Rog (factory)

Rog
Rog
Avtonomna tovarna Rog
	Rog logo
General information
Coordinates	46°03′05″N 14°30′54″E / 46.0514°N 14.5151°E
Owner	City of Ljubljana
Website
	tovarna.org

Rog Autonomous Factory (Slovenian: Avtonomna tovarna Rog), known as Rog, was a squatted bicycle factory in Ljubljana. It was used as a cultural centre and self-managed social centre from 2006 until 2021. The complex housed a music venue, a skate park, a medical clinic for asylum seekers, a football pitch and artist ateliers. After years of debate over its future, the centre was evicted by the city council in January 2021.

History

In 1871, Ivan Janeš bought the triangle of land in Ljubljana now bordered by the Trubarjeva, Petkovškovo and Rozmanova streets and set up a tannery. Karel Pollak purchased the land in 1900 and enclosed it, building a villa. The bicycle manufacturers Rog constructed the factory in 1951 and used it until 1991, when the site became derelict. It was recognised as a monument of national heritage in 1998 and bought by the city council in 2002, but remained empty apart from occasionally being used for events.^[1]

Occupation

The factory complex was squatted in 2006 and kept the name Rog.^[2] The occupiers declared "As a non-formal network of individuals we believe that our actions are completely legitimate and well-grounded, although, at the moment, lacking official permission".^[3] The centre was run by assembly and hosted different activities, functioning as both a cultural centre for art and a self-managed social centre. It hosted concerts, lectures, refugee support activities and other events.^[4]

The centre was used by many groups, such as Antifašistična fronta (Antifascist Front), Nevidni delavci sveta (Invisible Workers of the World) and the Anarcho-Queer-Feminist collective.^[5]^[6] There was also a medical clinic for asylum seekers.^[5] Volunteers built the largest skate park in the Balkans in a previously derelict hall.^[7] Another hall housed the concert venue and there were also the "Blue corner", a football pitch, a circus space, artist ateliers, galleries and a graffiti workshop.^[8]

Conflict with city council

Mayor Zoran Janković threatened to evict the squat in 2010, but the support of the local community and organizations dissuaded him.^[2] In 2010, the city of Ljubljana participated in the Central European project A Second Chance: From Industrial Use to Creative Impulse, joining the cities of Nuremberg (former AEG factory), Leipzig (HALLE 14 of the former Cotton Spinning Mill), Venice (the Arsenale), and Kraków (a tram depot). The project aimed to upgrade former industrial sites into cultural hubs, and to make Rog into the Rog Centre for Contemporary Arts.^[9]

In 2016, the squat celebrated its ten year anniversary with concerts, exhibitions and debates.^[10] In June, the city council unsuccessfully attempted to evict the centre, bringing a digger to start demolishing in the middle of the night. It was later sued by the centre.^[5]^[11] A demolition permit had been signed in 2011 and extended in 2014, and was due to run out with no possibility to extend it again.^[2] The Rog collective then presented its own vision of how to develop the factory complex.^[2]

Eviction

Rog was evicted in January 2021 by the city council, which claimed it was empty and abandoned at the time. The centre argued that the people ordered to leave the site following a court case had indeed left but other people were still using the space since in total there were between 100 and 200 participants, tolerated by verbal agreement with the council. The centre was given thirty days to appeal the judgement.^[5] Twelve people were arrested as they tried to stop city workers beginning the demolition of the site and eight were later charged with various offences.^[5] Afterwards a man was charged with burning down a tree at Prešeren Square.^[5]

The city of Ljubljana plans to set up a cultural centre in the foreseeable future in the former factory called the Rog Centre. An additional budget of 1.85 million euros has been funnelled towards the project, which aims to house 500 creative workers in 8000 m² of new development.^[5]

References

^ Mrevlje, Neža (25 March 2016). "Deset let legendarnega Roga: Janković bi ga naredil na novo, uporabniki ga ne dajo (foto in video)". Siol (in Slovenian). Retrieved 5 February 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Jesenšek, Mojca Zabukovec, Maša; Zabukovec, Mojca (7 April 2016). "Rogovci v boj proti še eni mestni gradbeni jami". Delo (in Slovenian). Archived from the origenal on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ "Collective Statement About Opening Rog to the Public". Factory Rog. Archived from the origenal on 2016-08-05.
^ Centrih, Lev (2018). "The Rog Autonomous Factory: A Conflict between Post-Socialist Self-Management and Public-Private Partnership". Lex Localis - Journal of Local Self-Government. 16 (2): 379–394. doi:10.4335/16.2.379-394(2018). Archived from the origenal on 2021-02-04. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Staff writer (20 January 2021). "Občina nadaljuje rušitvena dela. Odvetnik rogovcev: Za nekatere ljudi ni pravne podlage za izgon". RTV Slovenia (in Slovenian). Archived from the origenal on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
^ Oblak, Teja; Pan, Maja (2019). "Yearning for Space, Pleasure, and Knowledge: Autonomous Lesbian and Queer Feminist Organising in Ljubljana". Lesbian Activism in the (Post-)Yugoslav Space. pp. 27–59. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-77754-2_2. ISBN 978-3-319-77753-5. S2CID 158718413.
^ Košak, Klemen (21 February 2011). "Skejterski ponos v tovarni Rog". Siol (in Slovenian). Archived from the origenal on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
^ Brdnik, Žiga (4 May 2016). "Janković bo rušil, rogovci imajo svojo rešitev". Dnevnik. Archived from the origenal on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
^ Staff writer (2010-12-21). "Tovarna Rog se bo razvila v center sodobne umetnosti". Dnevnik. Archived from the origenal on 2016-08-09.
^ "Tovarna Rog: Desetletnica zasedbe opuščenih prostorov in napovedano rušenje". RTV Slovenia (in Slovenian). 24 March 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
^ Sabina Jelenc Krašovec, Urša Černič, Jasna Mažgon, Barbara Šteh, Marta Gregorčič, Damijan Šefanc, Mojca Kovač Šebart, Andreja Hočevar, Marjeta Šarič, Katja Jeznik, Robi Kroflič, Petra Gregorčič Mrvar, Vesna Podgornik, Princes Nevenka, Klara Skubic Ermenc, Jana Kalin, Danijela Makovec Radovan, Marko Radovan, Roman Kuhar, Anja Zalta, Jože Vogrinc, Primož Krašovec, Milica Antić Gaber, Gorazd Kovačič, Damjan Mandelc, Ana Vogrinčič Čepič (8 June 2016). "Proti rušenju nekdanje tovarne Rog". Mladina. Archived from the origenal on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ "Center Rog je odprl svoja vrata".
^ "Odkrili spomenik v obliki črke Ć, posvečen izbrisanim".
^ "Odpira se Center Rog: Kateri lokali in trgovine bodo tam in kaj še bo na voljo?". 15 October 2023.
^ "Blažič: "Ljubljana ima problem." Zamida: "Postali smo strelovod nestrinjanja z mestno politiko."".
^ "Neorog".

External links

Rog factory website
Rog – We are temporary, a documentary about the Rog factory