Editing Laibach (section)

=== Dissident status in Yugoslavia (1983–1985) ===
[[File:LAIBACH Press Photo 1983.jpg|thumb|left|Laibach in 1983]]
The group resumed its activities at the beginning of 1983, when they held an exhibition in the Prošireni mediji (''Expanded Media'') gallery in Zagreb.<ref name="megla216"/> After a number of complaints, the management of the gallery attempted to persuade members of Laibach to remove part of the pieces, which they refused, and only four days after the opening, the management decided to close the exhibition.<ref name="megla216"/> The band continued their concert activities with the vocalist Milan Fras.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> The group held a concert in Ljubljana's Freedom Hall, featuring guest performances by the [[England|English]] bands Last Few Days and [[23 Skidoo (band)|23 Skidoo]].<ref name="Janjatović169"/><ref name="megla216"/> The 30-minutes long recording of dogs barking and snarling were used as the concert intro.<ref name="Janjatović169"/><ref name="megla216"/> The day after the performance, the group received considerable media coverage for a concert at the Zagreb Biennale entitled ''Mi kujemo bodočnost'' (''We Forge the Future''), during which the group used simultaneous projections of the [[propaganda film]] ''Revolucija še traja'' (''The Revolution is Still Going On'') and a [[pornographic film]].<ref name="Janjatović169"/> After the simultaneous appearance of late [[Josip Broz Tito]] and a penis on the screens, the performance was interrupted by the police, and the members of the band were forcibly removed from the stage.<ref name="Janjatović169"/>

Following the performance at the Zagreb Biennale, the band published their "[[manifesto]]", entitled "Akcija v imenu" ("Action in the Name Of"), in the ''[[Nova revija (magazine)|Nova revija]]'' literary magazine, largely thanks to [[Taras Kermauner]], a philosopher, literary historian and one of the magazine editors.<ref name="Janjatović169"/><ref name="megla218">{{cite book|last=Megla|first=Maja|title=Leksikon YU mitologije|year=2015|publisher=Rende – Postscriptum|location=Belgrade – Zagreb|page=218}}</ref> In the "manifesto" the band quoted [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] ("[[Engineers of the human soul|Artists are engineers of the human soul]]") and [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] ("Art is sublime, leading to fanaticism").<ref name="megla218"/> The subsequent debut television appearance on 23 June 1983, in the informative-political program ''TV tednik'' (''TV Weekly''), caused major negative reactions by the public.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> The members of the band appeared in the program sitting motionlessly, wearing army uniforms and [[armband]]s with black crosses.<ref name="megla218"/> The host of ''TV tednik'' Jure Pengov stated: "Maybe now someone will react and ban, exterminate this danger, these horrible ideas and beliefs".<ref name="megla218"/> After Laibach's appearance in ''TV tednik'', they were officially banned from using the name Laibach on their records and live appearances, the decision even being printed in the Official Gazette of [[SR Slovenia]].<ref name="Janjatović169"/><ref name="megla218"/> The scandal even led to some of the group members hiding in [[Pleterje Charterhouse]] for a short period of time.<ref name="Janjatović169"/>

The group then, together with Last Few Days, started the international Occupied Europe Tour '83, which included sixteen dates in eight [[West Europe]]an and [[Eastern Bloc]] countries.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> The performances provoked a lot of interest in the European media, especially with the band's totalitarian musical and visual style.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> The socialist background, effective live appearances and a dissident status in their home country provided the group with a swift increase of interest in the Western countries.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> By combining the imagery of [[socialist realism]], [[Nazism]]—which provoked the Slovene WW2 Veteran Organization in Yugoslavia—and [[Futurism|Italian futurism]], the group created a unique aesthetic style which could not pass unnoticed by the public.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> In [[Poland]], they provoked the public by declaring themselves the sympathizers of [[Wojciech Jaruzelski]].<ref name="megla218"/> The statement provoked someone to present them with feces rolled into newspapers during the press conference in [[Warsaw]].<ref name="megla218"/> At the time of the tour, the song lyrics were mostly in German, but having included cover versions of [[English language]] songs, the group would start focusing more on the latter.<ref name="Janjatović169-170">{{harvnb|Janjatović|2024|p=169-170}}</ref>

In 1984, the band members moved to [[Great Britain]], where they worked as labourers in [[London]], worked at a pier in [[Belfast]] and appeared as extras in [[Stanley Kubrick]]'s ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]''.<ref name="Janjatović170">{{harvnb|Janjatović|2024|p=170}}</ref> Through the [[Belgium|Belgian]] record label L.A.Y.L.A.H. Anitrecords, the group released their debut record, a [[12" single]] with [[Slovene language]] songs "Boji" ("Fights"), "Sila" ("Force") and "Brat moj" ("My Brother").<ref name="Janjatović170"/> At the time, the band also appeared on the various artists album ''World National Anthems'' released by TRAX International, with their version of the Yugoslav [[national anthem]] "[[Hej, Sloveni]]".<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The band returned to Yugoslavia to prepare an exhibit at Ljubljana's Students' Cultural Center, entitled ''The Occupied Europe Tour Documents'', which opened on 5 May 1984.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> Simultaneously, the band released the live [[audio cassette]] ''Vstajenje v Berlinu'' (''Resurrection in [[Berlin]]'').<ref name="Janjatović170"/>

On 7 October 1984, Laibach officially founded the informal art collective [[Neue Slowenische Kunst]] (German for ''New Slovene Art'') with [[visual arts]] group [[IRWIN]] and  [[Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre|Scipion Nasice Sisters]] and Rdeči Pilot (''Red Pilot'') theatre groups.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> They were later joined by Novi kolektivizam (''New Collectivism'') [[design studio]], Graditelji (''Builders'') [[architecture bureau]], Retrovizija (''Retrovision'') film group and the Odeljenje za čisto in praktično filozofijo (''Section for Clean and Practical Philosophy'') group.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The band also started two musical side projects, Germania and [[300.000 V.K.]]<ref name="Janjatović170"/> On 21 December 1984, Laibach held a concert dedicated to the late Hostnik at the Malči Belič Hall in Ljubljana.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> Due to the fact that they were still banned from using the name Laibach, they announced the concert with posters featuring only a black cross, the initials of the hall, and date and time of the concert.<ref name="megla218"/>

The following year, the group released their debut studio album, ''[[Laibach (album)|Laibach]]'', through the Ljubljana Students' Cultural Center's label Ropot.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> Due to the ban of the name Laibach, the cover featured the group's trademark black cross without any text.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> On one of the album tracks, the band used a sample from a speech by Josip Broz Tito, however, it was removed by the state censors.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> During the same year, the German label WUS released Laibach compilation album ''[[Rekapitulacija 1980–1984]]'' (''Recapitulation 1980–1984'').<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The recording of their performance at the Neu Konservatiw festival in [[Hamburg]] on 15 June 1985 was released on the live album ''[[Neu Konservatiw]]''.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> At the end of the year, the band once more held a number of performances in [[West Germany]], this time under the title ''Die erste bombardierung – Laibach über dem Deutschland'' (''The First Bombing – Laibach Over Germany'').<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The concerts featured hunting imagery, like axes and [[Trophy hunting|trophy antlers]], and during the concerts, the band members sawed wood on stage, surrounded by live tranquilized rabbits.<ref name="megla218"/> 

On 6 February 1986, with the Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre, the group premiered their own play ''Krst pod Triglavom'' (''Baptism Under Triglav'') at the Ljubljana's [[Cankar Centre|Cankar Hall]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The performance was followed by a [[Round table (discussion)|round table]] about the ban of the name Laibach, organized in Ljubljana. The discussion featured academics, representatives of political organizations and authorities, including the president of the Assembly of the City of Ljubljana Tina Tomlje.<ref name="megla218"/> In a TV interview, Tomlje stated that she was informed of the quality of the band's works and of the success they had achieved abroad, but that they would not be allowed to perform in Ljubljana under the name Laibach.<ref name="megla218"/> Soon after, the group released their second studio album, ''[[Nova Akropola]]'' (''The New Acropolis''), via British independent record label [[Cherry Red Records]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/> After the album release, the [[League of Socialist Youth of Yugoslavia|League of Socialist Youth of Slovenia]] on their 12th congress demanded the ban on the usage of the name Laibach to be lifted.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The ban was officially lifted on 4 April 1985, and the group performed their first legal concert in Slovenia under the name Laibach already on the following day, in [[Hum, Brda|Hum]], entitled ''Krvava gruda, plodna zemlja'' (''Bloody Land, Fertile Soil'').<ref name="Janjatović170"/> On the [[Youth Day#Yugoslavia|Yugoslav Youth Day]], the League of Socialist Youth of Slovenia awarded Neue Slowenische Kunst with a plaque, and the League's official magazine ''[[Mladina]]'' awarded the collective with the Zlata ptica (''The Golden Bird'') award.<ref name="Janjatović170"/>