Artistic practice must gravitate around the social, as an exercise and preparation for revolution, says the curator Nela Gligorović. And the foundations of this throughout history were often created in the student population, which is still associated with free spirit, rebellion, activism... As the author of the concept of the recently realized student exhibition "Let's be realistic, we seek the impossible", Gligorović encouraged students to do so.
A fantastically designed exhibition with a rich accompanying program was open for less than ten days in the Art Pavilion of the Association of Fine Artists of Montenegro, and during that time it proved to be more than successful, considering the display of high-quality and strong works of art by students of the art faculties of all three Montenegrin universities. In addition to various visual expressions, an adequate accompanying program was prepared, all in the context of the name itself.
The exhibition was created with the aim of viewing and contextualizing the contemporary art practice created by Montenegrin students, and the exhibition was realized based on the competition that lasted from February 10 to 26. After the selection of the submitted works, 19 students presented themselves: Ana Raičević, Ana Ivanović, Anđela Bulatović, Maša Ratknić, Valentina Dronjak, Nikola Radonjić, Anđela Došljak, Ina Kovačević, Ines Radović, Tijana Marković, Teodora Tijanić, Iuiana Bulatova, Edin Ćeranić, Božica Konatar, Teodora Nikolić, Saška Bojić, Sanja Abramović , Isidora Sarić i Branka Kovačević.
The student exhibition was closed on Saturday with the awarding of awards, for which the Student Cultural Center provided three cash prizes to outstanding works and authors, as judged by an expert jury. The jury consisted of a visual artist and a member of the collective "Kurs" Mirjana Radovanović, curator and director of the Museum of Applied Art Belgrade Biljana Jotic, art historian, curator and performer Vladimir Bjelicic, a visual artist Milena Zivkovic and curator Gligorović. They decided that the first prize will be awarded to Saška Bojić for the installation "Gledam a ne vidim", the second prize will be awarded to Ana Raičević for the video work "UA" and the third prize will be awarded Angeli Došljak for the installation "The American dream/ looking for impossible".
Perhaps stronger than a number of other independent, luxurious, awaited and expected exhibitions, unique manuscripts, engaged and critical, expressions of students resonated, which, if not already, will definitely be a significant segment of the contemporary Montenegrin art and social scene.
Student rebellion and (artistic) expression of protest
In an interview with "Vijesti", the curator Gligorović points out that at the beginning of the competition, the concept, i.e. the explanation of the competition theme, was published so that the students would be familiar with the ideas, ideals, misconceptions, i.e. the legacy of '68.
"The slogan was taken from the student protests on the streets of Paris, which, it is important to note, were joined by the workers at the time. In those years, across Europe, people rose up against the dictates of capital, authority, the privileged, against social stratification, difficult social situations... Today's conditions are more complex than in '68, hence the need to articulate the impossible. This impossible is a call for freedom of thought and creation, freedom to reflect on personal and collective positions within the framework of modernity, the fight for equality of all categories of society, against the privileged, against nepotism, against corruption, that is, the fight for the overall transformation of social relations", explains Gligorović.
A large number of student works arrived, and the competition confirmed, she says, that articulating the (impossibility) of freedom in capitalism is natural, close and necessary for students, which is especially encouraging.
One of the young artists, Ana Raičević, points out that the construction of the name of the exhibition defines a student rebellion, an expression of protest.
"Looking at it in this context, what we most often fight for are very real questions and problems, but their solution is most often defined by society as impossible. The impossibility thus becomes expected, over time and accepted as real. If we want real change, what we are fighting for should be all that is implied by the term impossible. This construction should be a kind of call to activism, which as such can be manifested through artistic work," she tells "Vijesti".
On the other hand, her colleague Saška Bojić was reminded of the artist by the title Doris Salcedo which explained with many works that there are no borders in art.
"Of course 'Everything can be art, but everything is not art' are the words of my good colleague", says Bojić.
Gligorović comments in more detail on the chosen slogan and concept and how much such a name refers to the spirit and mentality of students today, and whether the works are in line with it.
"The slogan may sound like a phantasm in the Montenegrin social context, which is not sensitized to rebellion and different dynamics of the change process. Slogan 'Let's be realistic, we're looking for the impossible!' is imperative today! Decades behind us have brought social, economic and cultural regression, nationalisms as ideologies of banality have infected the community, and the educational system has regressed to the abyss. Lethargy, the absence of a value system, nepotism as a strategy of tribal organization, the inability to see the damage that such 'strategies' reproduce, patriarchal matrices, capitalist apathy, passivity and self-occupation, satisfaction through 'possession' are the frameworks in which students develop their practice. Encouraging criticism as a gesture of truth and love for community/society does not exist. Criticism, not criticism!", says Gligorović.
A mirror of youth consciousness
The installation that the curator conceived was an attempt to cross-section the student art scene that is emerging at Montenegrin universities, and as a reflection of the socio-political, academic apparatus, within the framework of which students develop artistic practice, she says.
"The communities and society we are building, of which students are an integrated part, are constituted according to the dictates of capitalism, patriarchy and consumerism. It is precisely the criticism of the mentioned fundamental principles of society that can be read in the selected works. Although not completely politically articulated, the authors construct the politics of their art, and recognize ethics as the decision and obligation of the artist. In the received works, there is a clear criticism of society and the way of organization, functioning and strategies, criticism of the academic apparatus, lucid readings of today through personal and collective mythology," says curator Gligorović.
Bojić assesses that most of the authors responded to the topic and says that she is glad that she responded to the invitation and had the opportunity to present with other colleagues. He hopes for similar experiences in the future. For Raičević, this is one of her first presentations, so it is very important to her, in different ways. She admits that the concept positively surprised her and that the exhibition works beautifully, even though the exhibited works were realized in different media.
"The theme itself is what gives the works cohesiveness, the common goal is of course a good foundation for building a harmonious group," says Bojić.
Gligorović further summarizes the exhibition from the curatorial aspect and reveals that at the very beginning she was faced with discouraging comments from individuals.
"Part of the works in the form of protest posters were created as an impulse in '68, so they bear witness to the revolutionary potency of the artistic community, its constant readiness for engagement and action. This especially encourages and encourages me to further cooperation, because I have to be honest, that individuals from the academic community, at the beginning of this process, evaluated my intentions as futile, describing the student population as lethargic, disinterested and extremely commodified", says Gligorović and adds:
"The society's perception is that students perpetuate the models of the capitalist-consumerist chain and that they are little interested in change. This is where society and the community have the greatest responsibility, contaminating the public space with propaganda, they did not offer alternative spaces, educational-activist platforms for viewing and possible transformation of social relations", she points out.
Master's student at the Philosophy Study Program at the University of Montenegro, Bojan Šolaj she took part in the program through accompanying content, and she shared her impressions from the exhibition for "Vijesti".
"I think that the fact that we had the opportunity to see student works inspired by such a topic is a good way to examine the state of consciousness of young people at this moment. If there is no objective student rebellion and solidarity, or there is not enough of it, we should examine what is hidden behind it - this exhibition and the motives that were represented, I believe, could at least hint at that. In the society of the spectacle and the society of commerce, even resistance is commercialized and turned into a spectacle. I want to believe that there are still young people whose imagination is alive enough to be ready to go down paths that are not commercial and spectacular, and who would accept projects that no one is willing to buy in order to overcome worn-out ideas that have already been reproduced too many times," says Šolaja.
"I look and do not see"
Saška Bojić presented herself at the exhibition with the work "I look and do not see".
"It's about installation. The realization arose spontaneously, the piece was made on the basis of an audio recording from a lecture, lasting two and a half hours. The audio recording was created due to my inability to focus on everything around me because I was under the influence of strong menstrual pains... The recording was created during a lecture where students presented their ideas, attitudes for potential creativity. The words flow without punctuation marks, lowercase and uppercase letters. A magnifying glass without glass does not have the ability to magnify great words and ideas that flow without a frame, just like our words from our mouths that cannot be closed", she tells "Vijesti" her vision.
Her work aroused the visible interest of the visitors, which the author also noticed.
"The work provokes the audience, draws from them the curiosity that is in the nature of all of us. At the exhibition itself, I noticed that people were interested in what we had to say, they tried to read those big potential ideas... The very fact that my work was written in small letters made me see that people were still interested in everything," she says.
For the audience to recognize and feel called
Ana Raičević presented the work of "UA", guided by the idea of showing a realistic student protest, while at the same time pointing out the mistakes of the students themselves, just as much as the mistakes of society.
"When designing the work, I was guided by the idea of maintaining conciseness in expression, that each element of the work points to a specific problem, but not to excessively illustrate it. And yet, as the main prop, I use a banner, which clearly refers to the topic of the protest, in order to avoid ambiguity or excessive abstraction," says Raičević.
She explains the goal and thought with which the work "UA" was created.
"The aim of the work is for the audience to recognize itself in it in a certain way, and in the best case, to feel called out. It raises the question, in what way do we really fight, in what way do we really express our rebellion? To what extent is passive activism present in today's society?", concludes Raičević.
"The youth of alienation instead of the youth of liberation"
In addition to the exhibition, in less than ten days, interesting accompanying programs were presented, designed to reflect on practices, social relations and possible models of social change, and that as an exercise, that is, a course on how we can talk and build an artistic community.
"During the program, the philosopher Bojana Šolaja gave a presentation on the ideals, circumstances and consequences of the student movement in '68, with a reference to the 'excesses' of students today. A psychological workshop was also held for artists, with the aim of empowering the student community, during which we examined and questioned freedom and oppression today. The collective KURS was also a guest, which provided students with practical examples of translating the artistic language of progressive policies and movements of the past into the contemporary socio-political context, and numerous examples of the realization of artistic practice in a public, shared space," says Gligorović, who is the author of the entire concept.
The main goal, she explains, was to build a possible platform for the affirmation and association of art students, thinking and acting outside the given anachronistic and regressive frames of the Montenegrin art system.
In his lecture "The youth of alienation instead of the youth of liberation" Šolaja fragmentarily evokes the famous '68. year, but not by exclusive glorification. She points out to "Vijesti" that the goal of the lecture was to remember the global wave of student disobedience that happened in '68. year, critically consider the social position of the student movements of that era, in order to examine the possibility of regrouping and joint action of students in today's context.
She enriched the lecture with audio-visual material, with which she wanted to convey the atmosphere of the student rebellion, as well as the reception of that tradition in our millennium.
"We watched a clip from the movie Želimir Žilnik, "June Movements", but also a parody of the Surrealist Top List dedicated to student disobedience. With the image, I evoked certain announcements of the awakening of youthful resistance at that time, which came from the sphere of art, while explaining the ambiguity of the role of art and the media in given socio-historical processes", adds Šolaja and continues:
"There was also talk about the alienation of young people today - never more pronounced individualism and careerism, schooling without education for criticism and imagination, acceptance of the tyranny of common sense. Instead of hastily promoting pseudo-alternatives, my priority was to show what liberation is not - by deconstructing social phenomena that, under the guise of a mission to activate the youth, actually lead to greater alienation and disintegration of the student population," concludes Šolaja.
Academic community responsible for passive students
Often the topic in public is the (in)activity of students in relation to social conditions, and the complete program refers to the necessary activism of students, their association, joint action. Gligorović confirms that students are often accused of "keyboard activism - activism on social networks", but says that this can also be a potent tool for social change.
"We are witnessing that the broadcasting of the revolution on the Internet did not produce significant results. As I mentioned, the full responsibility for the passivized student population is borne by the community, especially the academic community, which, in addition to formal education, has not built platforms and possible spaces for thinking about a different society," says Gligorović.
She particularly emphasizes the importance of recognizing and joining together, constituting art collectives that do not exist on the Montenegrin art scene. This fact is a serious indicator of the state and methods of functioning of the art scene, Gligorović assesses.
"Processes that change communities require collective action, so I would again emphasize the recommendation of association as a key, potent strategy of the Montenegrin contemporary art scene. Also, I would like to repeat that the artistic practice must gravitate around the social, as an exercise and preparation for the revolution", she says.
Although in this context the focus is on the student population, it is equally on the arts. Šolaja answers the question of how powerful and important art is as a means of expressing the student spirit, but also of social engagement/activism.
"It is enough to remember Rimbaud's "Vowels" in order to see how through art the possibility of establishing a different relationship between man and reality was examined, based on the change of language and sensory apparatus. Today's art is in danger of being a mere industry - a reproduction of the same, and to the greatest extent it is. On the other hand, that art that nevertheless tries to somehow fight for its own sovereignty seems to be the most fruitful space for a change of consciousness, which would result in large qualitative socio-historical epilogues. Today's situation does not leave room for optimism that such an epochal breakthrough could happen soon", says Šolaja.
Ana Raičević is somewhat more optimistic:
"I am glad that student projects of this type are finally being realized. I think this is an excellent start of some new and different student activism and expanding the expressive space of young people", concludes the young artist.
Bonus video:
