Laibach
Danger: We Forge
The Future!

On May 10, 2022, Laibach held a live event titled DANGER: We Forge the Future! in conjunction with the contemporary Russian artist Andrei Molodkin. The event featured a projection of Molodkin's most recent installation work, Vladimir Putin filled with Ukrainian blood (2022), and a handwoven tapestry commissioned by Laibach titled UNTERNEHMEN BARBAROSSA (2022, created by a family of weavers in Afghanistan to the same dimensions as Pablo Picasso's 1937 painting Guernica). Additionally, a text written by Slovenian philosopher and performer Peter Mlakar meditating on present-day atrocities in Ukraine and the relationship between good and evil was also presented.

The event was held in The Foundry, a 19th century armament factory that produced military equipment for the French National Defense during World War I. The Foundry was recently acquired and repurposed by the London arts organization a/political, together with Molodkin, to create an experimental art space where artists could develop ambitious projects and collaborate. Molodkin and The Foundry were collaborations between Laibach and other artists in launching DANGER: We Forge the Future! at the ex-factory.

Laibach’s performance are famous for using agitprop imagery, military-inspired set and costume designs, and socialist visual art to create their music practice. Mlakar's antiwar sermon was read by Ivan Novak while standing within Erik Bulatov's sculpture FORWARD (2016), which embodies his utopian vision for societal progress and his call for change.

Laibach performed a set in two parts, with the first set being a reconstruction from material they played in the early 1980s. In 1980, Laibach was one of the key cultural actors that challenged the establishment through their avant-garde, post-punk, industrial music. In 1984, Laibach initiated the foundation of a larger creative body called Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK), meaning New Slovenian Art.

Laibach's sets were staged in Santiago Sierra and Hens Haaning's 2015 work titled The Copenhagen Declaration, featuring music from their 1983 concert held in Madrid's Reina Sofia museum and their upcoming project titled Sketches of the Red Districts.

The video projection was composed with conceptually edited drone footages together with Molodkin's Putin filled with Ukrainian blood, and words such as "NATO," "EU", and "EUROPE IS FALLING APART" dripping in blood. Molodkin aims to give an opportunity for critical Russian voices to be heard, asserting that his portrait epitomizes a factual description of Russia's president.

The concert and art exhibition expressed disapproval and critique of current political conditions and potential for societal actions, advocating for positive change.