A call to remember, to question oneself and one's relationship to heritage

What is your responsibility (as an observer)?

This question is posed by the exhibition that presents Montenegro at the Biennale of Contemporary Art in Venice, according to the curator Ana Simona Zelenović who is together with the artist Darjom Bajagić author of the installation "It takes an island to feel this good".

In an interview with "Vijesti" on the eve of the opening of the Montenegrin pavilion, Zelenović did not hide her pride and excitement, but also positive impressions due to the exceptional attendance and interest of the professional and general public, as well as good reviews from visitors from all over the world.

"What is your responsibility as an observer, both in everyday life, literally on a micro level, but also on a macro level as an individual, a member of this society? What is our relationship to history, how each of us inherits our heritage, what do we do with it, what is its use value today and what is our responsibility in all of this? These are all questions that Darja asks and that the Montenegrin pavilion in Venice asks, regardless of who is the observer, because it addresses the person, the citizen, regardless of who we are, whether or not we are politicians, historians, decision makers or what the hell..." commented Zelenović.

The curator pointed out at the opening that Bajagić, with her own artistic methodology, navigates the intersections of facts and reality with a noticeable note of ambiguity.

"This approach shows an apparent detachment, encouraging the exploration of the essence of reality and its subjective interpretation. Using photocopies collected from the archive collections of the State Archives of Montenegro, her artistic compositions create a disturbing ambience, characterized by a lack of explicit information or instructions for interpretation. This intentional absence creates an environment conducive to autonomous observer engagement, forcing individuals to confront their personal reactions, uncertainties, and anxieties,” she explained.

The general producer and organizer of the Montenegrin exhibition in Venice is the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montenegro, and the commissioner is the director Vladislav Šćepanović, while the general sponsor is the Ministry of Culture and Media of Montenegro.

The Montenegrin pavilion has been well attended since the opening ceremony, including the pre-opening, to which, in addition to the attractive exhibition, the busy location - Complesso dell'Ospedaletto, Barbaria de le Tole, 6691. The exhibition is open to the public until November 24.

Ana Simona Zelenović is an art historian and curator from Belgrade. She was the artistic director and chief curator of the "November" Gallery from 2021 to 2024. She graduated in 2015 and in 2017 with a master's degree in history of art at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Belgrade, and then in 2019 with a master's degree in gender studies at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Belgrade. She is a doctoral student at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Department of Art History. Her thesis explores the history of feminist performance in the former Yugoslavia and Serbia. She is expanding her interest and research into constructivist approaches to understanding gender identity and sexuality, while simultaneously attending education for constructivist psychotherapy at the PLK Center (Psychology of Personal Constructs) in Belgrade.

Already at the very announcement of the project with which you presented Montenegro at the Biennale in Venice, high expectations were set not only among experts, but also among the general public. Looking at the space of the pavilion, and the opening ceremony itself, it is obvious that there was great interest among people from the region and the world. How did the preparation period go, and how challenging was it to respond to the space, but also to certain expectations?

I must point out that, as far as the space is concerned, we were very satisfied, because it is new and much better compared to the previous one, which previously housed the Montenegrin pavilion. The works existed in the idea, but in the execution they were partly adapted to the space, both their height, dimensions, and even the number, so I think that we answered the challenge, but also the expectations... It actually meant a lot to us that we had in advance the draft of the entire space, even when the competition was announced, so we could already think about the production and it seems to me that that part was successfully completed. The setup itself went, I can safely say, quite simply compared to anything we expected, because we had adapted to the space in advance, and everything that was done on the field before we arrived was really flawless. With that in mind, everything that we had already imagined somewhere before, but also when we arrived in Venice, was realized, and the biggest stress relief was when the works arrived safely and then we could put everything in peace. It is important for Darja's work that her works communicate with each other, because she creates series of works so that all the fragments she uses in different works correspond with each other and complement each other, and that the exhibition is viewed as a whole and that no work is isolated and independent, but in communication with others and all together, in which the space helped us a lot.

I had the feeling that, along with archival works, there would also be some video work or installation, reconstruction and the like, but I was wrong. Certainly, the works communicate with each other, but also tell a story. I would say that it is a kind of documentary about everyday life, that is, the life of the camp... I wonder if and how much it conveys an anxious feeling and nausea or some trauma from the past, but it definitely shows a different world or a past life. What did you really want these works to communicate, and what should the observers who may not know anything about the Mamula camp or today's Mamula resort ask themselves?

This is something that is a general characteristic of Darja's work, that she leaves the observers with a lot of agency and space to interpret the work themselves. For you, for example, this work may not cause any anxiety, because you may not have a specific or similar type of trauma with your experiences, while for someone else who may have experienced something similar, it will inevitably evoke some kind of anxiety. The works communicate what is partly also in the observer. Her work certainly functions as a kind of mirror of society, highlighting its hypocrisy and duplicity, on the one hand, how we relate to heritage, but also how we are often able, from a moralistic point of view, to be critical of anything that someone else does. , without putting ourselves in question at the same time. This is exactly what she wanted to achieve with this work, as well as with her entire oeuvre, namely to make the observer wonder what his responsibility is. What is your responsibility as an observer, and in everyday life, literally on a micro level, but also on a macro level as an individual, a member of this society, and what is our relationship to history, how each of us inherits a legacy, what do we do with it, what is its use value today and what is our responsibility in all this? These are all questions that Darja asks and that the Montenegrin pavilion in Venice asks, regardless of who is the observer, addressing directly as a person, a citizen, regardless of whether or not we are politicians, historians, decision makers or whatever... The artist's desire is that the works are not only an invitation to memory, but also an invitation to self-reflection, to encourage some self-examination, but also to reexamine our relationship to heritage...

Although at the first moment the works do not reveal everything immediately, the story is quite subtly completed, there is also a minimalist installation with shackles. My personal impression is that it jolts us out of the moment and space we are in...

I really like that you said that these shackles literally "tear us off" and I'm going to stop you there, because that's exactly what we intended. We talked about how to guide people through the exhibition, to which I told Darja that this is simply different from everything else. These are her works that are authentic, research-based artworks, and the fittings are a kind of replica of an existing utility object that stood on the facade of the fortress, which is again different in a curatorial sense. Speaking about that installation, she said that those shackles are there with the intention of evoking a physical presence and, in this case, to put you as (one of) the observer in that place, not only with some representation, but also with the physical evocation of space, in a way that you instantly somehow insert yourself into that space and begin to experience it as something that was part of reality, but also as something that can become part of reality at any moment.

And all that, the complete feeling is rounded off by the name of the exhibition and the island that is needed to describe that feeling, i.e. the exhibition that completes it with the accompanying content. So, everything that we had and that somehow comes right up to today's moment with the very name that gives fullness and context to all of it, and I would say that it is related to the hotel's slogan. Considering that, as a person from Montenegro, I have certain (pre)knowledge about it, what do you think, whether and how complex it might be for observers to connect and ultimately understand in their multidimensional context?

Yes, I think that, for someone who does not know the context, it is very difficult to understand. We emphasized that context, both in the press release, and only in the catalog, which is very comprehensive and is more than accompanying material. We did it that way simply because Darja is always playing. Its titles are a kind of intellectual game with the observers, the way in which the whole exhibition is framed, which is the angle of observation... In this case it was that slogan taken from the website of the hotel "Mamula". Because it sounded to us like something that, once you read it, stays in your head. We also thought that this as a name could best correspond with the exhibition and setting. She does not use that slogan pretentiously and with the aim of being deliberately critical or having any attitude at all, but to encourage some kind of play in the way it is viewed. What is it that in/on that island produces a feeling of good or a feeling of bad and what is that feeling, what is that island...

If we move away from the story and the slogan and the literal understanding of things, the title is somewhat mystical, it arouses a certain curiosity and makes it clear that it is about something unknown and untried. It can be interpreted from different perspectives and with different emotions...

Just that. It can be observed and interpreted literally in a way that a person really needs an island, that he needs an island in order not to get lonely, and on the other hand, that an island is needed in the context of some ultimate wealth, which is represented by the purchase of some kind of piece of land that is it is huge and in the form of an island. That is perhaps the furthest one can go in that kind of possession and presentation of their purchasing and financial power. There is also a reflection on the capitalization of heritage on the one hand, and then on what we actually need to feel good on the other, and on the third is the perception and question of what we actually do with our heritage, how we serve it, how we use it and how we serve it to others.

What are the reactions of the visitors and some of your most memorable impressions of them?

I would like to add one thing that I noticed when I was in the Pavilion before the opening itself, and that is that people, even though at first glance it seems that the exhibition cannot be interpreted without context and that it cannot be read without someone's guidance or guidance through the exhibition , I actually observed people and noticed that they react very strongly to the visual and emotional in relation to the works. This means that Darja, in that artistic sense, has locked some code that nevertheless conveys that message, without the necessary curatorial explanation, which is, of course, necessary and great and should be had and at the end read the catalog and everything... But, even without therefore, the very emotion and point are very easily and powerfully transmitted to the observer with whom they are in direct communication, because they are very effective in visual language. I would say that only then does someone get the desire to read the explanation further and get to know the whole context, and they almost always instinctively react in this way - so, they don't look for where the text is, they don't look for explanations, but they feel the works and only later look for something more...

Do you have any expectations and wishes from the pavilion itself, the Biennale, yourself after all?

I can freely say that this is perhaps the easiest question for me, because both Darja and I clearly have the same expectations. We literally want to have good cooperation with people who have a similar view of art as a communication channel between the audience and artists, between the world and society, between individuals and the masses... So, we see art as a channel of communication, and with this exhibition we want to attract people who they observe art in a similar way, but also those people who deal with similar topics, who know this way of processing a topic, to connect with people who normally follow Darja's work... In essence, the most present expectations are in the direction of connecting with the world, with other artists and curators from Montenegro and the world, some micro and macro scenes. And in this sense, our expectations are simply to somehow get the best out of this and to expand our knowledge, but also to expand the knowledge of others, both about ourselves, the country and heritage, and about art in general. Therefore, connection and communication are perhaps something that would be the main thing for us. Of course, it would be great if Darja now gets new opportunities to exhibit in some great institutions, and if I get some top curatorial collaborations or texts after this.

In that context, is the Biennale a good recommendation, a stepping stone in your career?

Well, yes... It is something that is necessarily expected from and after the Biennale - that it changes your life in some way. But we don't have any specific expectations right now, so let's be really pretentious and say "We should exhibit at MOMA"... We should. (laughter)

Well, you should, realistically...

Oh yes, what not. (laughs) There, that's it. Thank you!