News that this band with roots in Trbovlje, a mining town in Slovenia, was going to North Korea was revealed in July, and the announcement was picked up by world media such as the BBC, The Guardian, Washington Post and Süddeutsche Zeitung. Then in early in September they finally gave their performance there.
"There is no second chance to play in Pyongyang for the first time. Laibach has, since its very formation, been dealing with totalitarianism in all its manifestations; therefore visiting North Korea was absolutely a must-do," said the group's member Ivan Novak for the Rolling Stone magazine. Touring in Korea was organized by a Norwegian cultural activist Morten Traavik, who will be making a documentary film about this historic artistic event with the help of his team.
For this occasion, Laibach has arranged some songs from the musical The Sound of Music in its own style. Laibach has appraised touring as "an extremely valuable experience which confirms our old thesis that things aren't always as they seem – even if they look the same".
Who is Laibach?
The group Laibach works within the framework of the Neue Slowenische Kunst and was formed on 1st June 1980. The group works collectively, according to quadruple anonymous membership EBER-SALIGER-KELLER-DACHAUER (pseudonyms), which conceal a random number of sub-objects. Laibach uses a retro-avant-garde method in their work.
The name Laibach is also the historic German name for the Slovenian capital Ljubljana. From the start, Laibach has developed a "Gesamtkunstwerk" – multi-disciplinary art practice in all fields ranging from popular culture to art (collages, photo-copies, posters, graphics, paintings, videos, installations, concerts and performances). But Laibach is more than "just" music. The band is famous for its uniqueness and provocative symbolic behaviour, which often brings to mind totalitarian states and which, especially at the beginning, caused many problems for the band. Laibach is distinct for their theatrical performances on stage. But that is their distinction.
Laibach wouldn't be what it is if it weren't from Slovenia
"It's quite simple, only in historical and cultural context of Slovenia could something like Laibach incur that builds its appearance and content on the organic eclecticism of all cultures and ideologies, which occurred at the intersection of Slovenian territory," says Laibach. "We were marked by Slovenia, through thick and thin, and we see it as such. Despite all of its downsides – in case that we are not talking about the upsides, as there are many – we still love to return here, and increasingly prefer to return even in spite of country's weaknesses. In short, we even find the bad things about Slovenia inspirational, and they often provide a sufficient reason for a silent pleasure."
Slovenia is marked by Laibach as well. But, how? "Of course, it's hard to evaluate that, but we imagine that we left our mark on Slovenia, which is in many respects indelible for this country."
Good challenges never run out for Laibach, however, they do want some peace after all the excitements regarding the latest tour. We would like to dedicate ourselves to new projects, which await us.
Moreover, after last year's record release, Laibach said that they actually outlived themselves with the outliving of Yugoslavia, Slovenia, Europe and NSK (Neue Slowenische Kunst). And how does Laibach comment on this today? "We didn't declare that, but others did, the ones that speak through us. If we really have outlived ourselves, then the only thing that still remains is to outlive everybody else."
Polona Prešeren, SINFO
