The Non-Aligned Movement is proof that people can unite even at the highest level in order to solve a huge crisis of humanity, says the renowned artist in an interview with Vijesti. Sam durant, whose exhibition "Echoes of the Unaligned: Gifts and Returns" will be opened on September 10 at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montenegro (MSUCG).
The exhibition represents the continuity of the artist's interest in the Non-Aligned Movement and the post-colonial period, and combines artworks from the Art Collection of Non-Aligned Countries with his new works, and will be opened in the MSUCG Gallery at 20 p.m. The curator of the exhibition, which is open until October 10, is Natalija Vujošević, and the program is accompanied by a publication with texts Bojan Piškur and Natalija Vujošević, and an interview with the author. Entrance to the opening ceremony is free, and the ticket afterwards costs five euros.
"The artist selected 25 works from the collection that depict various aspects of joint activities - from agricultural works and cultural gatherings to labor protests and anti-colonial struggles. One of the key elements of the exhibition is the illuminated inscription 'A different world is possible', the well-known motto of the World Social Forum, which is posed as a question, a statement and a call to action," the MSUCG press release points out.
In the central part of the MSUCG Gallery, Durant will present his new work, a model of Petrović Park, the former home of the "Josip Broz Tito" Art Gallery of Non-Aligned Countries, and now the headquarters of the MSUCG.
“Through various activities such as workstations and reading spaces, Durant invites visitors to learn, think and imagine a better world. The audience can participate in creating monuments, writing slogans and exploring ideas from the past that offered different visions of the future. The exhibition thus turns into a dynamic and interactive space, where everyone can create art together. Monuments, which are usually symbols of power, here become blueprints for a better world, created by the hands of ordinary people," the organizers announce.
This is not surprising, considering that Sam Durant is an interdisciplinary artist who deals with various social, political and cultural issues. Last year, as a guest of MSUCG, he presented his work, which aroused great interest from the audience.
In an interview with Vijesti, Sam Durant talks about the process leading up to the exhibition, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Art Collection owned by MSUCG, the relationship between politics and art, art in public space...
After last year's lecture and presentation of your work, your solo exhibition will be held in Podgorica this time, as planned. How do you, as an author, view this exchange of art and, guided by your previous experience, do you have certain expectations?
Even last year, I realized that I wanted to make an exhibition related to the works from the Art Collection of Non-Aligned Countries... There are some points that connect that collection and my previous work, so the whole research was very inspiring for me, and we will see what will happen in continuation arising from it.
I would like to point out that I am happy that my plans to come back here again and present myself with an exhibition after the presentation came true.
This is a significant opportunity for me, but also for other artists from abroad, to meet for a unique art collection, which I think is very important.
I think it is good for every place to support guest appearances and presentations of artists from abroad who come to show their work and talk about what they do, thus bringing some of their own experiences that they then share with the local community.
I think it's important for every environment, and I like to do it. Every time I come to a new place, like last year in Podgorica, I'm very curious to hear what people think about my work, because I learn a lot from people who don't know me, but get to know me through my work, lectures and the like, and then they also have questions that I haven't thought about.
As was the case last year in Podgorica, I always learn a lot when I give a presentation, because I'm interested in what people in the audience have to say, how they comment on my works, so I think it's a good exchange from both sides, what will be at the exhibition.
All this, in my opinion, is also important for the visitors of such events who, perhaps, based on my works, can get a new perspective on their own ideas.
It means to me that the audience in Podgorica who followed my presentation was very good and interesting, they understood very well what I do as an artist and had very useful comments, and I believe it will be the same now.
How previously were you familiar with the art of non-aligned countries, prior to what you saw and explored?
I knew that it was a collection of art from those countries that we still call so - non-aligned. Before Bojana Piškur told me more about this collection, I didn't even know it existed, honestly.
I knew about the political movement and the political characteristics of that alliance, but I didn't know about the cultural side of it, the fact that there was an art collection, the fact that there was so much cultural exchange between these countries, which is particularly important.
When Natalija further explained to me that all of this was from your experience, it was a completely new discovery for me and that's when I became interested in the relationship between politics and art.
And what do you think about the relationship between politics and art?
First of all, I believe that art should always be art. When it comes to literature, theater, film, all kinds of cultural and artistic expression are perhaps the most important thing in any society.
For example, during a political conflict or crisis, most people will first look at culture, at books, at pictures, and throughout history it can be seen that art is always, in some way, very important for politics - equally for the good, but also for bad things.
Art, that is, the state of culture and the art scene, always reflects how free people are in that society. So, in a society that is very free, you have a flourishing of art and various kinds of expression in art.
On the other hand, in a society that is very repressive and closed, artists are suppressed and there is not so much freedom in expression, experimentation, and the authors themselves are often oppressed.
In this sense, I believe that art reflects the status of society and this can be seen throughout history, until today. When art is controlled or censored, many artists, journalists, activists end up in prison, they don't have the freedom to say everything they want and think.
Many artists, as well as most other people, are forced to leave their homeland or give up their freedoms. This is the case, for example, in Turkey, but also in many places in Europe, unfortunately. In Europe, you even have countries with pseudo-dictatorships.
How to fight against that, that is, against any form of dictatorship and for freedom?
This is certainly where society enters the scene, which must strive for change, its own first. It is the creation of real politics, action, engagement, organization, for the sake of reaching a greater level of freedom.
Artists from all spheres can certainly be an important voice in society and support resistance to oppression and tyranny, but everything more than that is actually a kind of political or activist movement that concerns what the people who make up society have to (in)do.
When we talk about art and politics, it is not only about politicians, laws, elections, protests..., but also, as you said earlier, about decolonization, ecology, human rights, living standards... Through your artistic engagement You are just bringing up these topics... In this context, how important is art for the awareness and emancipation of society, the audience, and the average citizen?
Yes, that's exactly what art can do - to represent reality and make the world clearer. In the realm of art, you can see things in a different, new way, or see them more realistically, and I hope that this enables people to think differently, more openly, or even just to make their imagination work, because life is hard and it's hard to have time and space for yourself outside of all everyday problems.
You know, life is not easy, people work hard just to survive and one cannot always have time to think about how things in society could or should be different.
I hope that art in such circumstances can provide some form of respite from that daily weariness. This is why, among other things, I am focused on art in public space, where it is accessible to everyone, because not everyone has the time, or even the means, to go to a museum, gallery, theater, cinema - some simply don't want to, some can't. to afford due to the lack of various resources, and for some it is simply not even in their minds as an option.
But if they're walking down the street and see something of that type, maybe out of pure curiosity they'll be interested, and they'll stop and think. In this way, you incorporate art into a space, in different spaces and places around the city.
Given that art in public space is an important part of your practice, how do you experience it yourself and have you ever encountered certain problems?
I experience it as an opportunity to be a part of everyday life, so that everyone can see and feel it. It's also a great opportunity for artists to have their work seen and noticed, especially if it's about something related to social issues.
It happened that if the work was addressed to people responsible for certain problems, angry reactions followed, which I consider a success, especially if my art can provoke people to talk and think about something.
So far I have been very lucky not to encounter censorship or similar problems. During an exhibition in Sydney, Australia in 2008 at the Sydney Art Biennale, I put up electric signs with slogans on the outside that were not "likeable".
We stood up for it and luckily we were allowed to show my work.
The fact that the work was public was a success in itself, and then it got media attention, which further helped people to open up the issues I raised about racism in Australian society and the history of colonial occupation by Europeans in Australia and the impact on Aborigines.
I would say that we still do not have a clear picture of the impact of colonization that happened in previous centuries, and to some extent is still present. What are your conclusions on that topic, after a number of years that you have devoted to research?
Thank you very much for that statement, because often those words are used in a vague way and as something completely natural. People mean different things when they say these words. It is always difficult for me to be specific about this, although I want to... What is decolonized? What is colonized anyway?
The situation is different in the United States of America, in Australia, in African countries, in Latin America, they are all different situations. So that term represents different things in different places. One of the things that is interesting to me is what does this term mean in Eastern Europe?
For example, here in Montenegro there are people who will say that the Balkans, for example, was a colonized area. Okay, who colonized the Balkans and when? You can look at the history of this region, both before and after the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy, and you will realize that you have an incredible history here that complicates the way you think about the idea of colonization. And maybe it wasn't colonization, maybe it was something else. I mean
that for several reasons we need more perspectives to discuss the relationship between Eastern Europe and specifically this area, which throughout history has been influenced by these two historical empires and effects from both sides. I think that the philosophers and theoreticians who come from here have a really incredible space for thinking, because I think that history always writes itself here.
I also think that artists from here have something to say and offer new ways of thinking. I come from America, I can assume something about you here, research, examine and make some artistic work about it, but I don't really know and I can't credibly talk about you and this area like artists, philosophers, historians, various thinkers who come from here and who can really tell everyone, especially the West, about the state of things here.
I really think that Western Europe needs to listen more to the people who come from here, to be more open. I am fascinated by artists, philosophers and writers who come from these areas, because they tell me new things. I believe that if you meet one of them personally or through their works, you can learn a lot about the Balkans.
Did and how much did your knowledge change during your stay in the Balkans?
It was very interesting for me, maybe because I am curious by nature and want to know more, which is both my fortune and my curse. Such people want to know more about the world, which can sometimes be painful.
Sometimes you can idealize a place and then realize that it is actually just your fantasy. What is actually difficult is to understand the world on a deeper level, with all its complexity and contradictions.
There are many wonderful things about artists and society here, but there are also some very bad ones. You simply have to be able to imagine that such things exist at the same time, everywhere.
There is no place where everything is perfect, there is always a bit good and a bit bad. For me as a person and as an artist, nothing is fixed, so I am always in the process of learning, researching and accepting. I think there are places in Europe where the system is established, like for example Germany where I was born, where everything is set in its place and the rules are known, which is interesting for me.
Here, in Montenegro and the region, there are many opportunities to progress, but that is because things are not improving. Everything is very flexible, fluid and as if everything is changing quickly. From my conversation with Natalija, I understood that sometimes things change from week to week, or from month to month, sometimes in a bad way, but sometimes in a good way.
I am happy to be a part of it and to try to work for changes that would go in the right direction, that would lead to more happiness, more freedom, more opportunities and opportunities, maybe even for your artists to explore this collection themselves or start working something else.
Why is it important that the Montenegrin audience, as well as the foreign audience, see this exhibition, as well as the Art Collection of Non-Aligned Countries?
First of all, I think that the Non-Aligned Movement was an extremely important social, political and economic project in the 20th century.
It is historically important and that is why we must remember and preserve it as a very important moment in world history that gives us a precedent and a model for thinking about how we could do things a little differently in the future.
I think it is a unique and positive model of cooperation between different nations and different parts of the world with different history, experiences and different views on the world and that is why it is even more important.
To work together in a common interest and for the sake of a common goal. In the case of the Non-Aligned Movement, the goal was peace in the face of a looming nuclear war... The goal was peace and economic development, helping all new nations create better opportunities for their people.
Of course, the fact that such a project failed does not mean that it is not important today as an example to everyone in the world that it is possible for governments to work together, and that cooperation is achievable at the highest levels (prime ministers, presidents, ministers), in order to improve life of all citizens of the world.
The movement has shown that people at the highest level can come together to solve a huge crisis of humanity.
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