Projects 2002-2010
Projects
2002 – 2010
It says: Tomislav Lesinger
● The first projects of the association (2002. 2005-2005)
● Fanzin ‘El Chupacabra’ (2002)
● Alternative Literature Library Project (2002. 2005-2005)
● "Days of Tošina 2003" (2003)
● 07.12.2004. - First exhibition (graduate thesis by Gordan Karabogdan)
● 25.03.2005 – First panel discussion (“Set the switch on the street lighting” and “Light as a form of pollution”)
● 11.04.2005 – start of the initiative for the Youth Club of Opatija
● Co-organization of Opatija Festival 2. Baroness (2005)
● IT literacy workshop in Tošina (2004. 2005-2005)
● The first space of the association. (2005. 2017)
● The first website of the association (2005)
All the beginnings are difficult, but our beginning was a living torment. And it took years. In the beginning, we didn't have any resources or ideas on how to work. We couldn't even write letters. We wanted all sorts of things, but we didn't have any leadership or experience.
It all begins with the publication of the ad-hoc anarchist-artistic-activist fanzine ‘El Chupacabra’ (as many as 20 copies!), full of internal jokes and wit, but also of authorial texts derived from the obsession with philosophy, art and music of the time.
The first project was to organise ‘Days of Tošina 2003’, offering exhibitions, concerts, lectures and sports competitions to the public. But very soon we got caught up in the bureaucracy, and saw that it was not as simple as it seemed. (It will take almost six years until the first Tošina Days.)
Because of some of our attitudes in the beginning we even had the stigma of anarchist, semi-revolutionary. This did not bother us, but it was interesting to watch the faces of politicians coming to visit the MO, and the rooms full of posters and books representing anti-globalization movements, anti-IMF, anti-capitalism, vegetarianism, and all other activist things. We were true "enemies within", as all young revolutionaries must be. We collected all these books through donations, and since we didn't even have a shelf for them from a nearby construction site, we took damaged joke bars. We sawed them, nailed them and painted them with the only paint Mrle had in the tavern – of course, red. We called the whole project "Alternative Literature Library".
In 2004, our association informally became part of the Clubture network platform, a program platform of independent cultural organizations, initiatives and non-profit clubs. Through this networking, we get regular information related to projects that could be financed by the association, but also what others do and what activities they carry out. We were also welcomed by an artist, Gordan Karabogdan, who, through the Clubture platform, held an exhibition in the MO Toshin space.
2005 was a very important year. That year, the CF launched the official website, developed cooperation with other associations, participated in the initiative to gather all young activists of Opatija and to form the Youth Club of the City of Opatija, in which creative workshops, exhibitions, cultural and entertainment events would be organized.
This is the time when nightlife moves from Opatija to Rijeka. At that time, Opatija did not have a single event for young people. Well, when no one will - we will! In February 2005, we bring together young people with the initiative “Opatija Youth Club”, and we help Damir Tomić Jabuki organize 2. It's the baroness. On our initiative, we are creating a workshop Opatija Youth Club, which brings together all youth associations, activists, artists and all teams working with young people. The workshop is led by Igor Bajok (GONG, Moji Ičići), who is the only one of us with experience in the civil sector and youth work. It was the first time that young people came together from different interest groups around a single goal. The workshop lasted until the end of the year, and in addition to us, the associations Crta, Ventil, Žmergo and the Youth Action participated. Everything resulted in an appeal to the city of Opatija to allocate space for a youth club, the Committee association was born as the umbrella youth association of the city of Opatija, and the first joint project - the Op.Art Quisisana Festival. In doing so, the Cultural Front provided assistance with Baruf and worked on part of the programme – Abbacon, Opatija’s first ‘sf conference’.
From everything we stood for, we didn't get too much, but at least the associations got rooms in Villa Antonio, and the ability for bands to practice in the basement. However, the biggest gains for the city, but also for associations, are – projects: Barufe Festival, Op.Art and Liburnicon. Baroques in synergy of forces become one of the largest festivals of alternative music, with over 8,000 visitors, foreign guests and a quality program. Liburnicon has become a real summer hit, an event with guests from all over the world. Op.Art gathers hundreds of artistic souls in Volosko, where it has established itself as a real creative force. These projects represent a real local product, they just need to be nurtured and branded each in their own way.
With Abbacon, or Liburnicon, we got a basic project around which the association revolves all 365 days of the year. The project we have been looking for since its inception – Liburnicon.
● Abbacon (2006)
● Co-organization of Opatija's Op.Art Quisisana Festival (2006)
● Liburnicon (2007)
● Co-organization of Opatija's Op.Art Quisisana Festival (2007)
● 3. Liburnicon (2008)
● ‘Days of Tošina’ (2008)
● Little School of Fantasy – Workshops (2008)
● 4. Liburnicon (2009)
● “Fantastika Laboratory” by Zoran Krušvar (2009)
● ‘Days of Tosina’ (2009)
My name is ‘Abbacon’. It was one of those attempts when the name of the city (op.a. Abbazia tal. Opatija) try to connect with what you are doing in it, so we added a sequel “con”. And then you realize that people think it's an ABBA fan convention. Yes, it was the first "SF Conference" ever held in Opatija. It cost us about 500 kn and one two three weeks of organization. There were about 50 people. The first day we had an introduction by drinking vampire cocktails in Volosko's Skalinada and listening to vampire stories in the company of Ernie Gigante Dešković, Zoran Krušvar, Boris Perić and Davor Šišović, and later watching Herzog's Nosferata. The next day was the D&D tournament at Villa Antonio where I realized that someone else in Opatija was playing D&D except the three of us. Also, that day I met Korad Korlević, the star bearer on Opatija's celebrity street, to whom I exchanged slides on his laptop because we didn't have a pointer. I also met the organizers of Istrakon who wished us not to give up on that occasion. We liked this group of creatives that we have gathered and with whom we have socialized.
Next year, we said we were separating from the Op.Art Quisisana Festival and going alone. This time we are preparing more seriously because we count on as much as HRK 2,000 from the City of Opatija, which was "promised" by the then Mayor Muzur, and for which the Opatija sf & fantasy writer Ernie Dešković also lobbied. I suggest we change the name and adopt the name Liburnicon. We add ‘c’ instead of ‘k’ below, ‘kon’, because we want to be different and a little more international. Also, we later add to the name that we are a Festival, not a classic convention. We make the first video announcement, a website, we call the media, we print posters, leaflets, we fill a rich program, we provide a space with computers for journalists (!), we bring a bar with beer (!), we have tournaments, we have video projections, stands, we print T-shirts with the logo of Liburnicon (Šuker solved the matter), we also have exhibitions and a children's program because from the beginning we are aware that in some way "education" of the audience is very important for the future of the festival. Guests, visitors (yes, visitors!) from Zagreb and far away are accommodated in the hotel (!) paid by the City of Opatija. In all this infatuation we are indebted and we go into the minus because, of course, we expect from the tickets that they will come back. When that...
“There was a strange smell in the air, as if plastic was burning. It shone in the main corridor and the three main rooms were left without electricity. The old electrical installations in the Villa Antonio building were just waiting for a slightly stronger consumer to burn. The wires in the junction box (and all the corridors and rooms in the walls) melted and the only way to repair them was to put in new installations. When we opened the power locker, we saw that the fuse was holding a 10 cm nail so it wouldn't accidentally come out. And so, while we organizers ran through the corridors and tried to restore electricity, visitors slowly picked up the night swimming and going out to Opatija. The program was completely exhausted, and only LARP vampires were not devastated." Report from Liburnicon 2007, Parsek No. 94
The second day went extremely well, more people came and the program delighted all visitors. Particularly impressive were our newly created Liburnicon games. Suker invented ‘Star Trek bowling’, which people love to play. There were a lot of other games that we played later, such as "Landing on the Moon", "Gnoma from the Shoulders", etc. The only thing that left a bitter taste after Liburnicon in 2007 was that we were all too tired, some of us had a fight (and there were only five of us: Lesinger, Šuker, Kero, Pavletić and Cerovac), and the first Liburnicon was financially saved by our friend and great benefactor Marijan Gvozdić because he then paid a minus of over HRK 2,000 from his own pocket.
Marijan Gvozdić called Mecena, July 25, 2007:
"You'll give it back to me one day"
CF 2024:
‘LOL
As early as 2008, we were making some changes to our programme policy and opting for the "how much money – so much music" option. We are much smarter and already know where we make mistakes and how to predict them. So Liburnicon ends with just under 2,000 kn minuses paid again by our patron Marijan Gvozdić. Joke aside (the joke is, but true), in 2008 we determined the way we would go in the years to come. We have developed a special formula in the program that we have been using ever since, and that is a special ratio of serious and frivolous content by which Liburnicon is recognizable. We realized that it should be authentic and fun, and so was our program. When you make such a program then the atmosphere becomes such. At Liburnicon it is always lively, bright, lots of different people, and yet all together enjoy and have fun. Liburnicon has always been much more than just a science fiction convention.
In 2008, we also call famous names like Krešimir Mišak, who, together with Korad Korlević and Vladimir Paar, holds a spectacular panel discussion in front of 150 people that was talked about years later. I remember when I left that panel talking about the future of our civilization, I was a little emotional because I was aware that we had done something amazing. Like when you left the cinema after a shocking movie, the audience came out of the hall. That year Liburnicon was visited by over 500 visitors, we sold all accreditations, T-shirts and all beer from the bar.
The following year was marked by the stabilization of the festival, we finally found ourselves on all maps of events in Croatia. We conduct a rich program of the “Liburnicon School of Wizarding for Children”, we also have acting groups, so we have several performances and performances, the first “Plažakon” is organized, which is actually an entertainment program on the beach, we have the “Liburnicon Olympiad”, we reward cosplay, etc.
In those years, we organized in cooperation with the Tošina Local Committee and the first "Tošina Days". It was a manifestation with which we wanted to show that apart from fantasy, real life and cooperation with the local community are important to us. We organize football tournaments, we call family farms from all over the county because we wanted to make a slightly different party than the "Cevapa Beer Festival". And we succeeded, the response was excellent, and we profil ourselves as an association that does not deal with itself, but does programs of interest to the wider community.
We also received some small money for our other projects, so together with Zoran Krušvar, a well-known sf&fantasy writer from Rijeka, we conduct the "Little School of Fantasy" and the "Fantasy Laboratory" in which we gather young creatives at literary workshops, and there were workshops of heraldry and veriznjača (jewellery, decorations, chainmail, etc.), origami, and presentations and lectures on historical topics in cooperation with the Association of History Students of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka – “Malleus”. The aim was to bring the world of science fiction, fantasy, advanced science, history and mythology closer to younger ages. The project received the full support of the “Viktor Car Emin” City Library and Reading Room, the “Eugen Kumičić” Gymnasium, and the “R. K. Jeretov” Elementary School from Opatija. In Opatija's elementary school, in front of a crowded hall, we organize a lecture “Let's get to know the night sky” by the astronomer Korad Korlević, who arouses interest in astronomy topics for the youngest in Opatija.
Underneath the night sky, a new future was being created.