantage (1817), a choice which is definitely at odds with Goodwin’s model, given Marx repulsion for Ricardo’s law.

U. D’Ancona (1942), La Lotta per l’Esistenza, Einaudi, Torino

16 – SYSTEM DYNAMICS AND WORLD MODELS (↓)

R.M. Goodwin (1967), A Growth Cycle, in Socialism, Capitalism and Economic Growth: Essays, edited by C.H. Feinstein, Cambridge University press

14 – THE GAUSE’S LAW In 1932, while studying the mixed-culture of yeasts and paramecium species, the Russian biologist, Georgii Gause (19101986), made an empirical testing of the Lotka-Volterra equations. From this publication on, the competitive exclusion principle will be wrongly addressed as the Gause’s Law, even if he never actually attributed the paternity of this principle to his research. The principle is nowadays summed up with the aphorism “complete competitors cannot exist.” Gause, Georgii Frantsevich (1934). The Struggle For Existence, Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins

In the first half of the 20th Century, the understanding of non-linear behaviour of complex systems was limited to the

representation of bidimensional diagrams of differential equations, such as the predator-prey Equations. The rise of simulation languages as the DYNAMO and the birth of System Dynamics, under the supervision of the computer engineer, Jay W. Forrester (1918-2016), allowed those models to get more complex and rich in terms of variables. The work of Forrester and his team was fundamental to the development of economic and ecological studies, and to the publication of The Limits to Growth [see 20]. J.W. Forrester (1971), World Dynamics, Wright-Allen Press, Cambridge Mass.

17 – FROM PREY TO RESOURCE (↓)

of ecology to describe the persistence of natural systems in the face of changes in ecosystem variables due to natural or anthropogenic causes. C. S. Holling (1973), Resilience and Stability of Ecological Systems, Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, Vol. 4, pp. 1-23

18 – FILLING THE SILENCE In 1987, the American musician and soundscape ecologist, Bernie Krause (1938), published this article within the Whole Earth Review. Bio-Acoustics was his first step towards what he will later call the Acoustic Niche Hypothesis, an evolution of the ecological niche and of the competitive exclusion principle. In a still-wild ecosystem, species adjust the frequency, the amplitude and the time-shift of their voices in order not to compete with others’ vocalizations and maintain a clear communication channel. B. Krause (1987), Bio-Acoustics, Habitat ambience and Ecological Balance, Whole Earth Review, N. 57, pp. 14-18

Since his doctoral thesis in 1957, the Canadian ecologist, J.S. Holling (1930), has shown a fervid interest in the predator-prey equations. He realized that the system described by Lotka and Volterra was one of three possible types of functional response. This new ecological model shows a shift from a conflict-oriented conceptualization of nature to a rather holistic view in which the predator-prey relationship’s centrality is replaced by the resource scarcity concept, one of the pillars of subsequent studies in the field of ecological economics (e.g. Limits To Growth, 1972). In 1973, he was the first to introduce the concept of resilience in the field

19 – COMPETITIVE CHAOS In 2004, the research group led by J.A. Vano described the possibility of chaos in a four competitive species’ system, in which each of the four species has its own distinct growth rate. This tridimensional object is a reproduction of the system plotted in phase space, in which the growth rate of three species unfolds on the three axes while the fourth is represented directly on the curve. 3D plastic filament of the model presented in J.A. Vano et al. (2006) Chaos in low- dimensional Lotka-Volterra models of competition, Nonlinearity 19, pp. 2391–2404

20 – THE LIMITS TO GROWTH (↑) Donella Meadows (1941-2001) was a pioneering American environmental scientist and the leading author of The Limits to Growth, the result of the research commissioned by the Club of Rome, published in 1972. The authors used the World3 model—a simulation language developed at MIT by J.W. Forrester—to simulate the interactions between the Earth’s and human systems. The model was able to question the mainstream economic assumption for which modern society can sustain a never ending exponential growth, regardless of the scarcity of finite resources on the Earth, while fostering the concerns about overpopulation. D. Meadows et al. (1972), The Limits to Growth, Universe Books

21 – THREE HEADS (↓)

The mount Triglav is undoubtedly the geographic, national and state symbol of Slovenia and its name literally means “three heads”, metaphorically referring to its three main peaks. In

1968, David Nez, Milenko Matanović and Drago Dellabernardina, members of the Slovenian artistic collective OHO, investigated the nature of this symbol in a happening in which the three authors were covered in a drape out of which only their three heads were exposed. The artists were then iconographically reproducing the iconographic representation of Slovenian national symbol. Their mimetic act is meant to call into question the historical and political identity of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia’s citizens. Still from Mt. Triglav, 1968, (8 mm film) from OHO Group Archive, MG+MSUM, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Z dovoljenjem Moderne galerije, Ljubljana. Published with the permission of Moderna Galerija

22 – THE GEOMANTIC IMAGINARY These studies and diagrams by the OHO group members, Andraž Šalamun, Milenko Matanovič, David Nez, and Marko Pogačnik, were presented at the MOMA and at the 4th Jugoslavian Triennial, in 1970. They indicate the relationship of the natural elements with the objects and space for which they are conceived. They prescript the position and the power relationship between the participants in a performance. They show schemas and performative rituals, which are conceptually withdrawing from the geomantic tradition and imaginary. Šalamun, Matanovič, Pogačnik, (1970), OHO group Archive, MG+MSUM, Ljubljana, Slovenia

23 – A COSMOGRAPHIC REPRESENTATION (↓)

The Slovenian Coat of Arms was designed by the artist Marko Pogačnik, co-founder of OHO, in 1991. In the shield, the mount Triglav, the rivers and the sea are depicted under three six-pointed stars. It is meant to be a cosmogram, able to protect the country, and it is a representation of the balance between the masculine and the feminine. Pogačnik’s work is based on the Geomantic principle of correspondence between micro and macrocosm and he believes in the existence of a planetary energy that, if correctly diagnosed, can inform one through signs and symbols about the state of health of the land. The Earth has been changing drastically in the last century and instead of trying to heal the cities and the landscapes from this process of disturbance, human beings should focus effort in accompanying the planet in its process of transformation, which is beyond its modern structures and rational logic.

24 – THE DAUGHTER OF MOUNTAINS AND THE MOTHER OF THE SEA (↗) Pavel Medvešček (1933) is a Slovene artist and writer, one of the few people

of objects and signs which are tools for the believers to interpret and describe the basic energies and powers set underneath the visible surface of the land. Sacred rocks, cosmograms and tools are concealed behind a veil of apparent ordinariness.

who managed to gain the trust of the so-called Old Faith believers, the Soča valley’s hidden communities who continued to practice and bequeath the geomantic rituals and beliefs. He was accepted as a confessor and speaker of these people, of their daily life out of the occult. Most of these objects were donated by Jarin to Medvešček, in 1979. The relationship of these believers with the Earth and its elements unfolds in a set of objects and signs which are tools for the believers to interpret and describe the basic energies and powers set underneath the visible surface of the land. Rocks, cosmograms, schemes and tools conceal their sacredness behind a veil of apparent ordinariness. 25 – THE INNER VOICE OF THE SOČA Pavel Medvešček (1933) is a Slovene artist and writer, one of the few people who managed to gain the trust of the so-called Old Faith believers, the Soča valley’s hidden communities who continued to practice and bequeath the geomantic rituals and beliefs. He was accepted as a confessor and speaker of these people, of their daily life out of the occult. Their relationship with the Earth and its elements unfolds in a set

26 – THE TROJAK The base that makes the Trojak stand are three sticks named “starce”. On the top of them there is the “rogin”, in which a box made of branches is stabbed. All together represents Nikermana (life force). Under the “rogin”, there is an iron ring that gives the structure (“cveknik”) below additional strength. All concentrated strengths from Trojak go into “cveknik”, and they are than guided to a body or an object beneath. Under the ring, there is “rešten” that stands for the sky with the moon, the sun and stars and it connects the triangle. When we place trojak in space, it automatically works so that it nullifies all the bad forces and is making it impossible for all bad hosts or other hostile forces to enter the house. As you see, the “starce” sit in the holes of three bulcne (pebbles) shaped by the powers of the river for millenniums. Donor: Jerin, Material: stone, wood, iron, box tree, 120 x 180 cms (originally), owned by Pavel Medvešček

27 – DOSSIER The dossier presents the accumulation of textual material this research attempts to encompass. Arranged chronologically and divided thematically, each of the pieces—book chapters, academic essays, interviews and newspaper clippings— present a fragment of the knowledge which is distributed across this reflective platform.

Photo by Anna Positano, 2016

KOBARID INSTALLATIONâ&#x20AC;&#x192; A bioacoustics microphone is placed in the woods of Kobarid, along the Peace trail that connects all the ruins of WWI, close to where the front line was located between 1915-18. The sensor is sustained by a lightweight metal structure that will blend into the landscape.

It will monitor and record a series of sound sample from the environment during the entire duration of the exhibition, in order to build an archive of sounds that will then be translated into a visualisation of the spectral information contained in the audio-files.

Network of people and Institutions that collaborated with us on the project: Renata Salecl; Marko Bajc, Domen Finžgar from Slovenia Forestry Institute / Gozdarski, Inštitut Slovenije (Ljubljana, Slovenia); Boštjan Lužnik from The Kobarid Museum / Kobariški Muzej (Kobarid, Slovenia); Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito–Ufficio Storico (Rome, Italy); Miloš Bavec director of Geological Survey of Slovenia / Geološki Zavod Slovenije (Ljubljana, Slovenia); Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek (Wien, Austria); Municipality of Kobarid / Občina Kobarid (Kobarid, Slovenia); Tourist Information Centre Kobarid / Turistično-informacijski center Kobarid (Kobarid, Slovenia); Slovene Ethonographic Museum / Slovenski etnografski muzej (Ljubljana, Slovenia; National Museum of Contemporary History / Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije (Ljubljana, Slovenia); Martina Schiavon, Maître de conférences en Histoire des sciences et des techniques, Université de Lorraine (Nancy, France).

Credits Studio Folder, Translator Renata Salecl, Profile Curated by: Merve Bedir, Alessandro Busi, Giulia Cordin, Marco Ferrari, Dawid Górny, Francesca Lucchitta, Gili Merin, Monuriki (Marco Minicucci, Luis Pimentel, Livia Shamir), Elisa Pasqual, Ana Pečar, Giovanni Pignoni, Anna Positano Design and production: Curators and Gisto (Alessandro Mason, Gabriele Lucchitta, Matteo Giustozzi) Technical Partner:

Thank you! Marco Bernardini, Agostino Bucci, Pietro Leoni