IC-98 (FI): Auri sacra fames

IC-98 has lately tried to map the (historical) moments that seem to open a variety of possibilities. Usually one path is formed from this variety that inevitably seems to lead to the point we stand in now. At the same time a great amount of possibilities disappear, is lost or actively forgotten. Yet the present time is part of history that is not ready.

Realising the unfulfilled opportunities, remembering what did not happen, is a precondition to the culture of resistance that aims to question the dominance of all idealogies that emphasise not having alternatives. Every time a change happens everything we take for granted is being questioned. An indefinite number of forces looks for new directions as forgotten phenomena surface. Previously unrealised possibilities are also being activated although their meaning can be difficult to define precisely.IC-98 wants to form a picture of this living, historical moment.

The UPM Kymmenen plywood mill in Kuopio is shut down in August 2005. In the light of global economic tendencies this case is typical, somewhat deplorable and unavoidable. As though there were no other options. Yet that which seems typical and reoccuring from the economy’s point of view, is always unique from the affected workers’ point of view. Unique is also the workspace, the human traces, memories and feelings, the wear and tear of machines – the history that writes itseld in everyday actions and seldom is recorded in the teleological stories of company histories.