About Me
Dystopia lat. δυσ- and τόπος
This page has an ambitious goal, which is to link activists and supporters who want to preserve Ambasada Gavioli and what it (re)presents, in order to take some concrete action to achieve our common objective. Together we can make it, so do not hesitate to contribute ideas, texts, photos, ... or help us in any other way.
Zeitgeist
The inspiration for the perfectly projected AMBASADA comes from the
literature, the theatre, the cinema and the latest fashion waves. The special game of lights and the different materials used to make interior of the club give the impression to be in a wonderworld of a fairytale. To enter, means to travel in space and time, from the theatre to the world of music, from the Italian Baroque with Juliet's balcony (Romeo And Juliet) to the Baudelaire's Evil Flowers.
The Ambasada Gavioli is a Slovenian night club located in Izola, and named after its architect Mr. Gavioli. It has a floor space of 1,600 m2 and a capacity of 2,500 guests.
The project is inspired from literature, theater, cinema and fashion. Some themes include Italian baroque with Juliet's balcony and the Baudelaire's Evil Flowers. The architecture of the club is divided in two floors: wider main room and smaller, more intimate privee', which are connected with a glass wall, that allow visual and programming contact of rooms.
The Ambasada Gavioli uses different materials like wood, white stone and copper, combined in a Mediterranean style.
The music of Ambasada Gavioli is bases on a combination of several modern directions in club music, like clubbing, techno futurism, minimal, progressive and electro house.
Structure
In early 1990’s well known Italian architect maestro Gianni Gavioli has been invited to collaborate on the development. Before even the first sketches were laid down, the maestro architect has spent over a month in Slovenian Istria, learning about its culture, architecture, legends while meeting with locals from various generations in the area. In 1994 works began on what developed to be the maestro’s life masterpiece, combining feel of the local cultures with stories of Jean Baudelaire, Alice in Wonderland, Romeo and Juliet. Due to its significance, the well respected IRWIN artist group, part of Neue Slowenische Kunst movement, suggested the name of the new venue to be Ambasada Gavioli (Embassy of Gavioli). The new entertainment complex opened in December 1995.Despite the initial optimism, based on fast development of independent Slovenia as an emerging cultural and economic power in the region as well as on the overall faith in positive future emerging from the global Rave movement at the time, the venue did not attract as much audience as expected from the start. 1996 thus represented a year of initial struggle for Ambasada Gavioli.Hard work and structural reorganization eventually started to attract attention of various cultural circles, national and international media and attracting ever wider audiences, resulting in Ambasada Gavioli already becoming recognized as one of world’s top 10 most prestigious and trendy electronic music venues in 1997 and one of top clubbing destinations in Mediterranean Europe.
Cult
Ambasada Gavioli has been operating according to the ideological teachings of Slovenian-Australian philosopher, ideologist and visual artist Chiron Morpheus. In that regard, the territory of the AG premises had a status of a Pirate Utopia or a Temporary Autonomous Zone. Through the years, the territory and/or the venue of Ambasada Gavioli has been also regarded as Neuropa, Embassy of 3rd Europe, The Cathedral of Luxurious Colours (also “Ambassada dei miglaia colori†in Italian).
Since 1995 when it opened, Ambasada Gavioli has become the focal point of the Electronic Music community in Slovenia, Northern Italy, Southern Austria and North-West Croatia, achieving almost a cult following appeal in the scene. In the cultural context many people see the venue and the movement it created as a display of new cultural strength of the independent Slovenia. The club was also intensely famed by the media due to its edgy provocative image, which has been carefully maintained by its Public Relations department, further reinforcing its futuristic cult-like appeal.
Controversy
Although the venue has attracted thousands of people on weekly basis and hosted main events of festivals such as Golden Drum European Advertising Festival, Final Flash International Art festival, Enigmatica Open Air Festival; it sparked a fair amount of controversy in the local community due to over-population problems caused by high amount of visitors, sometimes calling for the closing of the venue or imposing limitations to the free movement of visitors after the events.
In august 2008 the club was sold to Slovenian biggest merchandising company Mercator. The club will probably host events until December 31th 2008. After that the destiny of Ambasada Gavioli remains unknown.
