SOCRAT – Creative Living Lab, Round Table – 8 December 2025

As part of the SOCRAT project, the Region of Istria, together with Kulturban, Metamedij and participating artists, organized a round table titled “Socialist Heritage and the Collectivity of Labor”. The event took place on Monday, 8 December 2025, at Novo Gallery in Pula.

The round table opened with remarks by Vladimir Torbica, who presented the SOCRAT project and its Creative Living Labs as test models for cooperation between cultural and creative industries, artists and the NGO sector in developing new cultural tourism products.

Igor Duda provided a historical overview of socialist heritage in Croatia and Yugoslavia, highlighting the importance of understanding social change, modernization and everyday life in the post-war decades.

Further contributions explored different aspects of socialist cultures. Boris Koroman discussed the diverse layers of socialist cultural experience, from collective ideals and self-management to everyday, popular and artistic cultures.

Andrea Matošević presented the artistic-research project Ho-Ruk! Hop-Jan! Compositions of Collective Work, which reinterprets sound and film archives of coordinated labor in shipyards, quarries and youth actions.

Award-winning composers Alen and Nenad Sinkauz reflected on industrial sound as a formative experience and an inspiration for contemporary musical expression, connecting personal memory with the sonic heritage of Pula’s industrial past.

Eric Ušić and Davor Sanvincenti showcased how socialist heritage informs their visual and audiovisual work, exploring perception, memory and experience.

The event also marked the start of a ten-day Creative Living Lab focused on performance, aimed at activating collective memory and developing authentic cultural and tourism experiences through collaboration between artists, cultural industries and civil society.

The lab is joined by renowned Italian artist Michele Sambin, whose interdisciplinary work connects sound, image and performance. As mentor, he will guide participants in creating collective experiences that link memory, space and community, supporting innovative and locally rooted cultural tourism.