Vlasta Delimar

IVAN DELIMAR’S ROPE WORKSHOP

UŽARSKA RADIONICA IVANA DELIMARA

Croatia, 2020., 20′

The film “Ivan Delimar’s Rope Workshop” deals with the process of burying the workshop of Vlasta Delimar’s late father on the estate in Štaglinec near Koprivnica, the cult place of Vlasta’s art festival. Vlasta’s father, Ivan Delimar’s parting wish was: “When I die, bury me on my property, under the tree, next to the workshop.” As it is not allowed to bury human bodies in one’s own yard, Vlasta buried his father’s workshop on the property. The film emphasizes the rawness of demolishing and burying a house in relation to the private and public symbolism of the place as well as the idea of a new beginning through destruction as a creative, aesthetic and creative act.

Vlasta Delimar

is the most notable Croatian performance artist, uncompromising in her criticism of ideologies, which is the focus of her artistic career starting from the early 1970s. She received the Young Communist League of Yugoslavia Award in 1986, and from 2005 to 2015 she was the head of the art association “My Land, Štaglinec” and the performance festival held in Štaglinec near Koprivnica. She is a member of HDLU (Croatian Association of Fine Artists) and HZSU (Croatian Freelance Artists Association) and one of the key players who defined contemporary performance, using her own body as a medium and content – female, naked body that still remains controversial in modern society. Exploring femininity, male-female relationships and life cycle stages – from youth and desire through partnership and motherhood to aging – Delimar presents explores autobiographical narratives that question the distinctions between public and private as well as identity policy norms.