Civil Society:Labin Art Express
Labin Art Express XXI is an interdisciplinary arts organization in Labin, Croatia founded with the goal of artistic, performative work based on iconography of life of miners. It was founded in 1991 as Labin Art Express, and in 2005 changed the name to Labin Art Express XXI.[1]
History
Labin Art Express (L.A.E.) collective was initiated by Dean Zahtila, Krešimir Farkaš, and Graziano Kršić. In 1984, Dean Zahtila opened RE galerija, one of the first private art galleries in Yugoslavia. In 1991, he was joined by a sculptor and sailor Krešimir Farkaš and founded Labin Art Express. From 1993 to 1996 they ran Radio L.A.E., first completely independent radio station in Croatia. In 1994 Dean Zahtila, Krešimir Farkaš, and Massimo Savić founded the multimedia art group Metal Guru. In 1992 they presented their project in the Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb in their program text Umjetnički credo L.A.E. where they announced the independent international cultural centre Lamparna, which was opened in 1998 in an abandoned and unkempt industrial complex mine. In 2007 L.A.E. XXI with the support of the Town Labin stated the reconstruction of the mining-industrial Pijacal complex and the project Podzemni grad/Underground City XXI, co-financed by European Union.