Nevidna življenja
(Invisible Lives) Book not yet available in English
Summary:
The comic is about the Workers’ Counselling Office. Or, rather: it is about the workers, women and men, who seek us out. But who on earth would come up with this idea? Ivan Mitrevski, of course. Who else? He shows up at the office, sits in the corner, and listens. Occasionally, he’ll join the conversation. He marvels at how many sweets we manage to stuff into ourselves every day. And, to share the guilt fairly, he does his part in helping with that too. Meanwhile, he is constantly jotting down the stories of the workers who come through our doors — the stories of all of us — and turning them into comics. Comics that transform tough life situations into short, humorous tales. Sometimes he cranks the absurdity up to eleven to expose the madness of exploitative working conditions. RoboCop cleaning ladies. Flying squirrel-men. Not to offend anyone, but certainly to make quite a few people laugh out loud. (source: Delavska svetovalnica)
Edited by: Mestna knjižnica Ljubljana
Comment:
Ivan Mitrevski spent some time volunteering at the Workers’ Counselling Office. For weeks and months, he sat quietly in the corner, listening to the stories of workers who came seeking help, and turned these stories into comics with a darkly humorous touch. Cleaners, construction workers, waiters, media workers, foreign labourers … a whole army of precarious workers, on whose backs modern capitalists grow rich while the workers themselves live in uncertainty. Unpaid social contributions, workplace injuries that must be concealed at the employer’s request, illegal dismissals, workplace bullying, problems with permits, language barriers … the list of hardships feels endless. After a ten- or twelve-hour shift, we might catch sight of these invisible workers standing in the checkout line with a can of pâté, a loaf of bread, and an energy drink — because they have neither the money nor the energy for anything else. And yet all of us rely on these invisible people. (source: Viktorija Kante, Lavričeva Library Ajdovščina)