Association of the Friends of Moderate Progress

Contact

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Društvo prijateljev zmernega napredka (DPNZ)

Glagoljaška ulica 4, SI-6000 Koper-Capodistria

drustvo@dpzn.org

Phone386 (0) 5 627 1989, 386 (0) 5 627 2215

The Association of the Friends of Moderate Progress was established in 1990 as a promoter of self-organised alternative culture in Slovenia. In 1991, it took over the MKC Koper Youth and Culture Centre in Koper-Capodistria, and a programme of so-called "permanent social experiment - an oasis of diverse human relations" - has been devised and developed for the association by performer and alternative musician Marko Brecelj and cultural activist Arijana Markučič up to 2015 when due to local authorities the organisation had to move out.

The association has some 100 members and celebrated its 20th anniversary at the Španski borci Culture Centre in Ljubljana with an exhibition of its rich archive and a multimedia event.

Publishing

One of the association's main concerns is the invention of immediate media. It has engaged in comic art activities involving various local authors and published their work in the photocopied Klarinet newsletter and in the Stripzid comic poster series which announced various events.

Since 2004 the Association of the Friends of Moderate Progress publishes online news on the activities of the MKC Koper Youth and Culture Centre on a daily basis. The blog forms part of the non-government sector's information and discussion forum at Dodogovor.org.

Activities and programme

The association fosters creative work and the development of independent critical thinking, and offers room for counter cultures, educational initiatives, ecology, and sport. It is also involved in anti-fascist and anti-clerical activism and civil disobedience acts, which have developed in a specific format of the so-called "Soft Terrorism" (Mehki terorizem). Most of these actions are recorded and later feature as video documents (e.g. Cottonssination [Vatentat] from 2003 or The Plums are Ripe [Slive so zrele], 2009).

Up to 2015 DPZN organised and co-ordinated public alternative cultural programmes, including the Koperground Festival. It also collects and distributes information on education, employment, leisure activities, and culture for the growing youth and adult population, especially focussing on marginalised social groups.

The association is a member of Art Cinema Network.

Archive

The Association of the Friends of Moderate Progress holds a rich alternative archive mostly comprised of documentation linked to the former MKC Koper Youth and Culture Centre activities. Some of the publications have been already included in the International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana permanent collection and in 2009 the association exhibited the archives for the first time in the Koper Regional Museum.

See also

• Koperground Festival
• Dodogovor.org

External link

• Dodogovor.org website (in Slovenian)
• Vatentat video on YouTube