Neue Slowenische Kunst

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Logo of Neue Slowenische Kunst

Neue Slowenische Kunst (a German phrase meaning "New Slovenian Art"), aka NSK, is a controversial political art collective that announced itself in Slovenia in 1984, when Slovenia was still part of Yugoslavia. (The name is itself an attempt to stir up controversy through evoking memories of the Nazi occupation of Slovenia during the Second World War.)

NSK's best-known member is the musical group Laibach. Other NSK member groups include IRWIN (painting), Noordung (theater; originally named Scipion Nasice Sisters Theater, also known as Red Pilot), New Collective Studio (graphics; also known as New Collectivism), Retrovision (film and video), and the Department of Pure and Applied Philosophy (theory). [State of Art, 2004], [Hackett, 2004], [1], [2], [3] The founding groups of the NSK were Laibach, Irwin, and Scipion Nasice Sisters Theater. [4], [5]

Both IRWIN and Laibach are emphatic about their work being collective rather than individual. Laibach's original songs and arrangements are always credited to the group collectively; the individual artists are not named on their album covers; at one point, there were even two separate Laibach groups touring at the same time, both with members of the original group. Similarly, the IRWIN artists never sign their work individually; instead, they are "signed" with a stamp or certificate indicating approval as a work from the Irwin collective.

NSK art often draws on symbols drawn from totalitarian or extreme nationalist movements, often reappropriating totalitarian kitsch in a visual style reminiscent of Dada. NSK artists often juxtapose symbols from different (and often incompatible) political ideologies. For example, a 1987 NSK-designed poster caused a scandal by winning a competition for the Yugoslavian Youth Day Celebration. The poster appropriated a painting by Nazi artist Richard Klein, replacing the flag of Nazi Germany with the Yugoslav flag and the German eagle with a dove. [Hackett, 2004]

Since 1991, NSK claims to constitute a state [6], a claim similar to that of micronations. They issue passports [7], [8]; have presented shows of their work in the guise of an embassy [9], [10] or even as territory of their supposed state [11]; maintain consulates in Florence, Italy [12] and Umag, Croatia [13]; and have issued postage stamps. [14]

The NSK were the subject of a 1996 documentary film written and directed by Michael Benson, entitled Prerokbe Ognja in Slovenian, or Predictions of Fire in English. [15] Among those interviewed in the film is Slovenian theorist Slavoj Žižek.