Depot is the 5th edition of Extima, a performance cycle by Olja Grubić that continues to slide through the questioning of what it means to be a living being in a living world today. Answers to this question in contemporary times slide incredibly fast through different emphases. Extima detects them in situations of our intimate involvement in the social sphere that inevitably marks us as individuals. Sometimes we perceive it very directly, but more often the dominant ideology is quietly and imperceptibly nested in the reflection of our existence in society.

Our aversion to waste management may also stem from our relationship with our own bodily waste, which Western culture often regards as dirty, unpleasant, and undesirable.

Waste can also be understood symbolically. It can represent parts of ourselves that we reject, struggle to accept, or try to suppress. Although confronting these parts can be uncomfortable, it allows us to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and to accept aspects of who we are that we would otherwise push away. In doing so, we become more whole and gain greater inner strength and freedom in how we act.

The amount of waste we generate may also reflect how aligned we are with ourselves and with nature. In natural systems, substances do not become waste in the same sense that humans understand it. What is the end product of one process becomes a resource for another, as substances return to the ecosystem in various forms and become part of new cycles.

Our relationship with waste differs significantly from this natural cycle. We often discard it without considering its potential for further use or what happens to it once we dispose of it. Our attitude towards waste thus also reveals a broader alienation from the natural world and a linear understanding of our relationship with it: we extract raw materials from nature, use them, and discard them without giving serious thought to how they might be reintegrated into natural cycles.

Free admission.
Advance reservations required at: pr@maska.si

Author of Concept, Performer, Scenographer and Costume Designer: Olja Grubić
Authors and Performers: Kristina Aleksova and Anita Wach
Light Designer, Technical Support and Scenographer: Špela Škulj
Sound Designers: Andrej Fon and Vid Drašler

Production: Maska Ljubljana
Partners: MG+MSUM and Via Negativa

Co-financed by: the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, The City of Ljubljana