Exporting Zagreb, Constructing the Present of Memory

Description

Exporting Zagreb, Constructing the Present of Memory Professor Katarzyna Kosmala : Curatorial concept and feature in exhibition catalogue The construction of memory and the related processes of rewriting, recalling, remembering, commemorating, exalting as well as forgetting, are ultimately realised by merging the personal with the collective lens. With an overarching desire to demonstrate the rich context and diverse cultural heritage of different parts of Croatia and wider former Yugoslavia, this exhibition sheds light upon the formation of ‘new’ histories, while recognizing the region’s remarkable contribution to contemporary cultural and artistic creation. The title of the exhibition highlights the importance of recent history in constructing the memory of the present and points at key transformations in the practice taking place today, contextualised back to the 1970s and the 1980s, acknowledging technological innovation and visual language of transgression in pioneering works of Edita Schubert (1947-2001) as well as early video experimentation and social activism by Sanja Ivekovic. Several artists explore and comment on the politics of memory in the context of on-going negotiation with the Europeanization project vis a vis distancing from the Yugoslavian-centred historical grand narrative and cultural identity. Others enter into a more personalised dialogue with the private, exploring reticent spaces of remembrance, politicising the forgotten and the silenced, as well as analysing a construction of memory via a more autobiographical approach, or engaging private archives. The works are displayed into four thematic sections: 1. In the mirror; 2. Permanent temporality; 3. Political gloss; and 4. Breathing the everyday Featuring artists: Gordana Bakic, Rene Bachrach Krištofic, Ana Bilankov, Siniša Bovcon, Sebastijan Dracic, Danko Frišcic/Davor Mezak, Martina Grlic, Sanja Ivekovic, Helena Janecic, Andreja Kuluncic, Ines Matijevic Cakic, Pavle Pavlovic , Stjepan Šandrk, Edita Schubert, Igor Taritaš, Zlatan Vehabovic, Davor Vrankic, Nataša Vukovic In a Dialogue with Exporting Zagreb, Constructing the Present of Memory This exhibition exported Zagreb to Gdansk, after Gdansk was exported to Zagreb, rejecting any need to engage with the ‘centre’, and instead, recognizing both cities’ remarkable contribution to cultural and artistic creation. Artists in both spaces are simultaneously vibrant cultural producers, social commentators as well as critics of their post-Socialist realities engrossed with blossoming neo-liberal tendencies, manifested through daily living in new Europe. The exhibition engages the paradigms of art practice and visual cultures, conversing with the region’s more and less interwoven histories as well as their fragmentation. Featuring artists: Beata Ewa Bialecka, Daniel Cybulski, Krzysztof Gliszczynski, Andrzej Karmasz, Grzegorz Klaman, Dominik Lejman, Kamila Model, Hanna Nowicka, Agata Nowosielska, Anna Orbaczewska, Teresa Pagowska, Anna Reinert, Katarzyna Swinarska, Ania Witkowska and Adam Witkowski, Iwona Zajac

Period	20 Feb 2016 → 4 Apr 2016
Event title	Exporting Zagreb
Event type	Exhibition
Location	Gdansk , PolandShow on map