Ping Pong Club
In Bratislava in 1970, Julius Koller (1939-2007) transformed an exhibition area into a ping-pong club. After the Prague Spring, in a country still subject to censure and repression, the artist saw the play area as the model of a place defined by rules of conduct, like a democracy. The Ping-Pong Club embodied a non-hierarchical, non-violent form of social functioning. With the assistance of Rirkrit Tiravanija - who often works on the interaction between audiences and works of art -, this set-up is now being reactivated for the Nouveau festival. As they play freely, its visitors immerse themselves in the game while assessing the democratic aspect of a practice with known and accepted rules.