March 14 to April 18

Tadej Pogačar & P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art in collaboration with DAVIDA

CODE RED BRASIL: Daspu/Daslu

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We are bad. And we can be worse. (Davida)
The economy of sex work is a vital source of income for numerous segments of the population on all continents, segments that are excluded from the dominant economy. Sex work is legitimate work, and problems within the industry are not inherent in the work itself. It is vulnerability, not sex work, which creates victims. Sex workers must enjoy the same labor rights as other workers and the same human rights as other people. Most commonly, the underprivileged social groups (women, children), who symbolically and realistically live on the border or outside of society and are stigmatized and without any basic human rights, are forced into prostitution.
As in the past, there still exists a clear division in contemporary society between those groups that are within the society and those that find themselves on the outside of it. In order to survive, the excluded are forced into self-organization. The self-organization of the excluded is radically different from those whose identity can enter a “legitimate” social structure.
Davida is a civil society organization, founded in Rio de Janeiro by Gabriela Silva Leite in 1992, to promote the citizenship inclusion of prostitutes. The main tools of the Davida group are actions in the areas of education, health, documentation, communication and culture, at both the local and national levels. The mission of Davida is to create opportunities for the strengthening of citizenship for prostitutes, by organizing prostitutes as workers, defending and promoting their rights, mobilizing them and promoting social control.

The Daspu fashion brand was created in 2005 to strengthen – with visibility and resources – the struggle of the prostitutes against prejudice. The line´s brand name, Daspu, is a play on “Daslu,” the name of Brazil´s most expensive posh multi-brand boutique and department store in São Paulo. The boutique is known as the “fashion designers’ mecca” of Brazil as it houses more than 60 labels. With product lines in struggle, pleasure, leisure/Carnival and activism, Daspu has mobilized society around the theme of a fashion for life. Besides prostitutes, young designers and internationally renowned models joined to collaborate on the project. The national and international repercussions have been striking, enlarging the scope of citizenship for the prostitutes.
CODE:RED (since 1999/2000) is an ongoing collaborative, transdisciplinary platform for discussion and research models of informal economy, activism, and self-organization of urban minorities in the context of sex work and human trafficking. The platform encompasses various forms of collaboration with experts, scholars, and activist groups, from research and selfhelp to public actions and exhibitions following the principle of dialog and teamwork. The first large public manifestation was the “First World Congress of Sex Workers and New Parasitism” project organized within the framework of the 49th Venice Biennial in 2001 in collaboration with the Committee for the Civil Rights of Prostitutes from Pordenone. In collaboration with a number of leading activists and organizations in New York, Washington, Boston, and Baltimore, the conference “The Ultimate Sex Worker Conspiracy Soiree: Conference and Party” was held in 2002 in New York. Discussions and roundtables, attended by experts, sociologists, activists, and sex workers, examined such issues as the rights of sex workers, gender and sexual identity, and race and class in sex work. Performances and short talks and readings dealing with the sex industry were contributed by writers (including, among others, Tracy Quan and David Sterry), poets, actors, and activists. CODE:RED has traveled recently to various locations (Berlin, Madrid, Zagreb, Tirana, São Paulo, Skopje) and
collaborate with local initiatives and groups of sex workers support groups. Tadej Poga č ar, born 1960 in Ljubljana, is an artist, writer and curator. He is founder and director of P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art, a virtual critical institution and ongoing project established in 1993. His most recent projects involve research, urban interventions and collaboration with urban minorities. He is a theoretician of New Parasitism, a model of alternative cultural and activity. He has presented his work in numerous solo and group exhibitions as well as in biennials such as Istanbul, São Paolo, Venice and Tirana.
www.parasite-pogacar.si