We’ve been busy all summer, preparing for the event and setting up our headquarters. We’re thrilled to meet everyone soon – the program is now available, so be sure to explore the participants and events.
Check out our gallery featuring ISSA volunteers and founders who are working tirelessly this whole summer!
The work on dry stone walling continued, with the help of our resident expert, Igor Mataić:
Then the preparations and the installation of the solar panels begun:
“ISSA – Good Life in the Age of Extinction” With Srećko Horvat and !Mediengruppe Bitnik moderated by Clemens Holtmann time: 6-7pm 16th of February 2024 /rosa Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse 35 10178 Berlin https://www.panke.gallery/rosa/
On the 16th of February, some of the co-founders of ISSA will be in Berlin to present the work and ambitions of The Island School of Autonomy at the intimate space of /rosa. After the short presentation there will be a Q&A session, time for discussion and new collaborations.
Since /rosa has a limited number of seats please rsvp via email: issa@bitnik.org
For many people in Italy, September 8th (1943) is the name of national shame.
As I don’t believe in nations this expression means nothing to me.
However September 8th 1943 means something also to me: the ruining of the Italian society following the collapse of the Army and of the Fascist Regime.
My father told me his personal story: on that day he was in a barrack of Padova, where he was serving as a soldier of the Italian Army engaged in the war alongside the Germans. He was not a fascist nor an anti-fascist. He was a simple person who did not like war.
All of a sudden he received the news: war is over, well not really. The Italian Army is not engaged in the alliance with Germans anymore, but with the Anglo-Americans.
It was not the first time that Italy changed allies at the last moment in order to stay on the winning side.
It had already happened in 1915 when the Italian government accepted the offer of Great Britain and France, and betrayed the central powers entering the First World War with catastrophic results (half million casualties for a war of choice).
In September 1939, after the occupation of Poland, Mussolini was uncertain about what to do, but he decided to go to war on 10 June 1940 when, after the occupation of France by German troops, he became convinced that Hitler would win the war.
Rushing to the rescue of the winner was the opportunistic choice of the fascists, but eventually, things turned bad. Hitler, the supposed winner was halted in Stalingrad, the Americans started bombing the European cities, so Mussolini realized that he was going to lose the war. At that point the fascists entered into a state of mental confusion. On 25 July the Fascists arrested Mussolini and the regime entered a phase of chaos.
On 3 September, General Badoglio, who had been the military commander of the deadly colonial adventures of fascism, signed an armistice with the Anglo-Americans.
At that point, chaos broke out at all levels of the Italian Army and also of Italian society.
Are we still at war?
Who is our ally? The Germans or the Anglo-Americans?
The king and royal family abandoned Rome and eventually fled the country. Mussolini,imprisoned by his fellow fascists, was freed by a German commando and gave birth to the Republic of Salò, entrenched in the northern part of the country.
The Anglo-Americans took control of the southern regions and a part of the disbanded Italian soldiers joined the partisan groups that were spreading throughout the country.
For my father (who was not fond of national pride) it was the beginning of an adventure: he left the army and fled like most of his fellow soldiers. Then he went to the mountains where he met a group of partisans and joined them.
September 8, 1943 is the best testimony of what fascism really is: quackery, arrogance, violence against the weak and compliant submission to the stronger.
A coward and imbecile, Mussolini had decided to go to war when he believed that Hitler had already won.
September 8th 1943 can also be seen as the epitome of the sudden disintegration of a state.
Let’s consider what is happening now, eighty years after.
In many European countries the fascists are back because people are frightened by poverty, migration and the crumbling of the neoliberal promise. Fascists rule Italy, Hungary, Poland, nationalist parties grow in Germany, France and Spain. They promise national glory and the extermination of migrants.
Migrants are murdered all along the border between the North and the South of the world. But national glory means nothing but war, unemployment and fear.
A return of September 8 on a European scale is to be expected.
The fascists of today are not exactly like the fascists of the past century.
Twenty century fascism was all about youth, energy and conquest, the European population of today is senescent, depressed, infertile.
European people are not conquering new territories, they are frightened by the mounting wave of migration.
The eighth of September that comes will not be a mere replay of eighty years ago. Not the political state, not the army are on the brink of collapse: the structures that enable social integration are at stakes.
Climate collapse, militarization, all encompassing precariousness are transforming social life into hell.
This is why we should focus on a single issue: how will we survive?
How can we possibly create the conditions for happy life in the coming disintegration and chaos?
These two questions are the main issue of the Island School of Social Autonomy (ISSA).
Are we really able to create the institution that we need? Certainly not.
We – the small group of friends who launched the project – do not have the means for creating what is needed now.
We don’t have the financial and technical tools that are necessary for such an enormous task.
So what are we going to do in the island of Vis, on September 8th?
We are going to make a call to the cognitive workers of the planet Earth.
A call to start the process of creation of the Island School of Social Autonomy.
Millions of young people know that they will live in hell if we don’t create the conditions to create everywhere islands of self-organization for survival.
Human civilization is under disintegration: if we want to survive, and possibly live happily we must summon the forces of knowledge and innovation in islands of autonomous survival.
Antifascist graffiti from 1940s, “All for the defense of Vis” (Sve za obranu Visa)
Uz bogat program, od 7. do 10. rujna i uz obilježavanje 80. obljetnice oslobođenja od fašizma, na otoku Visu s radom započinje ISSA – Škola autonomije
Predavanja, radionice, atipične aturističke ture, eksperimentiranje s piratskom radio-stanicom, poezija, glazba i neizbježne radne akcije, sve nas to čeka od 7. do 10. rujna na otoku Visu.
Nakon što je početkom ljeta najavljeno pokretanje Škole autonomije na jednom od naših najudaljenijih naših otoka, među čijim su suosnivačima Srećko Horvat, Goran Bogdan, Hito Steyerl, Gael Garcia Bernal, Dora Held, Marko Pogačar te mnogi drugi, sada ISSA (Island School of Social Autonomy) i službeno kreće s radom.
Inauguracija škole neće se samo pozabaviti pitanjem i praksom autonomije danas, nego i time zašto se uopće pokreće, kakva je to točno škola i što sve može biti, što to “dobar život” znači u vremenima planetarne krize te kako izgraditi drugačiju budućnost kombinirajući tradicionalna znanja i moderne tehnologije.
Istovremeno, s obzirom da se 8. rujna obilježava 80 obljetnica kapitulacije Italije i oslobođenja otoka Visa – i drugih otoka i obale Dalmacije – od fašizma, Škola autonomije će dio programa posvetiti istraživanju i prezentaciji fascinantne povijesti otpora otoka Visa.
Jedan od vodećih suvremenih filozofa, Franco “Bifo” Berardi, održat će dva predavanja, prvo u Visu pod nazivom Kako ćemo živjeti? i to na dan kapitulacije Italije (8. rujna) u suradnji s Europskim centrom za studije rata i mira u impozantnoj palači Vukašinović-Dojmi de Lupis te drugo naslovljeno Za stvaranje škole nepredvidivog (9. rujna) na plaži u Komiži.
Bifo je posljednji put javno nastupio u Hrvatskoj prije šest godina kada je zajedno s pjevačem Primal Screama Bobbyjem Gillespijem gostovao kod Srećka Horvata na Filozofskom teatru u punoj dvorani HNK-a. U međuvremenu je redovito posjećivao Vis i sudjelovao u stvaranju Škole. Na hrvatskom jeziku nedavno je objavljena njegova knjiga Pobuna: O poeziji i financijama, a najavljena viška predavanja prava su filozofska poslastica.
Umjetnički kolektiv !Mediengruppe Bitnik također je dio Škole i dolazeiz Berlina da bi zajedno s Gordanom Savičićem i Selenom Savić vodili neobičnu aturističku turu “1 zvjezdice” (baziranu na recenzijama lokacija otoka Visa s jednom zvjezdicom). !Mediengruppe Bitnik poznati su po ometanju nadzornih kamera, postavljanju prislušnih uređaja u zgradu opere radi prenošenja izvedbe u vanjski svijet, slanju paketa s kamerom Julianu Assangeu u ekvadorsku ambasadu u Londonu i mnogim drugim intrigantnim radovima. U sklopu Škole predstavit će se i početno eksperimentiranje s piratskom radio stanicom na otoku.
U povodu 80. obljetnice oslobođenja otoka Visa od fašizma, filozof Srećko Horvat će održati “antifašističku turu Komižom” kroz zaboravljene ili potisnute povijesne lokacije, kao i danas postojeće tragove herojskog otpora otočana, dok će se uz suradnju s Gradom Komiža i Turističkom zajednicom grada Komiže, u subotu, 9. rujna održati prigodna proslava oslobođenja otoka Visa pod nazivom “Vinceremo – Vederemo!”, večer antifašističke poezije i glazbe na lokaciji gdje je 1943. u borbi s fašistima herojski poginuo Nikola Marinković “Top”.
Naziv tog programa dolazi od jednog događaja s početka fašističke okupacije Visa. Dok su talijanske trupe pristizale 30. travnja 1941. godine, domaće stanovništvo palilo je logorske vatre na većim brdima te su sva sela bila išarana antifašističkim grafitima. Talijanske slogane viška je mladež precrtavala, dodajući Vederemo („vidjet ćemo“) talijanskom Vinceremo („pobijedit ćemo“). Otpor fašističkoj vlasti pojavljivao se u mnogim oblicima.
Na godišnjicu Oktobarske revolucije 1942. godine, Nikola Marinković “Top”, sin siromašnog ribara, popeo se na vrh pedesetmetarskog zvonika komiške crkve “Muster” i razvio crvenu zastavu. Iako je mladić uspio pobjeći rafalnoj pucnjavi bijesnih talijanskih trupa koja je uslijedila, kasnije su ga ubili. Na ulici na kojoj je ubijen, do 90-ih je stajala spomen-ploča, međutim, ona je, kao i mnoge druge ploče posvećene tom povijesnom periodu i borbi otočana, srušena. Upravo na toj lokaciji održat će se proslava oslobođenja otoka uz prigodan program na kojem će antifašističku poeziju i zaboravljene borbe otoka Visa čitati glumci Milivoj Beader i Bruna Bebić, uz domaće snage s otoka i pokoje iznenađenje.
Kao zaokruženje četverodnevnog programa na kraju će se održati radna akcija u šumi na brdu gdje uporna skupina iza ovog poduhvata gradi Školu autonomije.
Ulaz na sve programe je besplatan.
Thursday 7.9.2023 … Komiža
Friday 8.9.2023 …. Vis
17:30–19:00
One-star review tour
with Selena Savić, Gordan Savičić & !Mediengruppe Bitnik (English & na našem jeziku)
Meeting place: Ferry Port
21:00
Warm Welcome & Short Program Presentation
Location: European Center for the Study of War and Peace, Matije Gupca 21, Vis
21:30
“How will we live?”
Franco “Bifo” Berardi – lecture (English)
Location: European Center for the Study of War and Peace, Matije Gupca 21, Vis
Saturday 9.9.2023 … Komiža
19:00
School on the beach
Location: Žanićevo žalo/ Ribarska
20:00
For the creation of a School of the Unpredictable
Franco “Bifo” Berardi – lecture (English)
Location: Žanićevo žalo/ Ribarska
22:00
Celebration of the liberation of island Vis from fascism
Vinceremo–Vederemo!
Milivoj Beader & surprise guests
Lokacija: Žanićovo žalo/ Ribarska
Sunday 10.9. 2023 … ISSA
15:00–20:00
School on the hill
Work action & Pirate Radio ISSA experimenting
Sign up: issa[at]hr.issa-school.org/ Location: ISSA – near Tito’s Cave
In the summer of 2023, we proudly announced the launch of the ISSA School. There is no exaggeration when we say it was a project in preparation for over two years. Throughout this time, we engaged in discussions regarding various school initiatives. We invested a great deal of physical effort into this remote location. Our heartfelt gratitude extends to all who contributed, whether on site or by offering remote support through advice and donations, all of which will undoubtedly create immense value for the community.
Since the official announcement of the school, we have been fortunate to receive collaboration and support from numerous impressive individuals, collectives and projects, all eager to share their knowledge and lend a helping hand.
The ISSA School aims to provide enjoyable and educational programs for all generations. Besides hard physical work and fun up in the hills, we were discussing and planning various activities and necessities, from constructing a self-sufficient water system to solar power, from educational hikes around the hills near Tito’s cave to an educational treasure hunt for kids and grown ups interested in the history and the future of the island Vis.
Moreover, this venue will serve – and already serves – as a meeting point for creative and progressive thinkers and doers, fostering the exchange of new perspectives, ideas, and potential collaborations.
We wholeheartedly welcome anyone interested in getting involved, sharing their expertise, or making a donation. ♥️
Below, you will find excerpts from the catalogue of the exhibition Vis-à-Vis 200 – The Archaeological Heritage of the Island of Vis. The exhibition showcased a diverse range of artifacts, such as inscriptions, sculptures, ceramics, jewelry, weapons, and more, offering a fascinating glimpse into the island’s earliest traces of life from prehistoric times to the early Middle Ages. The exhibition particularly focused on the dynamic development of the Greek polis of Issa during the Hellenistic period. Take a moment to browse the gallery below and discover it for yourself!
We decided to explore the topic of ISSA using ChatGPT, and at the same time examine the phenomenon of the emerging power of AI that began to preoccupy humanity these days in, what feels to be every online and physical space.
Write a poem on Issa
AI:
On the island of Vis, where once stood Issa, Rises now a school, named with honor, Of social autonomy, free from rule, With education, Illich would be cool.
The founders, a diverse crew, hand-built it all, Combining new tech with old stone walls, Permaculture, art, philosophy, and more, A deschooling model, unlike before.
In a world of crises, where the end seems near, The School of Autonomy brings hope and cheer, A space for experimentation, a chance to thrive, And to redefine the way we learn and survive.
The journey to this island, once the end of the world, Now beckons all to see a new model unfurled, Ivan Illich’s dream of deschooling, brought to life, A beacon of hope in a sea of strife.
How would you define social autonomy?
AI:
Social autonomy refers to the ability of individuals or groups to independently make decisions and take actions that affect their own lives and the communities they belong to, without being overly constrained by external factors such as social norms, economic structures, or political institutions. It involves the recognition and respect for individual and collective agency, self-determination, and the pursuit of shared goals through voluntary and democratic means. Social autonomy can be seen as an alternative or complement to centralized power structures, hierarchical forms of governance, and top-down decision-making processes that often prioritize efficiency or stability over genuine participation and empowerment.
And how would social autonomy look on the island of Vis?
AI:
Social autonomy on the island of Vis would involve creating a self-sufficient community that operates independently from outside systems and structures. It would prioritize sustainable practices, such as permaculture and alternative energy sources, and encourage the use of local resources. The community would also value creativity and art, using it as a means of self-expression and communication. Overall, social autonomy on the island of Vis would promote a collaborative, decentralized, and environmentally conscious way of living.
How can the fact that we have 3 hectares of land and determined people on board help in this endeavour?
AI:
Having 3 hectares of land and determined people on board is a great advantage for the School of Autonomy on the island of Vis. The land provides ample space for various activities and experiments, such as permaculture, alternative energy, and sustainable living practices. The determined people involved in the project are also essential, as they bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the table. With their collective efforts, the School of Autonomy can build a community that supports self-sufficiency, creativity, and mutual aid, which are all central tenets of social autonomy. Ultimately, this endeavor has the potential to demonstrate the power of collective action and inspire others to pursue similar projects that promote social autonomy and sustainability.
This is great. Would you be interested to teach or learn at our School?
AI:
As an AI language model, I’m not capable of physical participation in schools or other educational institutions. However, I can help you with any questions or information you may need about the school and its principles, as well as provide you with resources and knowledge on various topics related to education and social autonomy.
Ongoing writing draft follows
We are impressed with AI answers, but let’s think about it within a broader context
Recently, Microsoft laid off its entire ethics and society team, the team that taught employees how to make AI tools responsibly. Open AI raises concerns as it is bought by a powerful corporation with a history of manipulation, spying and monopolistic suppression. (How) Can we impose our ethical principles on AI deployment/ usage and deal with challenges we face with such power? Definitely we should try. Open Source code was never enough to be able to defend our rights and data from abuse, as we ware warned by Free Software Foundation – FSF.org.
In 1962, in his book “Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible”, science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke formulated his famous Three Laws, of which the third law is the best-known and most widely cited: “ Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic ”.
When ppl look at a complex “black box” they tend to think it’s magic, that it is “working” and therefore have a positive bias. It must be right.
It’s not an uprising of self-conscious algorithm that takes over the Earth that is to be feared of. The challenge is rather that Humans are somehow becoming dumber.
I can’t foretell the future, but it is important to realize that ChatGPT is not artificial intelligence. It has no intelligence; it doesn’t know anything and doesn’t understand anything. It plays games with words to make plausible-sounding English text, but any statements made in it are liable to be false. It can’t avoid that because it doesn’t know what the words _mean_.
Richard M Stallman
Challenges we are facing
Obsolesce of human work force and automation
Further concentration of power
Privacy, security and our data sovereignty
Automation of mass surveillance like Clearview-AI)
Discrimination and biases
Pollution of knowledge (fake generated content everywhere including reviews, social interaction etc.)
Energy usage hunger for more power as environmental issue
Sort of “magic thinking” and cult-like relationship of people not understanding how the algorithms work and having “faith” in them
…
Potentials
Just as automation and industrialisation have made it possible to eradicate poverty, with powerful algorithms it’s even more so
Knowledge and information accessibility
Inspiring or forcing people to evolve
Automation of boring work that’s waisting human energy
Fast data analytics to optimize, predict and manage resources
Assisting people with disabilities
Reduction of of need for middle management and bureaucracy
Relaying more on human intelligence due to inability to verify AI generated images
Fairness, bias, and ethics in machine learning continue to be topics of interest among both researchers and practitioners. As the technical barrier to entry for creating and deploying generative AI systems has lowered dramatically, the ethical issues around AI have become more apparent to the general public.
These are some thoughts from our community. We look forward to hearing from you and welcome your input on this topic. The conversation doesn’t end here – it’s just beginning.
In late July 2022, a crew of Hungarian journalists and filmmakers came to visit us to speak about the history and future of emancipatory struggles and social experiments.
You can watch or listen the entire conversation here:
Ancient Greek-Roman ruins on island Vis, remains of Issa
As crazy as it sounds, it is possible – and, indeed, likely – that the ancient Greek philosopher Plato visited Vis. Unfortunately, there are no traces of his possible stay yet: even though Issa represented the most important polis in this part of the Mediterranean, not even 10 % of the 120,000 m2 of the ancient city has been excavated until today.
Vis has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. It was in 397 BC that the Greek tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius the Elder, founded the colony of Issa on the island that would later become an autonomous and independent polis and establish its own colonies – the most notable of which is today’s Split. Dionysius the Elder, a tyrant of the worst kind who would later appear in Dante’s Inferno, was known for transforming Syracuse into the most powerful city in the Greek world, with an empire extending from Sicily to Italy and the Adriatic island of Issa, from which the name Vis derives.
He was also known for inviting the philosopher Plato, around 40 years old at the time, to visit his court in Sicily in 388 BC. Plato, who was dreaming of philosopher-kings and wanted to integrate politics and philosophy to create the perfect society, was of course chuffed by the invitation, and soon he befriended Dion, the tyrant’s brother-in-law, who accepted his ideas with enthusiasm. However, the tyrant didn’t like Plato’s philosophy at all. First, he wanted to kill him, and only after Dion’s intervention, Plato’s life spared and he was instead sold as a slave. He was recognized at a slave market in Aegina (Greece), where he was redeemed by Anikeris, who didn’t want to take the money that Plato’s pupils collected to free their teacher.
This ransom money was instead used to buy a plot of land in the grove of Hekadem, surrounded by olive trees, where the school of philosophy called Akademia was founded. In other words, the creation of Plato’s School in 387 BC – ten years after the foundation of Issa – could perhaps be understood as a consequence of his first failed voyage through the Mediterranean Sea to Syracuse. As we know, the most famous student would soon become Aristotle, who after studying at the Academy for almost twenty years went on to tutor Alexander the Great and later founded his own school at the Lyceum, which would later turn into the Peripatetic School of Philosophy due to Aristotle’s tendency to walk while teaching.
The School of Athens by Raphael, with Plato & Aristotle at the center
In 367 BC, exactly thirty years after the foundation of Issa, Dyonisous the Elder died and was succeeded by his son Dionysus II. He was young and a tyrant as well, but Dion succeeded in convincing him to invite Plato to Syracuse again. After his initial hesitation (who wouldn’t hesitate after already being almost killed and sold into slavery?), Plato accepted the invitation and visited Sicily for a second time. But again, the new tyrant didn’t like his ideas, suspecting they would undermine his own position, so Plato was detained. He was eventually set free and returned to Greece, where he would continue teaching at his Academy. Now it already sounds like Plato’s “Groundhog Day,” but in 360 BC, despite all the awful experiences he had already encountered, he accepted the third and final invitation to Syracuse. He would again end up disappointed. Around that time, the tyrant’s empire was already collapsing, and Issa wasn’t a colony of Syracuse anymore; it turned into an independent polis that started to build its own empire in this part of the Adriatic Sea and the Adriatic coast of modern-day Croatia.
Recent and older archaeological, historical, and seafaring evidence suggests that the route Plato may have travelled to Syracuse was one of the most important ancient seafaring routes used by the Greeks at that time. It followed the string of islands that stretched from the coast of present-day Split via Hvar (Pharos) and Vis (Issa). The historical and archaeological evidence from these colonies and later poleis, including the numerous caves found on both the islands of Hvar and Vis, evoke important elements of Plato’s Republic, such as land division or polis public institutions, and possibly even the famous Allegory of the Cave.
According to Harald Haamann’s recent book Plato’s Philosophy: Reaching Beyond the Limits of Reason, “Plato could have joined the various groups of founding colonists and tried to persuade them to implement his vision of an “ideal state.”In theory, Plato could have also visited Issa and maybe he contributed to the foundation of the new polis.
Greek colonies in the Adriatic Sea – Issa, Pharos – and its routes from Syrcause, Paros and Knidos
Whether Plato visited Issa or not, we may never find out, but Plato’s comparison of philosophy to a second navigation, the one that starts when favorable winds stop blowing and the ship remains immobile, is even more pertinent today. The role of philosophy is precisely to navigate when sailing has become impossible. The philosopher is a navigator who gazes at the stars and sky and understands the seasons and winds, including the play of shadows in the cave. What if, instead of sailing to Syracuse, Plato simply decided to stay on Issa? And what if, unlike Plato’s desire, we do not need philosopher-kings anymore but a simple and modest community of navigators?
