NSK Dublin was initiated by the Slovene Ambassador to Ireland Helena Drnovsek-Zorko (Slovenian Ambassador to Ireland) to be part of the EU enlargement celebrations. NSK along with Art Project Network organised a number of events that would take place in the space of just over a week within the city of Dublin. For many of us it was an unique opportunity to see NSK functioning as an art collective. These events turned out to be pretty successful and comments from some of those who attended were highly positive with their experience. The events in Dublin brought together Laibach/NSK fans from all round Europe and beyond. They certainly turned out to be quite a diverse crowd, of course it simply re-highlighted the long proven point that Laibach's appeal can come from many different angles. Dublin itself turned out to be a good host and offered plenty to do in-between the various NSK events.

April 29th - 30th, 2004
International Conference
Art and Politics: The Imagination of Opposition in Europe

April 29th - May 2nd, 2004
NSK: Passport Office
The Project Arts Centre, Temple Bar

April 30th - May 5th, 2004
IRWIN's East Art Map - Interactive Installation
The Project Arts Centre, Temple Bar

Irwin's exhibition was more about promoting awareness on East European art therefore their own contribution was kept to a minimum. Although interesting in its own right, ultimately a bit disappointing for NSK fans who really wanted to see much more of Irwin's work. As it stood it was a good insight to the art of the former communist countries. The art map provided a guide and highlighted the links between the various artists and art groups and through observing the work of Irwin over the years I came to recognise a surprising number of them. Laibach, Irwin and NSK featured within the map, also notice a couple of omission but since I 'm not in a position to offer much debate over it and in any case it's possibly compiled via a specified criteria or at least to Irwin's own specifications.
Using overhead projectors to display the exhibition; alongside the map there was a film of a man walking through a town or city looks as if he was in a slight hurry and was taking an unusual route. At the opposite end of the room a projector was flicking through one at a time some of the work from the art groups and artists that featured on the Art Map. Accompanying all this was minimalistic techno beats.

May 1st, 2004
Dept. of Pure and Applied Philosohpy
Peter Mlakar: Three Forms of the Absolute Evil
Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, Temple Bar

May 3rd to May 5th, 2004
NOORDUNG: Supremat - Producer Dragan Zivadinov
The Helix Theatre, DCU, Dublin 7
Review of Noordung in Dublin

May 3rd, 2004, 4.30pm
NSK: Predictions of Fire - Director Michael Benson
The Irish Film Institute, Temple Bar

May 5th 2004, 4.00-6.00pm
Open Seminar by Alexei Monroe and Ian Parker
Zizek, Laibach, NSK: Psychoanalysis, culture and politics
DBS School of Arts, 6/9 Balfe Street, Dublin 2

As a bonus to the official NSK events Ian and Alexei extended an invite to all those interested to their seminar at the DBS School of Art. It was nicely timed a few hours before the Laibach concert, which was due to take place a short walk away at the Temple Bar Music Centre. The main theme of their seminar was to discuss the work of Zizek in relation to the NSK and Laibach. Zizek took a keen interest in Laibach and the NSK in the 80's and early 90's incorporating them into his work and also collaborated in a number of projects, most notably the film 'Predictions of Fire'. Although well aware of Zizek's work, especially concerning the NSK, I wouldn't consider it more than scratching the surface and therefore the seminar was an excellent opportunity to become a little more acquainted with his work. The seminar was complemented with images, music and video clips via use of an overhead projector, Laibach's 'For you Blue' was played to start the seminar. Alexei delivered his talk first, titled 'Interrogation Machine: Laibach and The NSK State' the full transcript is available online along with Ian's talk titled 'Zizek: Ambivalence and Oscillation'. While Alexei focussed more on Laibach and the NSK incorporating some analysis made by Zizek, Ian took the opposite route and concentrated on Slavoj Zizek and also revealing some interesting insights about the man himself beyond his work. At the end they both dealt with a round of questions. It was a worthwhile and interesting seminar and not only for those with a more academic interest; it also set the mood nicely for the Laibach concert.

May 5th, 2004
LAIBACH - Occupied Europe 2004
The Temple Bar Music Centre, Temple Bar
Review of Laibach in Dublin
Photos of the Dublin concert by Guillaume L.