The Museum of Contemporary Art of Montenegro (MSUCG) announced the opening of the exhibition Yoko Ono called “Unfinished”, scheduled for Thursday, June 19th at 20 p.m., in the exhibition spaces of the Petrović Palace and the Perjanički dom in Kruševac, Podgorica. The exhibition curators are Maša Vlaović, Gunar B. Kvaran and Connor Monahan.
Yoko Ono is one of the key figures of avant-garde and conceptual art of the 20th and 21st centuries. Her work knows no boundaries; it moves fluidly between experiment, performance, poetry, music and film, while her tireless social and political activism, especially in the field of women's rights and peace initiatives, forms the core of her work.
Her art breaks down traditional boundaries between artistic disciplines and rejects the passive role of the audience, inviting each individual to become an active participant, co-creator, and agent of change.
A wide spectrum of creativity
From her early “instructional works” from the 1950s, through performances and films that call for collective action, to contemporary installations, Yoko Ono builds an authentic artistic language in which the personal and the universal, the poetic and the political, the spiritual and the physical constantly intertwine.
The exhibition “Unfinished” includes a wide range of works: textual instructions, participatory installations, performances, video works, as well as documentation of her peace campaigns and human rights struggles. Visitors are invited not to remain just observers, but to become actors in the process – to imagine peace, to speak it, to write it, to share it.
Curator Vlaović emphasizes the significance of this exhibition for Montenegro:
“It not only allows the domestic audience to become acquainted with the work of one of the most influential artists of our time, but also opens up a space for considering art as a space for dialogue, social criticism, and political activism.”
She emphasizes that this is a rare opportunity to see how experimental art can be both a formal game of perception and a means of transforming reality – especially in the context of the Montenegrin cultural scene at a time of social dynamics.
An experience that calls for action
Gunar B. Kvaran, one of the curators, writes in the accompanying text of the exhibition:
“The exhibition highlights the diverse elements of the artist's career and highlights the importance of her activism for peace and women's rights, exploring the very concept of art with a strong socio-political engagement.”
He further highlights instructional works that consider the conceptual principles of a work of art and invite the audience to participate in its realization.
Conor Monahan recalls Yoko Ono's consistency across the decades:
“She believed – and still believes – that a change in individual consciousness can create a wave that will change the world. She invites us to imagine, to question, to act together, to say ‘yes’, to desire and to create a world united in peace – if we so desire.”
The “Unfinished” exhibition will be open until September 15, 2025.
Bonus video:
