new media center_kuda.org

Interview with Dejan Sretenović on the role of Soros Centers for Contemporary Art - SCCA in the region and the conditions of art production in the 90s

Dejan Sretenović, art historian, theorist and curator of the Center for Visual Culture at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade, previously director and program editor of the Center for Contemporary Art Belgrade (1994-2000)

Art organization (review of historical practices through the XX century to the present day), research project kuda.org

Art Organisation analyses the phenomenon of artistic (self)organisation and relations within artistic groups and collectives in the post-Yugoslav region during the last fifty years, and the ways it influenced the profile and quality of their artistic production. Research within the project Art Organisation is aimed at group and collective processes of creation and internal dynamics between artists and other participants in them. The focus is on self-organised initiatives outside the framework of official institutions. Through the phenomena of self-organisation, the project questions the role of civil society organisations as potential progressive places in society through dealing with art.

The introduction to the research of group work, joint authorship, working conditions, was conducted during 2017 through interviewing participants and protagonists of the contemporary art scene from Yugoslavia, and continued during 2018/2019. The research team is composed of members of kuda.org with associates from Belgrade, theoreticians and art historians Milica Pekić and Stevan Vuković and Ana Peraica from Split. During 2019, the interviewed were collectives and groups in the field of contemporary art, theoreticians and art historians, and protagonist artists who realized their practice through group art work.

Art Organisation is part of a wider project Vectors of Collective Imagination where kuda.org cooperates with partners: Multimedia Institute mi2 and Kulturtreger-Books, Zagreb (HR); Glänta Gothenburg  (SE); Kontrapunkt, Skopje (MK) and Berliner Gazette, Berlin (DE).

Interview with Janka Vukmir on the role of Soros Centers for Contemporary Art - SCCA in the region and the conditions of art production in the 90s, Zagreb

Janka Vukmir, theorist and curator, president of the Institute of Contemporary Art Zagreb, former editor, curator and one of the directors of SCCA Zagreb (1993-1997)

The Soros Center for Contemporary Art – SCCA Zagreb was founded in 1993 and registered as an independent nonprofit organization, a citizens’ association in 1998 as The Institute for Contemporary Art, as the successor of SCCA Zagreb. The founders of the Institute are a group of art historians, curators, artists, photographers, designers, publishers, university professors and journalists.

At the time of its establishment in 1993 the aims of the SCCA – Zagreb were to upgrade to the existing system of institutions of contemporary art in Croatia, to promote artists, visual arts and other artistic creativity, to initiate the documentation on contemporary artists, and to build a recognizable network of contemporary art production in the area where we were active. At the beginnings, the Institute acted as a logistics centre for helping artists and their promotion, as the organizer of exhibitions, and has participated in the formation of civil society in Croatia.

Art organization (review of historical practices through the XX century to the present day), research project kuda.org

Art Organisation analyses the phenomenon of artistic (self)organisation and relations within artistic groups and collectives in the post-Yugoslav region during the last fifty years, and the ways it influenced the profile and quality of their artistic production. Research within the project Art Organisation is aimed at group and collective processes of creation and internal dynamics between artists and other participants in them. The focus is on self-organised initiatives outside the framework of official institutions. Through the phenomena of self-organisation, the project questions the role of civil society organisations as potential progressive places in society through dealing with art.

The introduction to the research of group work, joint authorship, working conditions, was conducted during 2017 through interviewing participants and protagonists of the contemporary art scene from Yugoslavia, and continued during 2018/2019. The research team is composed of members of kuda.org with associates from Belgrade, theoreticians and art historians Milica Pekić and Stevan Vuković and Ana Peraica from Split. During 2019, the interviewed were collectives and groups in the field of contemporary art, theoreticians and art historians, and protagonist artists who realized their practice through group art work.

Art Organisation is part of a wider project Vectors of Collective Imagination where kuda.org cooperates with partners: Multimedia Institute mi2 and Kulturtreger-Books, Zagreb (HR); Glänta Gothenburg  (SE); Kontrapunkt, Skopje (MK) and Berliner Gazette, Berlin (DE).

Interview with Dunja Blažević on the role of Soros Centers for Contemporary Art - SCCA in the region and the conditions of art production in the 90s, Sarajevo

Dunja Blažević, art historian, curator, editor of the visual program of the Gallery of the Student Cultural Center (SKC) in Belgrade from 1970 to 1976 and director of the SKC from 1976-1979 and director of the Center for Contemporary Art / SCCA / pro.ba in Sarajevo since 1996 -2010.

SCCA (Soros Center for Contemporary Art) was founded by the Open Society Fund Bosnia and Herzegovina at the end of 1996. Since 2000, SCCA (Sarajevo Center for Contemporary Art) has operated as an independent, non-profit professional organization. In 1998 SCCA established pro.ba* multimedia – video, film and TV – production department.

From its beginnings, SCCA has produced and organized numerous exhibitions, art actions, workshops, seminars, lectures and presentations in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad; the Center has supported the production of artworks, produced a number of multimedia works, art videos and films, published catalogues and other art publications, and assembled art documentation.

Art organization (review of historical practices through the XX century to the present day), research project kuda.org

The research within the Art Organization project is focused on group and collective processes, within the relationship between artists and other participants in them. The aim of the research is to investigate a specific shift towards self-organized initiatives outside the framework of official institutions, and its consequences in the distribution of roles in the world of art. The research is partly conducted through interviewing participants and protagonists of the contemporary art scene from Yugoslavia.

Art Organisation is part of a wider project Vectors of Collective Imagination where kuda.org cooperates with partners: Multimedia Institute mi2 and Kulturtreger-Books, Zagreb (HR); Glänta Gothenburg  (SE); Kontrapunkt, Skopje (MK) and Berliner Gazette, Berlin (DE).

Art organization: conversation with members of the ŠKART group : Đorđe Balmazović Žole and Dragan Protić Prota, Belgrade 2019

ŠKART group: Đorđe Balmazović Žole and Dragan Protić ProtaŠkart is a collective founded in 1990 at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade. During the experiment through their work, they primarily focus between the medium of poetry and design. “Architecture of human relations” is their main concept. Through the constant flow of the collective, present from its very beginnings, members work collaboratively to develop new values. They are especially capable of accepting "nice" mistakes during the making process and work tirelessly to combine work with pleasure.

Art Organisation is a long-term international research project that analyses the phenomenon of artistic (self)organisation and relations within artistic groups and collectives in the post-Yugoslav region during the last fifty years, and the ways it influenced the profile and quality of their artistic production. Research within the project Art Organisation is aimed at group and collective processes of creation and internal dynamics between artists and other participants in them. The focus is on self-organised initiatives outside the framework of official institutions. Through the phenomena of self-organisation, the project questions the role of civil society organisations as potential progressive places in society through dealing with art. The project covers a wide historical field through discussions with the protagonists of these practices from the 1990s until today, with a review of the experiences and heritage of organising and collective creation in the recent past of local and national culture, through the neo-avant-garde of the 1960s and 1970s and the Belgrade Surrealism of the 1930s.

The introduction to the research of group work, joint authorship, working conditions, was conducted during 2017 through interviewing participants and protagonists of the contemporary art scene from Yugoslavia, and continued during 2018/2019. The research team is composed of members of kuda.org with associates from Belgrade, theoreticians and art historians Milica Pekić and Stevan Vuković. During 2019, the interlocutors in the interview interviews were collectives and groups in the field of contemporary art, theoreticians and art historians, and protagonist artists who realized their practice through group art work.

Art Organisation is part of a wider project Vectors of Collective Imagination where kuda.org cooperates with partners: Multimedia Institute mi2 and Kulturtreger-Books, Zagreb (HR); Glänta Gothenburg  (SE); Kontrapunkt, Skopje (MK) and Berliner Gazette, Berlin (DE).

Art organization: interview with FOCUS group: Iva Kovač and Elvis Krstulović, Rijeka, 2019​

Fokus group, Rijeka / Iva Kovač i Elvis Krstulović they have been working since 2012, thus giving a new dimension to the cooperation that began in 2009. Both graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb with shortcomings whose conservative environment they compensated with extra-institutional engagement. Before coming to study in Zagreb, they lived in Rijeka, where they returned in 2013, becoming an important building block of the Rijeka independent scene, extremely well connected with the actors of regional culture. Their work is often marked by long-term interdisciplinary artistic processes that thematize nationalism, precariat, power relations on the art scene, and beyond. They were and still are involved in leading and creating programs of organizations such as Medica, SIZ and Delta 5, which gave them a direct insight into the work processes from an organizational and curatorial perspective, and not exclusively artistic.

Art organization (review of historical practices through the XX century to the present day), research project kuda.org

Art Organisation analyses the phenomenon of artistic (self)organisation and relations within artistic groups and collectives in the post-Yugoslav region during the last fifty years, and the ways it influenced the profile and quality of their artistic production. Research within the project Art Organisation is aimed at group and collective processes of creation and internal dynamics between artists and other participants in them. The focus is on self-organised initiatives outside the framework of official institutions. Through the phenomena of self-organisation, the project questions the role of civil society organisations as potential progressive places in society through dealing with art.

The introduction to the research of group work, joint authorship, working conditions, was conducted during 2017 through interviewing participants and protagonists of the contemporary art scene from Yugoslavia, and continued during 2018/2019. The research team is composed of members of kuda.org with associates from Belgrade, theoreticians and art historians Milica Pekić and Stevan Vuković and Ana Peraica from Split. During 2019, the interviewed were collectives and groups in the field of contemporary art, theoreticians and art historians, and protagonist artists who realized their practice through group art work.

Art Organisation is part of a wider project Vectors of Collective Imagination where kuda.org cooperates with partners: Multimedia Institute mi2 and Kulturtreger-Books, Zagreb (HR); Glänta Gothenburg  (SE); Kontrapunkt, Skopje (MK) and Berliner Gazette, Berlin (DE).

Art organization: interview with members of the IRWIN group - Miran Mohar and Borut Vogelnik, Ljubljana, October 2018.

Group IRWIN (NSK) the conversation was realized with two members: Miran Mohar and Borut Vogelnik, artists active in the work of the art group IRWIN, lecturers at the University of Ljubljana and at private universities in Slovenia and the region.

Art organization (review of historical practices through the XX century to the present day), research project kuda.org

Art Organisation analyses the phenomenon of artistic (self)organisation and relations within artistic groups and collectives in the post-Yugoslav region during the last fifty years, and the ways it influenced the profile and quality of their artistic production. Research within the project Art Organisation is aimed at group and collective processes of creation and internal dynamics between artists and other participants in them. The focus is on self-organised initiatives outside the framework of official institutions. Through the phenomena of self-organisation, the project questions the role of civil society organisations as potential progressive places in society through dealing with art.

The introduction to the research of group work, joint authorship, working conditions, was conducted during 2017 through interviewing participants and protagonists of the contemporary art scene from Yugoslavia, and continued during 2018/2019. The research team is composed of members of kuda.org with associates from Belgrade, theoreticians and art historians Milica Pekić and Stevan Vuković and Ana Peraica from Split. During 2019, the interviewed were collectives and groups in the field of contemporary art, theoreticians and art historians, and protagonist artists who realized their practice through group art work.

Art Organisation is part of a wider project Vectors of Collective Imagination where kuda.org cooperates with partners: Multimedia Institute mi2 and Kulturtreger-Books, Zagreb (HR); Glänta Gothenburg  (SE); Kontrapunkt, Skopje (MK) and Berliner Gazette, Berlin (DE).