<nettime> Special edition of Bastard: the war in Yugoslavia

[honor <honor@va.com.au>]

Announcing the first global edition of Arkzin:


		**** A Special Edition of Bastard responding to the war in
Yugoslavia ****
					http://www.arkzin.com


A coalition of writers, publishers and critics have produced a free
newspaper which seeks to create an insight into the manifold responses
engendered by the most recent war in Yugoslavia. The publication is a
vehicle of reflection, a method of amplifying the voices of the observers
in this crisis. 

Apologies to anyone who received this announcement more than once. 

INTRODUCTION 

If there is a feeling shared by most who witnessed the days of war in
Yugoslavia, it is the feeling of historical impotence. Nine weeks of war
turned us into mere spectators, watching the tough guys play chicken. The
war drive went on and on, the edge of the cliff got nearer and nearer. We
watched in fascination, but nobody put on the brakes.

Is there really nothing we can do? Are the home-viewers really the last
consulted in these wars and the first to be defeated by them? Is there any
deeper humiliation for all of us? History humiliates those who see no
sense in it. Blindness to the meaning of a historical event renders
helpless those whom history challenges. Or as Hegel said somewhere, "Hell
is truth seen too late." 

The course of history isn't decided only by those who imagine they occupy
the driver's seat. It was Kant who stressed, two hundred years ago, the
dignity of the so-called passive audience. The truth of an event is not
decided by its protagonists, but by its witnesses. It's us the armchair
passengers who observe what passes, and decide what passed. The vector
that connects camera-tipped missiles and eye witness accounts uplinked by
satellite to millions of eyeballs around the world, might seem to create
more and more mere passive observers, but it also creates more and more
witnesses to history, and participants in its assessment and recording. 

We, the so called passive audience, today more then ever, should be again
aware of our historical dignity. To "do something" doesn't always mean to
engage oneself in the concrete practical situation. Grasping the meaning
of historical events can have an impact on them; an impact which could be
even more decisive than a practical involvement. 

There are too many warriors among pacifists, too many generals among
humanitarian activists, to many criminals among politicians, and too much
stupidity among the smart bombs. To reflect upon all this won't
immediately stop anything, but it can help us to open our eyes to the
dangers and perspectives of the reawakened history we are now faced with. 

There is never enough time -- for an accurate knowledge of the history of
the region, for an instant theory which explains it all, or for an
ideology to be led by. Godot never arrives, even in Sarajevo. But we can
do the best we can. 


Thus, this special edition of the critical journal Bastard by leading
Croatian publishers, Arkzin <http://www.arkzin.com> and an independent
editorial team, is an analytical, philosophical and creative review.  It
comprises content and participation from writers and artists from over 14
countries across Europe, and beyond.  The texts encompass both new and
pre-existing material, historical and contemporary documents, and creative
and theoretical writing. 


Articles include:

"Extracts Of The Rambouillet Agreement"
John Pilger  --  "What Really Happened At Rambouillet?"
Maria Todorova  --  "Columbia University Forum"
Iso Rusi  --  "Fighting Breaks Out In Macedonia"
Tony Blair - "Speech To Newspaper Society Lunch"
Ivan Zassoursky  --  "Commentary On Tony Blair's Speech"
Michael Benson  --  "The Loathsome Couple"
Veran Matic  --  "Bombing The Baby With The Bathwater"
Noam Chomsky  --  "The Current Bombings: Behind The Rhetoric"
Natasa Kandic  --  "Diary From Kosov@"
Jonathan Ginzburg, Shalom Lappin, & Jelena Meznaric  --  "Between
Appeasement and Aggression: Responding To Events In Kosov@"
Zarana Papic  --  "Kosov@ Crisis As Hatred Power Engine"
George Soros  --  "Commencement Speech Delivered At Paul H. Nitze School of
Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins University"
Boris Buden  --  "Saving Private Havel"
Kevin Murray  --  "The Unanswered Phone"
Howard Zinn, Barbara Ehrenreich, George Kenney, Diana Johnstone & Phyllis
Bennis  --  "Were The United States and NATO Morally Obliged To Act In
Kosov@?"
Jasmina Tesanovic  --  "Diary From Belgrade"
Geert Lovink  --  "War In The Age Of The Internet  --  Some Thoughts and
Reports"
Paul Watson  --  "Dispatch From Kosov@: A Talk With Adem Demaci"
Slavoj Zizek  --  "NATO As The Left Hand Of God?"
Ivaylo Ditchev  --  "A Triumph For The Victims Once Again?"
Geert Lovink  --  "E-Mail Interview With Edi Muka"
Ivo Skoric  --  "The Elusive Victory"
Melentie Pandilovski  --  "The Balkans To The Balkanians"
Dragan Klaic  --  "Long Range Regional Cultural Strategy For The Balkans"
George Soros  --  "Breaking Down Borders"
Vladimir Gligorov  --  "Kosov@ Crisis  --  Economic Consequences"
Anthony Borden  --  "Interview With Veton Surroi, Editor Of Koha Ditore"

With additional articles by Gjeraqina Tunhina, Gordana Igric, Roman
Raczynski, Uri Avnery, Irina Aristarkhova, McKenzie Wark; texts on:
Support Initiatives for Radio B92, ANEM, Open Channels For Kosov@, Balkan
Sunflowers, RIKS: Reconstructing Via Internet Kosov@ Society, The
Syndicate & Related Projects, Art Inspired by the Kosov@ Crisis; and
images and art by: Vesna Pavlovic, Vuk Cosic, SKART , Sandra Vitaljic,
Jodi, Andrea Siegl, Zoran Naskovski , Olivera Batajic, & Apsolutno. 


DISTRIBUTION DETAILS
Bastard is free, and available NOW at the following places:

ARKZIN - Zagreb
email: arkzin@zamir.net
PH: (+385 1) 3777 866

MUTE - London, UK
email: mute@metamute.com
PH: (+44 171) 377 6949

DE BALIE - Amsterdam, Netherlands
email: balie@balie.nl
PH: (+31 20) 5535100

ARS ELECTRONICA - Linz, Austria
email: info@aec.at
PH: (+ 43 732) 7272 780

OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE - Budapest, Hungary
email: gjankovic@osi.hu
PH: (+ 36 1) 3273100

THE SEARCH FOUNDATION - Sydney, Australia
email: search@magna.com.au
PH: (+ 61 2) 9211 4164

Also out soon in Berlin, Vienna and Rotterdam.
Bastard will also be available through the Open Society Institutes in:
Tirana (Albania); Sarajevo, Banja Luka (Bosnia & Herzegovina); Sofia
(Bulgaria); Prague (Czech Republic); Tallinn (Estonia);  Riga (Latvia);
Skopje (Macedonia); Warsaw (Poland); Bucharest (Romania); Moscow (Russia);
Bratislava (Slovak Republic); Ljubljana (Slovenia); Kyiv (Ukraine); and
Belgrade (Yugoslavia).


The publication is also available in digital form (PDF, Postscript or PM6
files) for reprinting.
Please contact Arkzin for further details.
A website documenting the project will soon be linked from
<http://www.arkzin.com>.



Honor Harger
honor@va.com.au

Freelance - currently based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Current Projects:
Special edition of Bastard:
http://www.arkzin.com/bastard/special

r a d i o q u a l i a:
http://www.radioqualia.va.com.au


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