Participants: Elvis Halilović (designer, Ondu), Urška Jurman (cultural operator, RogLab), Lenart J. Kučić (journalist, Delo newspaper), Marjeta Lavrič (Director, Španski borci Culture Centre), Eva Perčič (independent researcher, Slovenia Coworking)
Respondent: Vesna Čopič (lecturer and researcher of cultural policies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University Ljubljana)
Moderator: Aidan Cerar (sociologist, Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region)
Organized by: U3 and RogLab

The public debate will focus on what a contemporary production center or institution supporting creative, artistic and cultural activities should be like. What kind of production, management, and economic models are suitable in a time when the public sector investments in culture are increasingly oriented toward generating economic value, the public funding of culture is increasingly limited, while the public institution model continues to reflect the concept of an omnipresent welfare state, or rather, its absence? On the other hand, the dream of a happy union between creative and cultural activities and the economy has turned into a nightmare of the financial and economic crisis which hit the private sector really hard, revealing in no uncertain terms the aporias of the neo-liberal model of market economy. In this environment, new social platforms and open-source models slowly but inexorably develop new models of production, management, and economy.

RogLab is a pilot project for developing a contemporary production center for the fields of design, architecture and the visual arts – Center Rog in Ljubljana. RogLab is housed in a container in the immediate vicinity of the former Rog factory. An integral part of RogLab is a 3D workshop providing the technology and services for quick prototyping and operating as a mini-node of creative activities and interdisciplinary collaboration. The RogLab program is carried out by a network of partners bringing together NGOs, cultural, research, and educational institutions, and private businesses and companies.