1st Open Library in Belgrade___experimental urban stop project___free book exchange project___Goethe Guerilla 2011___ design: Mirjana Utvic
1st Open library in Belgrade is a result of 1 year active work inside Goethe Guerilla Group- Goethe Institute Belgrad.
Driven by the idea of book crossing projects around the world this project was to give a physical frame for free exchange of books in public space in a form of an urban stop installation. It was positioned in the main pedestrian street (Knez Mihajlova) in city center of Belgrade. Therefore the intention was not to make something small, rather a visible object that will attract citizens to react to it. This was and still is an experiment of society and its habits in urban public space as well as inside the community. Form is simple, yet alluring. A cube that has two faces like a mirror, reflecting the process of exchange and societies reaction to project it self. Individual opposite himself and society. 1 : 1 Therefore this object reflects the current picture inside of society and gives a frame for social exchange. This project was started in November 2011, when the Cube was placed in Knez Mihajlova Street. During that winter it was moved in front of the nearby Faculty of Philosophy and then it was back in Knez Mihajlova, where it remained till November of 2013, when we decides to make DE > CONSTRUCTION of the Library in the physical as well as in conceptual way. After 2,5 years the project still lives on and as we started in top down way with the intention to first, with this one object, wake up this idea in societies mind. Now we intend to spread it around the city in form of mini libraries that will be part of cultural institutions, public places, community spaces, where ever possible or where ever people put it to its purpose. |