The number of professionals in the fields of the arts and humanities who are capable of criticall... more The number of professionals in the fields of the arts and humanities who are capable of critically reflecting upon the planetary condition appears to be small. Fewer still are those who express any critical, communal, or selfless interest in connecting the legacy of the arts and humanities to the political anxieties of contemporary times. Ideally, of course, the Venice Biennale provides the possibility of commenting-in solidarity with cultural workers around the world-on such "interesting times." ("May You Live In Interesting Times" is the title of this year's Biennale.) Nonetheless, it takes a special effort by artists and curators to turn away from individualistic concerns and instead attempt to put forward a neo-communist framework of equality, to take a radically inclusive-yet paradoxically utopian-stance that could truly serve all the parties involved in the Biennale, individual and geopolitical alike. Take, for example, the representation of the geographical and mental region called the Balkans-a name that now stands in marked contrast to the market-oriented term "South-East Europe," a region whose real imperatives became competitiveness and inequality. Among the artists representing this region at the 58 th Venice Biennale is Nada Prlja, in the Pavilion of the Republic of North Macedonia. Arguably, regionalism is a thing of the past: everything that is said or done echoes everywhere around the world. For better or worse, however, the past still haunts us.
Izložba „Evergreen” je jedna moguća sinteza odabranih umetničkih radove istaknutih umetnika i pr... more Izložba „Evergreen” je jedna moguća sinteza odabranih umetničkih radove istaknutih umetnika i pruža jedinstven uvid u rad članova Udruženja likovnih umetnika Srbije (ULUS). Ova izložba, kurirana od strane Maje Ćirić, a na inicijativu članova UO ULUS-a Milice Ružičić i Vladana Jeremića, ima za cilj da predstavi kineskoj publici, jednoj od najmnogoljudnijih zemalja na svetu, bogat i raznolik svet srpske likovne umetnosti. ULUS, kao najveće umetničko udruženje na Balkanu, personifikuje nasleđe snage i izdržljivosti koje mu je omogućilo da napreduje usprkos promenljivim okolnostima. Karakter i integritet udruženja oblikovani su neprestanim borbama da se zadovolje potrebe i uslovi umetničkog stvaralaštva, istovremeno negujući živu umetničku zajednicu. Kroz svoju bogatu istoriju, ULUS je postao institucionalna platforma koja odražava osećaj društvene solidarnosti, odražavajući evoluirajući sociokulturni pejzaž. Izložba „Evergreen" služi kao metafora za trajnu vitalnost ULUS-a, predstavljajući njegovu sposobnost da se prilagodi promenljivim okolnostima dok istovremeno čuva svoju suštinu. DNK ULUS-a je mozaik prihvatanja i otpora, sećanja i zaborava, umetničkih fenomena i trendova u odnosu na vladajuće konvencije i društvene matrice. Izložba takođe osvetljava dinamično vođstvo nove administracije ULUS-a, koja promoviše inkluzivnost i omogućava prostor za savremene umetničke izraze i inovaciju izvan istorijskih korelacija. Njegujući jedinstvo i pružajući prostor za nove događaje i fenomene, ULUS i dalje ostaje pokretačka snaga za umetničko istraživanje i rast. Umetnice i umetnici - Sanja Anđelković, Vladimir Bjeličić, Lana Vasiljević, Ana Vujović, Nenad Gajić, Vladimir Milanović, Zoran Naskovski, Bojan Radojičić i Ivana Smiljanić - odabrani su iz različitih perspektiva, odražavajući raznolikost i izvanrednost ULUS-a. Njihovi radovi komuniciraju putem različitih formalnih i konceptualnih manifestacija, pružajući uvid u raznoliki svet savremene srpske umetnosti.
KUSTOS – SARADNIK Maja Ćirić
ASISTENT KUSTOSA - SARADNIKA Lav Mrenović
UMETNIČKI SAVET
Nataša Kok... more KUSTOS – SARADNIK Maja Ćirić ASISTENT KUSTOSA - SARADNIKA Lav Mrenović UMETNIČKI SAVET Nataša Kokić (potpredsednica), Jovanka Mladenović, Danilo Prnjat, Kristina Ristić, Sanja Tomašević UČESNICI/E Jovana Braletić, Andrej Bunuševac, Mirza Dedać, Nebojša Despotović, Uroš Đurić, Isidora Gajić, Nenad Gajić, Ivan Grubanov, Ivana Jakšić, Jamesdin, Ksenija Jovišević, Jeff Kasper, Nemanja Lađić, Nikola Marković, Vladimir Milanović, Ivana Milev, Era Milivojević, Miron Mutaović, Sachi Miyachi, Đorđe Odanović, Tanja Ostojić, Ivan Petrović, Nina Radoičić, Vojislav Radovanović, Dragan Rajšić, Extinction Rebellion, Milica Ružičić, Pokret za očuvanje stakla Dragana Drobnjaka, Igor Simić, Jana Stojaković, Nataša Teofilović, Ranko Travanj, Anamarija Vartabedijan, Nenad Vučković, Tatjana Tanja Vujinović, Ana Vujović. Umetnički savet Udruženja je zajedno sa kustoskinjom Dr Majom Ćirić i njenim asistentom ist.um. Lavom Mrenovićem izabrao radove umetnika/ca – članova i članica ULUS-a koji su izloženi na Jesenjoj izložb
The 20th Biennial of Art in Pančevo is thematically inspired by a local hybrid phenomenon that re... more The 20th Biennial of Art in Pančevo is thematically inspired by a local hybrid phenomenon that reflects the iconic and seemingly contrasting, horizontal and immediate coexistence of the Oil Refinery and the Vojlovica Monastery, and whose interdependence can be symbiotic or conflicting, depending on the point of view. The Biennale "refinerymonastery" raises questions about whether and how it is possible to act outside and over the domains of matrices, patterns and conditions generated by the monastery and the refinery, each for itself and together, and how to resolve the relationship between limited parochial activity and unrestrainable need for openness and inventiveness. The "refinerymonastery" may find temporary answers in art that reconciles speculative imagination and technology. If it is not possible to deviate from both dogmatism and hypercapitalism, then an artistic proposal is possible in the sense of creating a temporary difference. - Maja Ćirić The jubilee 20th Biennial of Art in Pančevo under the title "refinerymonastery", curated by Maja Ćirić, took place from May 27 to June 27, 2022 in Pančevo, Serbia. Works from more than 35 artists and collectives from over 15 counties have been presented in this year’s edition. The selector's assistant is Sanda Kalebić.
The Austrian Association of Women Artists (VBKÖ) was founded in 1910 as a feminist act, on the ma... more The Austrian Association of Women Artists (VBKÖ) was founded in 1910 as a feminist act, on the margins of what was strictly a male society around the Viennese Secession. In this space that is a symbol of constructive resistance, the 'Bordered Lives' exhibition, which took place in September 2021, 1 demonstrated another kind of social critique that included the work of Khadija von Zinnenburg Carroll, whose artistic intervention reveals the position of refugees and asylum seekers-a part of society whose integration is problematic. The exhibition consisted of the content of the publication Bordered Lives, published by Sternberg Press in 2020. Bordered Lives is a pre-pandemic project on display during the pandemic. It is not only the ongoing migrant crisis that makes it relevant; the conditions of isolation, discipline, essential needs, even surveillance, otherwise particular for the institutions keeping people in captivity, resonate much more widely in vaccine politics and re-emerging lockdowns in the current bio-political regimes.
Др Маја Ћирић B.O.L.T.O.P.-Better On Lips Than On Paper (Боље на уснама него на папиру) B.O.L.T.O... more Др Маја Ћирић B.O.L.T.O.P.-Better On Lips Than On Paper (Боље на уснама него на папиру) B.O.L.T.O.P.-кодирана порука из Другог светског ратa,1као наслов ретроспективне изложбе, осим директног значења, указује и на неопходност проналажења кључа за тумачење уметничког стваралаштва Невене Хаџи Јованчић (1954). Боље на уснама него на папиру поштански је акроним-једна од многобројних кодираних порука са сексуалном конотацијом које су током Другог светског рата амерички војници писали својим вољеним женама на ковертама писама послатих са бојишта. Ретроспективa Невене Хаџи Јованчић, на којој је публици представљен садржај са њених претходних изложби, допуњен најновијим радовима, преузима овај назив јер она, уместо на дводимензионални папир, уживање преноси у трећу димензију. Иако је последњих година глобално изразито наглашена потреба великих институција уметности да после дугогодишњег занемаривања уметницама старије генерације коначно дају признање које заслужују,2 то ревидирање претпостављеног заборава или инстиуционалног игнорисања, као општи тренд, не може у потпуности бити примењено на Невену Хаџи Јованчић. Наиме, због тога што је њена радна способност двоструко оријентисана, и према уметничком стваралаштву и према педагошком раду, ово прво, колико год ефектно, прати линија дисконтинуитета, у смислу да се уметност манифестује у таласима између којих има пауза. У том погледу, њен рад није занемарен ни због лењости кустоса ни због сексизма, већ због чињенице да је Невена своје егзистенцијално питање решила у педагошкој професији,3 што је разликује од многих уметница које су стварале у сенци и на ивици егзистенције. Ова изложба јесте још један излагачки талас, поновно осветљивање стваралачке праксе Невене Хаџи Јованчић и сјајна институционална могућност за њено документовање, а последично и за смештање у уметничкоисторијски контекст и 1Један од акронима преузет за потребе уметничког рада Невене Хаџи Јованчић на 26-Меморијалу Надежде Петровић у Чачку из књиге Бена Шота: Шотова оригинална сваштара, Чаробна књига, Београд, 2007.
This is not an exhibition about borders. Rather, it is an exhibition about overcoming the influen... more This is not an exhibition about borders. Rather, it is an exhibition about overcoming the influence of politics on the land within the borders of unrecognized or semi-recognized states. It is a document of the fragmented symptoms of the "Bosnian pot" 1 character of governance, in which all components simultaneously complement and eliminate each other. This unsettling principle of governance, in which elements unable to withstand the pressure collapse, while those that are more powerful survive (and are subsequently absorbed within the system), has been known for many centuries. By not taking sides, what this book highlights, from a bird's-eye view, are the contrasts and conflicts provoked by contemporary attempts at preserving a semblance of safety within those borders. Unfortunately, many of these attempts did, and continue to, constitute crimes.
Podsetnik na istoriju institucionalne kritike u Srbiji (verzija druga) dematerijalizacijaumetnost... more Podsetnik na istoriju institucionalne kritike u Srbiji (verzija druga) dematerijalizacijaumetnosti.com/podsetnik-na-istoriju-institucionalne-kritike-u-srbiji/ Institucionalna kritika kao "ispitivanje društvenih ili institucionalnih uslova uokviravanja" podrazumeva epistemološki karakter jer "analizira", otkriva i izlaže svet umetnosti kao objekat svoje kritike. Institucionalna kritika je specifičan odnos umetnosti i društva u kojem su "strukture i logike sveta umetnosti otkrivene" tako što je preispitivan illusio, Burdijeov termin za kolektivno investiranje i verovanje u čitav vrednosni sistem neke strukture. Polazna tačka institucionalne kritike je potencijal umetnosti da postane javna diskusija o društveno-političkim problemima, koja će stimulisati relacije koje do tada nisu stimulisane kroz (re)artikulaciju sopstvene pozicije. Ona je kanonizovana unajmanje tri istorijska talasa u poslednjih četrdesetak godina, pošto je kreativni subjekat moderne estetike bio zamenjen institucijom, tj. njenim uslovima i parametrima izlaganja, kao temom i objektom dekonstrukcije. Ivana Smiljanić, Uređivanje (u domaćinstvu i umetnosti), fotografija na papiru, 2012. (1) (2) (3) (4)
Although eluding, the rawness of Serbia, as an effect of uncertain existence, within the contradi... more Although eluding, the rawness of Serbia, as an effect of uncertain existence, within the contradictory territory, is implied. To point to these unrefined factors of Serbia means to manage to spot, capture and present through photographic means what cannot be subdued otherwise. Establishing a coherent and developmental photographic thread that transforms rawness into something sublime, in the climate of cheapened and relativized life's meaning, is a venture worth the attention. The self-organized collective Belgrade Raw is transforming into the Serbia Raw phenomenon: its core members, who have cooperated continually since 2009 through a series of workshops have, over time, connected people from different Serbian cities. The original ideas about an alternative visual and social re-examination of the urban tissue of Belgrade, as the country's capital, have expanded to the activation, re-examination and presentation of scenes from and in fourteen cities.1 Multiple interrelating Due to an organic way of joining, Belgrade Raw is both a social and photographic collective, and it is the complex and mutually intertwined relationships that their art is read in. The archaic organizational principle of recognition, which characterises this tribe, has been established due to the insufficiency of institutions. Belgrade Raw has evolved through dynamic interrelating of research, marking and connecting of urban scenes, owing to the possibilities created by the Flickr Internet platform2. Sociability developed on Flickr, was later transferred to and dispersed through Facebook and Instagram, which, in addition to sharing files and likes, allows shared discussion and distribution. The comfort of social interaction, exchange and 1 Bor, Novi Pazar,
Journal of Art and Media Studies, University of Arts, Belgrade, 2014
Under the assumption that the collective affiliation of curators and new political possibilities ... more Under the assumption that the collective affiliation of curators and new political possibilities that they are generating do not produce a change, but preserve the existing hegemony and reinforce the institution of art, this paper aims to examine the relation of the affiliation of particular curators to the type of exhibitions that they are making. The aim of this paper is to point to the potentialities in the exhibition making and the necessity of the (un)predictable relation of the curator, the field and the selected artists.
"Lažna sliko, prevarila si me, pokazala si mi ljubazno lice; i to lice me je privuklo. Sada, kad ... more "Lažna sliko, prevarila si me, pokazala si mi ljubazno lice; i to lice me je privuklo. Sada, kad je slatka obmana prestala, nalazim užas, nalazim bol, tamo gde je srce očekivalo radost."
Da li je svetlo koje vidiš u daljini vatromet ili su bombe ("pucanje")? Da li je zaista jedino bi... more Da li je svetlo koje vidiš u daljini vatromet ili su bombe ("pucanje")? Da li je zaista jedino bitno da budeš lepa i nasmejana, ili je to samo vrh ledenog brega ranjivosti, nastale usled nemogućnosti da se zaista smestiš u hibridnoj realnosti?
The number of professionals in the fields of the arts and humanities who are capable of criticall... more The number of professionals in the fields of the arts and humanities who are capable of critically reflecting upon the planetary condition appears to be small. Fewer still are those who express any critical, communal, or selfless interest in connecting the legacy of the arts and humanities to the political anxieties of contemporary times. Ideally, of course, the Venice Biennale provides the possibility of commenting-in solidarity with cultural workers around the world-on such "interesting times." ("May You Live In Interesting Times" is the title of this year's Biennale.) Nonetheless, it takes a special effort by artists and curators to turn away from individualistic concerns and instead attempt to put forward a neo-communist framework of equality, to take a radically inclusive-yet paradoxically utopian-stance that could truly serve all the parties involved in the Biennale, individual and geopolitical alike. Take, for example, the representation of the geographical and mental region called the Balkans-a name that now stands in marked contrast to the market-oriented term "South-East Europe," a region whose real imperatives became competitiveness and inequality. Among the artists representing this region at the 58 th Venice Biennale is Nada Prlja, in the Pavilion of the Republic of North Macedonia. Arguably, regionalism is a thing of the past: everything that is said or done echoes everywhere around the world. For better or worse, however, the past still haunts us.
Izložba „Evergreen” je jedna moguća sinteza odabranih umetničkih radove istaknutih umetnika i pr... more Izložba „Evergreen” je jedna moguća sinteza odabranih umetničkih radove istaknutih umetnika i pruža jedinstven uvid u rad članova Udruženja likovnih umetnika Srbije (ULUS). Ova izložba, kurirana od strane Maje Ćirić, a na inicijativu članova UO ULUS-a Milice Ružičić i Vladana Jeremića, ima za cilj da predstavi kineskoj publici, jednoj od najmnogoljudnijih zemalja na svetu, bogat i raznolik svet srpske likovne umetnosti. ULUS, kao najveće umetničko udruženje na Balkanu, personifikuje nasleđe snage i izdržljivosti koje mu je omogućilo da napreduje usprkos promenljivim okolnostima. Karakter i integritet udruženja oblikovani su neprestanim borbama da se zadovolje potrebe i uslovi umetničkog stvaralaštva, istovremeno negujući živu umetničku zajednicu. Kroz svoju bogatu istoriju, ULUS je postao institucionalna platforma koja odražava osećaj društvene solidarnosti, odražavajući evoluirajući sociokulturni pejzaž. Izložba „Evergreen" služi kao metafora za trajnu vitalnost ULUS-a, predstavljajući njegovu sposobnost da se prilagodi promenljivim okolnostima dok istovremeno čuva svoju suštinu. DNK ULUS-a je mozaik prihvatanja i otpora, sećanja i zaborava, umetničkih fenomena i trendova u odnosu na vladajuće konvencije i društvene matrice. Izložba takođe osvetljava dinamično vođstvo nove administracije ULUS-a, koja promoviše inkluzivnost i omogućava prostor za savremene umetničke izraze i inovaciju izvan istorijskih korelacija. Njegujući jedinstvo i pružajući prostor za nove događaje i fenomene, ULUS i dalje ostaje pokretačka snaga za umetničko istraživanje i rast. Umetnice i umetnici - Sanja Anđelković, Vladimir Bjeličić, Lana Vasiljević, Ana Vujović, Nenad Gajić, Vladimir Milanović, Zoran Naskovski, Bojan Radojičić i Ivana Smiljanić - odabrani su iz različitih perspektiva, odražavajući raznolikost i izvanrednost ULUS-a. Njihovi radovi komuniciraju putem različitih formalnih i konceptualnih manifestacija, pružajući uvid u raznoliki svet savremene srpske umetnosti.
KUSTOS – SARADNIK Maja Ćirić
ASISTENT KUSTOSA - SARADNIKA Lav Mrenović
UMETNIČKI SAVET
Nataša Kok... more KUSTOS – SARADNIK Maja Ćirić ASISTENT KUSTOSA - SARADNIKA Lav Mrenović UMETNIČKI SAVET Nataša Kokić (potpredsednica), Jovanka Mladenović, Danilo Prnjat, Kristina Ristić, Sanja Tomašević UČESNICI/E Jovana Braletić, Andrej Bunuševac, Mirza Dedać, Nebojša Despotović, Uroš Đurić, Isidora Gajić, Nenad Gajić, Ivan Grubanov, Ivana Jakšić, Jamesdin, Ksenija Jovišević, Jeff Kasper, Nemanja Lađić, Nikola Marković, Vladimir Milanović, Ivana Milev, Era Milivojević, Miron Mutaović, Sachi Miyachi, Đorđe Odanović, Tanja Ostojić, Ivan Petrović, Nina Radoičić, Vojislav Radovanović, Dragan Rajšić, Extinction Rebellion, Milica Ružičić, Pokret za očuvanje stakla Dragana Drobnjaka, Igor Simić, Jana Stojaković, Nataša Teofilović, Ranko Travanj, Anamarija Vartabedijan, Nenad Vučković, Tatjana Tanja Vujinović, Ana Vujović. Umetnički savet Udruženja je zajedno sa kustoskinjom Dr Majom Ćirić i njenim asistentom ist.um. Lavom Mrenovićem izabrao radove umetnika/ca – članova i članica ULUS-a koji su izloženi na Jesenjoj izložb
The 20th Biennial of Art in Pančevo is thematically inspired by a local hybrid phenomenon that re... more The 20th Biennial of Art in Pančevo is thematically inspired by a local hybrid phenomenon that reflects the iconic and seemingly contrasting, horizontal and immediate coexistence of the Oil Refinery and the Vojlovica Monastery, and whose interdependence can be symbiotic or conflicting, depending on the point of view. The Biennale "refinerymonastery" raises questions about whether and how it is possible to act outside and over the domains of matrices, patterns and conditions generated by the monastery and the refinery, each for itself and together, and how to resolve the relationship between limited parochial activity and unrestrainable need for openness and inventiveness. The "refinerymonastery" may find temporary answers in art that reconciles speculative imagination and technology. If it is not possible to deviate from both dogmatism and hypercapitalism, then an artistic proposal is possible in the sense of creating a temporary difference. - Maja Ćirić The jubilee 20th Biennial of Art in Pančevo under the title "refinerymonastery", curated by Maja Ćirić, took place from May 27 to June 27, 2022 in Pančevo, Serbia. Works from more than 35 artists and collectives from over 15 counties have been presented in this year’s edition. The selector's assistant is Sanda Kalebić.
The Austrian Association of Women Artists (VBKÖ) was founded in 1910 as a feminist act, on the ma... more The Austrian Association of Women Artists (VBKÖ) was founded in 1910 as a feminist act, on the margins of what was strictly a male society around the Viennese Secession. In this space that is a symbol of constructive resistance, the 'Bordered Lives' exhibition, which took place in September 2021, 1 demonstrated another kind of social critique that included the work of Khadija von Zinnenburg Carroll, whose artistic intervention reveals the position of refugees and asylum seekers-a part of society whose integration is problematic. The exhibition consisted of the content of the publication Bordered Lives, published by Sternberg Press in 2020. Bordered Lives is a pre-pandemic project on display during the pandemic. It is not only the ongoing migrant crisis that makes it relevant; the conditions of isolation, discipline, essential needs, even surveillance, otherwise particular for the institutions keeping people in captivity, resonate much more widely in vaccine politics and re-emerging lockdowns in the current bio-political regimes.
Др Маја Ћирић B.O.L.T.O.P.-Better On Lips Than On Paper (Боље на уснама него на папиру) B.O.L.T.O... more Др Маја Ћирић B.O.L.T.O.P.-Better On Lips Than On Paper (Боље на уснама него на папиру) B.O.L.T.O.P.-кодирана порука из Другог светског ратa,1као наслов ретроспективне изложбе, осим директног значења, указује и на неопходност проналажења кључа за тумачење уметничког стваралаштва Невене Хаџи Јованчић (1954). Боље на уснама него на папиру поштански је акроним-једна од многобројних кодираних порука са сексуалном конотацијом које су током Другог светског рата амерички војници писали својим вољеним женама на ковертама писама послатих са бојишта. Ретроспективa Невене Хаџи Јованчић, на којој је публици представљен садржај са њених претходних изложби, допуњен најновијим радовима, преузима овај назив јер она, уместо на дводимензионални папир, уживање преноси у трећу димензију. Иако је последњих година глобално изразито наглашена потреба великих институција уметности да после дугогодишњег занемаривања уметницама старије генерације коначно дају признање које заслужују,2 то ревидирање претпостављеног заборава или инстиуционалног игнорисања, као општи тренд, не може у потпуности бити примењено на Невену Хаџи Јованчић. Наиме, због тога што је њена радна способност двоструко оријентисана, и према уметничком стваралаштву и према педагошком раду, ово прво, колико год ефектно, прати линија дисконтинуитета, у смислу да се уметност манифестује у таласима између којих има пауза. У том погледу, њен рад није занемарен ни због лењости кустоса ни због сексизма, већ због чињенице да је Невена своје егзистенцијално питање решила у педагошкој професији,3 што је разликује од многих уметница које су стварале у сенци и на ивици егзистенције. Ова изложба јесте још један излагачки талас, поновно осветљивање стваралачке праксе Невене Хаџи Јованчић и сјајна институционална могућност за њено документовање, а последично и за смештање у уметничкоисторијски контекст и 1Један од акронима преузет за потребе уметничког рада Невене Хаџи Јованчић на 26-Меморијалу Надежде Петровић у Чачку из књиге Бена Шота: Шотова оригинална сваштара, Чаробна књига, Београд, 2007.
This is not an exhibition about borders. Rather, it is an exhibition about overcoming the influen... more This is not an exhibition about borders. Rather, it is an exhibition about overcoming the influence of politics on the land within the borders of unrecognized or semi-recognized states. It is a document of the fragmented symptoms of the "Bosnian pot" 1 character of governance, in which all components simultaneously complement and eliminate each other. This unsettling principle of governance, in which elements unable to withstand the pressure collapse, while those that are more powerful survive (and are subsequently absorbed within the system), has been known for many centuries. By not taking sides, what this book highlights, from a bird's-eye view, are the contrasts and conflicts provoked by contemporary attempts at preserving a semblance of safety within those borders. Unfortunately, many of these attempts did, and continue to, constitute crimes.
Podsetnik na istoriju institucionalne kritike u Srbiji (verzija druga) dematerijalizacijaumetnost... more Podsetnik na istoriju institucionalne kritike u Srbiji (verzija druga) dematerijalizacijaumetnosti.com/podsetnik-na-istoriju-institucionalne-kritike-u-srbiji/ Institucionalna kritika kao "ispitivanje društvenih ili institucionalnih uslova uokviravanja" podrazumeva epistemološki karakter jer "analizira", otkriva i izlaže svet umetnosti kao objekat svoje kritike. Institucionalna kritika je specifičan odnos umetnosti i društva u kojem su "strukture i logike sveta umetnosti otkrivene" tako što je preispitivan illusio, Burdijeov termin za kolektivno investiranje i verovanje u čitav vrednosni sistem neke strukture. Polazna tačka institucionalne kritike je potencijal umetnosti da postane javna diskusija o društveno-političkim problemima, koja će stimulisati relacije koje do tada nisu stimulisane kroz (re)artikulaciju sopstvene pozicije. Ona je kanonizovana unajmanje tri istorijska talasa u poslednjih četrdesetak godina, pošto je kreativni subjekat moderne estetike bio zamenjen institucijom, tj. njenim uslovima i parametrima izlaganja, kao temom i objektom dekonstrukcije. Ivana Smiljanić, Uređivanje (u domaćinstvu i umetnosti), fotografija na papiru, 2012. (1) (2) (3) (4)
Although eluding, the rawness of Serbia, as an effect of uncertain existence, within the contradi... more Although eluding, the rawness of Serbia, as an effect of uncertain existence, within the contradictory territory, is implied. To point to these unrefined factors of Serbia means to manage to spot, capture and present through photographic means what cannot be subdued otherwise. Establishing a coherent and developmental photographic thread that transforms rawness into something sublime, in the climate of cheapened and relativized life's meaning, is a venture worth the attention. The self-organized collective Belgrade Raw is transforming into the Serbia Raw phenomenon: its core members, who have cooperated continually since 2009 through a series of workshops have, over time, connected people from different Serbian cities. The original ideas about an alternative visual and social re-examination of the urban tissue of Belgrade, as the country's capital, have expanded to the activation, re-examination and presentation of scenes from and in fourteen cities.1 Multiple interrelating Due to an organic way of joining, Belgrade Raw is both a social and photographic collective, and it is the complex and mutually intertwined relationships that their art is read in. The archaic organizational principle of recognition, which characterises this tribe, has been established due to the insufficiency of institutions. Belgrade Raw has evolved through dynamic interrelating of research, marking and connecting of urban scenes, owing to the possibilities created by the Flickr Internet platform2. Sociability developed on Flickr, was later transferred to and dispersed through Facebook and Instagram, which, in addition to sharing files and likes, allows shared discussion and distribution. The comfort of social interaction, exchange and 1 Bor, Novi Pazar,
Journal of Art and Media Studies, University of Arts, Belgrade, 2014
Under the assumption that the collective affiliation of curators and new political possibilities ... more Under the assumption that the collective affiliation of curators and new political possibilities that they are generating do not produce a change, but preserve the existing hegemony and reinforce the institution of art, this paper aims to examine the relation of the affiliation of particular curators to the type of exhibitions that they are making. The aim of this paper is to point to the potentialities in the exhibition making and the necessity of the (un)predictable relation of the curator, the field and the selected artists.
"Lažna sliko, prevarila si me, pokazala si mi ljubazno lice; i to lice me je privuklo. Sada, kad ... more "Lažna sliko, prevarila si me, pokazala si mi ljubazno lice; i to lice me je privuklo. Sada, kad je slatka obmana prestala, nalazim užas, nalazim bol, tamo gde je srce očekivalo radost."
Da li je svetlo koje vidiš u daljini vatromet ili su bombe ("pucanje")? Da li je zaista jedino bi... more Da li je svetlo koje vidiš u daljini vatromet ili su bombe ("pucanje")? Da li je zaista jedino bitno da budeš lepa i nasmejana, ili je to samo vrh ledenog brega ranjivosti, nastale usled nemogućnosti da se zaista smestiš u hibridnoj realnosti?
Under the assumption that collective affiliations of curators and alternative political possibili... more Under the assumption that collective affiliations of curators and alternative political possibilities that they are generating do not produce a change, but preserve the existing hegemony and reinforce the existing relations within the institution of art, this paper aims to examine the relation of the affiliation of particular curators to the type of exhibitions that they are making. The case study that will be examined is the 54. October Art Salon in Belgrade 2013.The aim is to point to the fact that despite the limitless potential that art provides, the affiliation affects the exhibition making, the relation of a curator and the selected artists.
Over a period of eighteen months, a selected group of international artists and writers focused t... more Over a period of eighteen months, a selected group of international artists and writers focused their attention on Tegel airport, they observed how it is used, they engaged in new activities and imagined how the building might function in the future. This book and DVD is the outcome of what might be described as an open-ended enquiry and, as such, embodies new perspectives and approaches to the problem of urban renewal, regeneration, social organisation, mobility and the legacy of modernist architecture. This approach to site is central to imagining how art practice can slow down, re-orientate and redefine the successive cycle of masterplans and regeneration schemes so that we can begin to consider what is at stake in the spaces that we occupy. The publication includes a DVD with a selection of 27 short films.
Starting with the premise that the interdisciplinary practices of curating are often characterize... more Starting with the premise that the interdisciplinary practices of curating are often characterized by a complex language that consists of borrowed terms, notions, and inspirations from other allied fields, I will place special focus on their relation to hospitality. The aim of this paper is to underline the impact of the spontaneous use of hospitality in curating and to promote an internalized hospitality in the curatorial-one that would be capable of producing a meaningful difference in the art system. The term "internalized hospitality" stands for the complex notion of an inclusion of the history of hospitality in curating by curators who will curate projects related to hospitality in the future.
Active Withdrawal-Weak Institutionalism and Institutionalization of Art Practice
I Never Promised You An Avant-Garden 1 : A Draft for the History of Institutional Critique in Ser... more I Never Promised You An Avant-Garden 1 : A Draft for the History of Institutional Critique in Serbia The goal of this text is to draft the self-historicisation of institutional critique as practiced in the visual arts in Serbia-an ex-Yugoslavian country-while simultaneously attempting to locate the answer as to which of the institutions were internalized and by whom. The text will provide background on the historical trajectories of visual art practices in the region and point to contemporary models and examples. In the text, both milestone and alternative examples of the practices of institutional critique will be presented. By understanding the Serbian example, this text will produce an interpretation of institutional critique in a more marginal, nonhegemonic art world. Institutional Critique in the Serbian context: Although widely performed, researched and canonized in the West, institutional critique-in both its practice and theorization-should not be considered only as a Western concept. Just as the alternative avant-garde and modernisms have emerged in the so-called margins along with their Western examples,
• Unstable Positions of the Curatorial, Continental Breakfast, Outposts 2013, CEI Venice Forum for Contemporary Art Curators, ed. Giuliana Carbi, , 2013
Apstrakt: Doktorska disertacija Institucionalna kritika i kustoske prakse ostvarena je kao interd... more Apstrakt: Doktorska disertacija Institucionalna kritika i kustoske prakse ostvarena je kao interdisciplinarni poduhvat koji teoretizuje relacije, koje su u teoriji i praksi uspostavljene između kustoskih praksi i institucionalne kritike. Disertacija je ostvarena u svetlu neophodnosti akademskog artikulisanja kustoskih praksi kao jednog mogućeg oblika institucionalne kritike u domenu vizuelnih umetnosti, i propitivanja pozicija i funkcija tog kompleksnog odnosa u (akademskim) institucionalnim strukturama sa posebnim fokusom na literaturu iz ove oblasti hegemonog porekla. Naučni doprinos ove disertacije realizovan je u domenu teorije umetnosti, kao doprinos teoriji kustoskih praksi jer podrazumeva kontituisanje teorije kustoskih praksi sa posebnim akcentom na međuodnose kustoskih praksi i institucionalne kritike. Područje ove teze ostvareno je u domenu interdisciplinarnih proučavanja teorija umetnosti kojima se kustoska praksa kontekstualizuje naspram različitih teoretizacija moći izvan užeg područja institucionalnog polja kulture. Polazna hipoteza podrazumeva da institucija ima relativistički karakter i da se shvata kao posebna normativna intersubjektivna dimenzija društvene strukture. U skladu sa tom hipotezom, ovde izložena doktorska disertacije podrazumeva odgovor na pitanje šta je to specifično za kustoske prakse i kako ta specifičnost može da dođe do izražaja kada je reč o kustoskoj praksi kao o obliku institucionalne kritike u svetu vizuelnih umetnosti.
Teorija kustoksih praksi i teorija institucionalne kritike jeste mesto međusobnog odnošenja i epistemoloških preloma dve kompleksne teorije sa ciljem generisanja specifične društveno teorijske situacije, kako bi se preispitala uloga umetnosti u konstituisanju emancipatorne politike (ne)mogućnosti koja se zasniva na projektovanju političkog imaginarnog.
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Abstract: The dissertation Institutional Critique and Curating is envisioned as an interdisciplinary theorisation that examines theoretical and practical relations between curating and institutional critique. It emerged out of the necessity to academically articulate curating as one possible form of institutional critique in the realm of visual arts, and to examine the positions and functions of this complex relation within the (academic) institutional structures, with a special focus on literature of the hegemonic origin. The scientific contribution of this dissertation lies in the domain of the the theory of art, as a contribution to the theory of curating, in a sense that it is aiming towards establishing a theory of curating with a special accent on relations between curating and institutional critique. This dissertation is realized as an interdisciplinary research of the theory of art that will contextualise curating and the curatorial within different theorisations of power outside of the narrow institutional field of culture. The initial hypothesis is that the institution is relative and that it is a specific normative intersubjective dimension of social structure. In relation to that, this dissertation aims to provide an answer to the question what is specific for curating and how can that specificity be expressed through curating as a practice of institutional critique.
The theory of curating and the theory of institutional critique are related at the place of epistemological breaks of two complex theories. The goal is to generate a specific social and theoretical situation, in order to reexamine the role of art in constituting the emancipatory politics of (im)possibility, that is rooted in the necessity to project a political imaginary.
Series of photographs based on the installations by Ivana Smiljanić Ivana Smiljanić created this ... more Series of photographs based on the installations by Ivana Smiljanić Ivana Smiljanić created this last series of photographs based on the installations-In Line (In Homemaking and Art)-after her art works (performances, documented performances and installations) in which she had directly reexamined the position of her own body in different social contexts (in the art world-I DANCE DANCE DANCE or in private relationships-You Will Remember Me). The series of photographs is a possible response to the series What Am I To You that reexamines the relation between an individual and a state, but also the issues of invisibility and depreciation of an individual within a state. In the series of wall drawings and prints What Am I To You, where the map of Serbia is made of the multiplied word doubt, Smiljanić transfers the responsibility to the state and examines the role and function of an artist in macro-context, while the new series of photographs In Line (In Homemaking and Art) results from taking over the responsibility for one's own practice within the micro-context of various households. In the series of photographs In Line (In Homemaking and Art) that documents the process going on within households, the artist is exploring the politics of domestic work and the household through the creative processes of arranging, on the meaningful construction of the "looks" of clothes hanged to dry in accordance with the canons of fine arts. Although invisible in photographs, artist's body is present through the result of her work. And it's an educated body, equipped with skills acquired during the education in arts. Therefore, the photographs document a completed process of hanging clothes based on the laws of fine arts, taking care of tonal values and transitions. But, they are also "an investigation into a radical form of creativity that challenges hegemonic values of patriarchy and production".1 The artist engaged herself in the cultural and aesthetic dimension of the household which people often dismissed and devalued.2 By doing so she resolves self-defeat in the patriarchal order and manifests maturity and independence from it. It is by recreating the trivia of existence that she realizes the essentials of a female creative potential within the male order of things.
Short essay on game changers and the changing art game presented at the CEI Venice Forum for con... more Short essay on game changers and the changing art game presented at the CEI Venice Forum for contemporary art curators at the Venice Academy of Fine Arts on May 9th 2019.
The context of the Venitian former hospital for the uncurable is etymologically connected to curating as of taking care. It provokes context-responsiveness, one of the first postulates of the curatorial. To raise a curatorial question or an argument is relevant only if it resonates with the discourse, with the language that is encountered in the surroundings and its contemporaneity, such as it is in the preview of the 58 th International Art Exhibition la Biennale di Venezia. That prerequisite directly pushes us to hereby connect the aspect of the artistic practices, that are initially considered as being incurable and thus can not be easily absorbed within the art system. They are uncurable because these subjects (artists, art practices) embody a rupture and perform certain liminality, in a sense that they cross over the existing boundaries. Having such a character, they bring in a change, and one dares to name them the potential game changers. They can be human subjects, but they can also be non-human subjects such as currents. They both have the potential of transforming the hegemonic state of affairs.
The Austrian Association of Women Artists (VBKÖ) was founded in 1910 as a feminist act, on the ma... more The Austrian Association of Women Artists (VBKÖ) was founded in 1910 as a feminist act, on the margins of what was strictly a male society around the Viennese Secession. In this space that is a symbol of constructive resistance, the 'Bordered Lives' exhibition, which took place in September 2021, 1 demonstrated another kind of social critique that included the work of Khadija von Zinnenburg Carroll, whose artistic intervention reveals the position of refugees and asylum seekers-a part of society whose integration is problematic. The exhibition consisted of the content of the publication Bordered Lives, published by Sternberg Press in 2020. Bordered Lives is a pre-pandemic project on display during the pandemic. It is not only the ongoing migrant crisis that makes it relevant; the conditions of isolation, discipline, essential needs, even surveillance, otherwise particular for the institutions keeping people in captivity, resonate much more widely in vaccine politics and re-emerging lockdowns in the current bio-political regimes.
EXHIBITIVE CARTOGRAPHIES II Critical Instrumentation, Exhibitive and Curatorial Narratives, 2024
The aim of this conference is to present, examine and contextualise curatorial practices in
cont... more The aim of this conference is to present, examine and contextualise curatorial practices in contemporary art, in Croatia and the region, but also specifically in regard to our lecturer Pedro Lorente’s thesis on “museums as cathedrals of urban modernity”. It is important to note that the history of curatorial practices is a relatively little studied area in Croatian art history, while it is increasingly present at the international level. Our objective with this conference is to address this important subject at the crossroads of art criticism, theory and practice. There has been increasing interest in exhibition history and contextualisation of curatorial practices in art-historical research. While we can trace back exhibition history in the modern sense of a universal right to publicness to the revolutionary turmoils of the late 18th century, it was the avant-garde tendencies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that gave the history of exhibition practices a new dimension, paving the way for innovative methods, participation and the questioning of existing institutional policies, contextual frameworks and models of presentation. The emergence of neo-avantgarde and the institutional critique of the 1950s and 1960s destabilised the conventional meanings and institutional positions of artists, artworks, curators and audiences, which led to a more active role of curators in mediating new artistic expressions, but also to radical questioning of their own position. Curators became increasingly active in the creation of meaning, assuming more and more often, with their gestures or texts, the role of meta-artists, especially in the domain of conceptual art. Redefining the position of the curator-author has increasingly come into focus since the emergence of conceptual/neo-avantgarde tendencies in art. The starting point of the conference is the curatorial figure of Želimir Koščević, the 2018 laureate of AICA Croatia’s Annual Award and Lifetime Achievement Award. Exposed to late modernism but also to counterculture in former Yugoslavia, as a relatively young art historian, Želimir Koščević won a fellowship from Stockholm’s Moderna Museet.
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Abstracts by Maja Ćirić
ULUS, kao najveće umetničko udruženje na Balkanu, personifikuje nasleđe snage i izdržljivosti koje mu je omogućilo da napreduje usprkos promenljivim okolnostima. Karakter i integritet udruženja oblikovani su neprestanim borbama da se zadovolje potrebe i uslovi umetničkog stvaralaštva, istovremeno negujući živu umetničku zajednicu.
Kroz svoju bogatu istoriju, ULUS je postao institucionalna platforma koja odražava osećaj društvene solidarnosti, odražavajući evoluirajući sociokulturni pejzaž. Izložba „Evergreen" služi kao metafora za trajnu vitalnost ULUS-a, predstavljajući njegovu sposobnost da se prilagodi promenljivim okolnostima dok istovremeno čuva svoju suštinu. DNK ULUS-a je mozaik prihvatanja i otpora, sećanja i zaborava, umetničkih fenomena i trendova u odnosu na vladajuće konvencije i društvene matrice.
Izložba takođe osvetljava dinamično vođstvo nove administracije ULUS-a, koja promoviše inkluzivnost i omogućava prostor za savremene umetničke izraze i inovaciju izvan istorijskih korelacija. Njegujući jedinstvo i pružajući prostor za nove događaje i fenomene, ULUS i dalje ostaje pokretačka snaga za umetničko istraživanje i rast.
Umetnice i umetnici - Sanja Anđelković, Vladimir Bjeličić, Lana Vasiljević, Ana Vujović, Nenad Gajić, Vladimir Milanović, Zoran Naskovski, Bojan Radojičić i Ivana Smiljanić - odabrani su iz različitih perspektiva, odražavajući raznolikost i izvanrednost ULUS-a. Njihovi radovi komuniciraju putem različitih formalnih i konceptualnih manifestacija, pružajući uvid u raznoliki svet savremene srpske umetnosti.
ASISTENT KUSTOSA - SARADNIKA Lav Mrenović
UMETNIČKI SAVET
Nataša Kokić (potpredsednica), Jovanka Mladenović, Danilo Prnjat, Kristina Ristić, Sanja Tomašević
UČESNICI/E
Jovana Braletić, Andrej Bunuševac, Mirza Dedać, Nebojša Despotović, Uroš Đurić, Isidora Gajić, Nenad Gajić, Ivan Grubanov, Ivana Jakšić, Jamesdin, Ksenija Jovišević, Jeff Kasper, Nemanja Lađić, Nikola Marković, Vladimir Milanović, Ivana Milev, Era Milivojević, Miron Mutaović,
Sachi Miyachi, Đorđe Odanović, Tanja Ostojić, Ivan Petrović, Nina Radoičić, Vojislav Radovanović, Dragan Rajšić, Extinction Rebellion, Milica Ružičić, Pokret za očuvanje stakla Dragana Drobnjaka, Igor Simić, Jana Stojaković, Nataša Teofilović, Ranko Travanj, Anamarija Vartabedijan, Nenad Vučković, Tatjana Tanja Vujinović, Ana Vujović.
Umetnički savet Udruženja je zajedno sa kustoskinjom Dr Majom Ćirić i njenim asistentom ist.um. Lavom Mrenovićem izabrao radove umetnika/ca – članova i članica ULUS-a koji su izloženi na Jesenjoj izložb
The jubilee 20th Biennial of Art in Pančevo under the title "refinerymonastery", curated by Maja Ćirić, took place from May 27 to June 27, 2022 in Pančevo, Serbia. Works from more than 35 artists and collectives from over 15 counties have been presented in this year’s edition. The selector's assistant is Sanda Kalebić.
Catalogues by Maja Ćirić
ULUS, kao najveće umetničko udruženje na Balkanu, personifikuje nasleđe snage i izdržljivosti koje mu je omogućilo da napreduje usprkos promenljivim okolnostima. Karakter i integritet udruženja oblikovani su neprestanim borbama da se zadovolje potrebe i uslovi umetničkog stvaralaštva, istovremeno negujući živu umetničku zajednicu.
Kroz svoju bogatu istoriju, ULUS je postao institucionalna platforma koja odražava osećaj društvene solidarnosti, odražavajući evoluirajući sociokulturni pejzaž. Izložba „Evergreen" služi kao metafora za trajnu vitalnost ULUS-a, predstavljajući njegovu sposobnost da se prilagodi promenljivim okolnostima dok istovremeno čuva svoju suštinu. DNK ULUS-a je mozaik prihvatanja i otpora, sećanja i zaborava, umetničkih fenomena i trendova u odnosu na vladajuće konvencije i društvene matrice.
Izložba takođe osvetljava dinamično vođstvo nove administracije ULUS-a, koja promoviše inkluzivnost i omogućava prostor za savremene umetničke izraze i inovaciju izvan istorijskih korelacija. Njegujući jedinstvo i pružajući prostor za nove događaje i fenomene, ULUS i dalje ostaje pokretačka snaga za umetničko istraživanje i rast.
Umetnice i umetnici - Sanja Anđelković, Vladimir Bjeličić, Lana Vasiljević, Ana Vujović, Nenad Gajić, Vladimir Milanović, Zoran Naskovski, Bojan Radojičić i Ivana Smiljanić - odabrani su iz različitih perspektiva, odražavajući raznolikost i izvanrednost ULUS-a. Njihovi radovi komuniciraju putem različitih formalnih i konceptualnih manifestacija, pružajući uvid u raznoliki svet savremene srpske umetnosti.
ASISTENT KUSTOSA - SARADNIKA Lav Mrenović
UMETNIČKI SAVET
Nataša Kokić (potpredsednica), Jovanka Mladenović, Danilo Prnjat, Kristina Ristić, Sanja Tomašević
UČESNICI/E
Jovana Braletić, Andrej Bunuševac, Mirza Dedać, Nebojša Despotović, Uroš Đurić, Isidora Gajić, Nenad Gajić, Ivan Grubanov, Ivana Jakšić, Jamesdin, Ksenija Jovišević, Jeff Kasper, Nemanja Lađić, Nikola Marković, Vladimir Milanović, Ivana Milev, Era Milivojević, Miron Mutaović,
Sachi Miyachi, Đorđe Odanović, Tanja Ostojić, Ivan Petrović, Nina Radoičić, Vojislav Radovanović, Dragan Rajšić, Extinction Rebellion, Milica Ružičić, Pokret za očuvanje stakla Dragana Drobnjaka, Igor Simić, Jana Stojaković, Nataša Teofilović, Ranko Travanj, Anamarija Vartabedijan, Nenad Vučković, Tatjana Tanja Vujinović, Ana Vujović.
Umetnički savet Udruženja je zajedno sa kustoskinjom Dr Majom Ćirić i njenim asistentom ist.um. Lavom Mrenovićem izabrao radove umetnika/ca – članova i članica ULUS-a koji su izloženi na Jesenjoj izložb
The jubilee 20th Biennial of Art in Pančevo under the title "refinerymonastery", curated by Maja Ćirić, took place from May 27 to June 27, 2022 in Pančevo, Serbia. Works from more than 35 artists and collectives from over 15 counties have been presented in this year’s edition. The selector's assistant is Sanda Kalebić.
Teorija kustoksih praksi i teorija institucionalne kritike jeste mesto međusobnog odnošenja i epistemoloških preloma dve kompleksne teorije sa ciljem generisanja specifične društveno teorijske situacije, kako bi se preispitala uloga umetnosti u konstituisanju emancipatorne politike (ne)mogućnosti koja se zasniva na projektovanju političkog imaginarnog.
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Abstract: The dissertation Institutional Critique and Curating is envisioned as an interdisciplinary theorisation that examines theoretical and practical relations between curating and institutional critique. It emerged out of the necessity to academically articulate curating as one possible form of institutional critique in the realm of visual arts, and to examine the positions and functions of this complex relation within the (academic) institutional structures, with a special focus on literature of the hegemonic origin. The scientific contribution of this dissertation lies in the domain of the the theory of art, as a contribution to the theory of curating, in a sense that it is aiming towards establishing a theory of curating with a special accent on relations between curating and institutional critique. This dissertation is realized as an interdisciplinary research of the theory of art that will contextualise curating and the curatorial within different theorisations of power outside of the narrow institutional field of culture. The initial hypothesis is that the institution is relative and that it is a specific normative intersubjective dimension of social structure. In relation to that, this dissertation aims to provide an answer to the question what is specific for curating and how can that specificity be expressed through curating as a practice of institutional critique.
The theory of curating and the theory of institutional critique are related at the place of epistemological breaks of two complex theories. The goal is to generate a specific social and theoretical situation, in order to reexamine the role of art in constituting the emancipatory politics of (im)possibility, that is rooted in the necessity to project a political imaginary.
The context of the Venitian former hospital for the uncurable is etymologically connected to curating as of taking care. It provokes context-responsiveness, one of the first postulates of the curatorial. To raise a curatorial question or an argument is relevant only if it resonates with the discourse, with the language that is encountered in the surroundings and its contemporaneity, such as it is in the preview of the 58 th International Art Exhibition la Biennale di Venezia. That prerequisite directly pushes us to hereby connect the aspect of the artistic practices, that are initially considered as being incurable and thus can not be easily absorbed within the art system. They are uncurable because these subjects (artists, art practices) embody a rupture and perform certain liminality, in a sense that they cross over the existing boundaries. Having such a character, they bring in a change, and one dares to name them the potential game changers. They can be human subjects, but they can also be non-human subjects such as currents. They both have the potential of transforming the hegemonic state of affairs.
contemporary art, in Croatia and the region, but also specifically in regard to our lecturer
Pedro Lorente’s thesis on “museums as cathedrals of urban modernity”. It is important to
note that the history of curatorial practices is a relatively little studied area in Croatian art
history, while it is increasingly present at the international level. Our objective with this
conference is to address this important subject at the crossroads of art criticism, theory and
practice. There has been increasing interest in exhibition history and contextualisation of
curatorial practices in art-historical research. While we can trace back exhibition history in
the modern sense of a universal right to publicness to the revolutionary turmoils of the late
18th century, it was the avant-garde tendencies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that
gave the history of exhibition practices a new dimension, paving the way for innovative
methods, participation and the questioning of existing institutional policies, contextual
frameworks and models of presentation. The emergence of neo-avantgarde and the
institutional critique of the 1950s and 1960s destabilised the conventional meanings and
institutional positions of artists, artworks, curators and audiences, which led to a more
active role of curators in mediating new artistic expressions, but also to radical questioning
of their own position. Curators became increasingly active in the creation of meaning,
assuming more and more often, with their gestures or texts, the role of meta-artists,
especially in the domain of conceptual art. Redefining the position of the curator-author has
increasingly come into focus since the emergence of conceptual/neo-avantgarde tendencies
in art.
The starting point of the conference is the curatorial figure of Želimir Koščević, the 2018
laureate of AICA Croatia’s Annual Award and Lifetime Achievement Award. Exposed to late
modernism but also to counterculture in former Yugoslavia, as a relatively young art
historian, Želimir Koščević won a fellowship from Stockholm’s Moderna Museet.