Going South - From Ljubljana to Sharjah

Overview

For Sharjah Biennial 9 Nika Oblak & Primož Novak created the ‘fictional documentary’ Going South - From Ljubljana to Sharjah. The film depicts an epic journey in which the pair strives to break a Guinness World Record, by pushing a wheelbarrow from Ljubljana to Sharjah – a feat that would cover a distance of 14,500 kilometres and require 3 years and 12 days. The existing Guinness World Record for wheelbarrow walking was set by a man in Australia in the 1970s.

Filmed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the UAE, Going South captures an ambiguity in the drive to succeed. On the one hand the Artists strive to be the best in their chosen discipline, however that discipline is notable for its peculiarity and fundamental futility. Through its alternative pursuit, Going South can be understood to reflect more broadly the desire to succeed in a given system, yet also to escape the structure that system imposes. It’s an inherently conflictive situation that perhaps could be considered to characterise our media and capital driven age.


This project was part of Sharjah Biennial 9