Pogon Jedinstvo and Močvara Celebrating Milestones

04. 06. 2024.

In the spring of 1999, Club Močvara in Zagreb was opened on the initiative of a dozen self-taught young people gathered in the Cultural Development Association “CDA”. Even before that, they were part of the scene, active in underground bands and independent publishing, persistently trying to revive the numb alternative culture of Zagreb. By opening Močvara, they succeeded in doing so, realizing their dreams and the dreams of many others. With its innovative music, theater, film, literary, art, workshop and other programs, Močvara soon becomes an indispensable cult place and contributes to putting Zagreb back on the world map as an alternative, independent culture, the exciting and often fringe one that boils under the surface. 

Ten years later, Pogon was established as a home of an independent culture in a former factory Jedinstvo, right next to Močvara. Pogon is the result of the cooperation of many organizations that have been advocating for cultural spaces since the early 2000s. Pogon was founded in 2008, and since 2009 it has been operating in the Jedinstvo - jointly managed by the City of Zagreb and civil society represented by Operation city alliance.  The energy of activism and advocacy has now been transformed into a story of support, solidarity and creativity - to a safe place for authors, associations, art organizations and informal groups, that has become, similar to Močvara, an irreplaceable in Zagreb's cultural and social landscape.

In celebration of these important milestones, Močvara and Pogon jointly organised exhibitions, performances, concerts, workshops and projections, presentations and talks, marking this joyful and vibrant occasion, attracting diverse visitors spanning all generations.  

Knowledge exchange

The workshop program started already on Friday, with dancer and choreographer Tamara Curić. Simple and fun, games and guided exercises for non-dancers gently ushered us into the thick of the birthday weekend. Saturday visitors also had an opportunity to learn simple bicycle repairs and maintenance with the Bicycle Repair Shop of Friends of the Earth Croatia. With the professional guidance of the Croatian Kite Association (Zmajoljupci) and within the Močvara Lab program, young and old participants made their own kites and flew them on the Sava bank. The presence of the small independent printing house, Smak Press contributed to a relaxed atmosphere. They live screen-printed Igor Hofbauer's birthday design onto the T-shirts, bags, and jackets of the visitors.

At the other end of Jedinstvo, in the Cirkobalkana tent, Nomad & Indra created a musical ambient background for different circus artists showcasing their skills in the ChilliBar in CiRkUS. For older children, there was a comics workshop with illustrator Tomislav Tomić, followed immediately by a circus workshop with Cirkorama for younger children. The workshop program ended on Sunday with planting an informal hedge with agronomist Igor Zlojtro in the Large yard, and the memory exchange program concluded with a traditional gathering on 61st Močvara record and comics fair in Močvara and its lobby, with the musical background of Šlagerstep and old schlager hits.

Time machine

For the duration of the program posters of the residents of Jedinstvo were on display in the Small Hall. Recognizable visuals of Močvara, Cirkorama, Pogon, Damir Bartol Indoš and others, sentimentaly evoked moments spent at concerts, performances and exhibitions at Jedinstvo.

Throughout the birthday program, at the very entrance of the venue, visitors were greeted by flickering digital disply animated by the artist Dina Gligo announcing the presentation of Pogon's archive (2009-2022) on the Wi-Fi network Pogonov Arhivillion, based on the Pivilion operating system of the Format C art organization. Pogon is pleased to host this installation for several more weeks and hopefully even longer. The unofficial opening took place at the presentation of the 15 years of Pogon publication. Photos from the earliest days of Jedinstvo and quotes from the publication served as a time machine navigated by the Pogon's director, Janja Sesar. An ad hoc performance by Damir Bartol Indoš and Tanja Vrvilo gave a poetic but still imaginable vision of the future of Pogon Jedinstvo.

The musical background of the evening was provided by Funk Guru & Pytzek. Funk Guru is the founder of CFSN, the collective behind the Illectricity Festival that used to call Pogon Jedinstvo its home for many years, while Pytzek is one of the best House DJs in the region. An exciting throwback took place on Sunday 26th in the Great Hall with the screening of the documentary Soft Ships by Željko Zorica Šiš about the Kugla theater. The large audience was joined by other Kugla contemporaries, as well as some new faces.

Pogon, prejudices and publications

An important birthday event was also Pogon and prejudices comic book promotion, published as a cooperation of Pogon and the School of Applied Arts and Design in Zagreb - ŠPUD. Contributing to screenplay by director Mario Kovač and with the mentorship of illustrator Tomislav Tomić, the students of the School of Applied Arts and Design Zagreb lead the reader through Pogon Jedinstvo from one tenant to another, from Cirkorama to Močvara, with their drawings and humor. One of the editors Bernarda Cesar, described the process of creating this witty publication whose editors-in-chief are Josipa Vukelić and Janja Sesar.

On the same evening, another publication had a promotion: the catalog of Gallery 90-60-90, lead by Marijana Stanić, Pogon's collaborators from the very beginning of their activities in Jedinstvo. After the promotion, visual artist Predrag Pavić, whose installation was exhibited in the Big Hall, introduced the audience to his current work.

Actions and performances

The Saturday program was shaken up by a three-hour action at Parainstitut Indoš - Panic Under the Sun by DB Indoš and Tanja Vrvilo, with the participation of actor Vilim Matula and artist Siniša Labrović. The new edition of Panic at the beginning of September will open the exhibition and performance month of the DB Indoš House of Experimental Music Theater in the Big Hall of Pogon.

The birthday program was concluded with a performance My Death and I produced by Cirkorama, an expressive exploration of the perception of mortality through the eyes of circus artist Petra Najman.  

Močvara's concert program

The first night of the birthday celebration brought us the cult Amsterdam post punk ethno experimental noisers The Ex, joined by the African-French-Italian sensation Ndox Electrique, and the playful nihil-pop group Šumski from Zagreb. The packed club was truly an hommage to Ivica Baričević Bara, the man who marked the Croatian independent scene in its very creation, as the initiator of a label and several festivals, the promoter of numerous concerts, a musician, a graphic designer and more; a great friend in whose memory Močvara has been hosting concerts for 22 years every May.

For this birthday, we were thinking about how some practices within the history of the club represent moments that are talked about to this day. We wanted to repeat one such experience – having a heavy concert in the morning, so we invited two hardcore punk bands to spice up our Saturday morning. Modern Love Story, for whom this was their first show, and Ponor, a well-known face of the Croatian hardcore scene, provided the perfect conditions for a hardcore dessert after breakfast.

Next, we hosted a musically ambient reading room ChilliBar in the circus tent in the yard behind Pogon. In the evening, we moved the performers to the roof of a tiny „house“ in front of the club where the audience enjoyed the show from the embankment of the Sava river! The entertainment was brought by young singer-songwriters VOADO, Mate Ponjević and Dominik Prok.

After more than a decade of silence, the Ministry of Psychedelia (one of Močvara's old programs) decided to break it by organizing an evening dedicated to psychedelic trance music enriched by visuals and scenographic decoration.

On Sunday, we gave room to bands that are just starting to grow. The CirkoBalkana tent brought us teenage forces: Smrdljivi Martini, Sunshine And Rainbows and Frequency. In the evening, the tent completely changed the vibes and brought us a dreamy, ethno atmosphere with performances by the Zuzana Homolová Trio and Dunja Knebl & Roko Margeta, where we enjoyed the best of Slovak, Croatian and European world music.

Močvara was overtaken by darker vibes caused by Curses, one of the most prominent Berlin bands of the dark wave revival. Before them, Neon Lies, the unavoidable representative of local darkwave, promoted his latest album, while the evening was rounded off by the famed DJ Felver.

The last day of the birthday celebration was saved for a truly legendary performance. Hans-Joachim Roedelius is a ninety-year-old music legend from Germany (he was born in 1934 in Berlin!) and co-founder of iconic bands such as Cluster and Harmonia. His daughter Rosa Roedelius created visual effects for her father's music, so the two of them came to present this unique and improvised family laboratory, leaving the audience speechless.  

Four days of various artistic, educational, concert and discursive events are behind us. While remembering this weekend of cultural abundance with joy, we tirelessly continue on.