New models of community and responsibility towards people, society and the world

“We build the museum. The museum builds us” or “We build the museum. The museum builds us”... This inscription perhaps best describes the exhibition “Museum yet to be” which opened on Thursday evening at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montenegro (MSUCG), in the Petrović Castle and Perjanički Dom area, where it is available to visitors until March 15th.

The inscription forms part of the artist's graffiti Igor Grubić presented on the wall of the exhibition space, but also returns the visitor to everything that a museum is, can and should be - a space of formation, maturation, remembrance, transformation, enjoyment, but also a treasury of objects, art, thoughts, change, influence, engagement...

Curators Milica Bezmarević (MSUCG, Podgorica), Jovanka Popova (MSU Skopje, North Macedonia) and Michel Blanuša (MSU Belgrade, Serbia) have put together a concept that has never been seen or practiced in our country before, artistically, socially, activistically, politically... With a conscious mix of artistic voices from different practices, ages, experiences, geographical, political and various other platforms..., the exhibition gains in fullness and strength. Everything but classical, it invites experience, reflection, re-examination, and even testing, opening up numerous socio-political questions.

In this way, it moves visitors out of the moment and space, transferring the question from the gallery and institutional to the field of community, society, politics, governance, systems... It treads towards what has yet to be built and does not stop only at aesthetic beauty and provocation, but openly calls for new models of governance, and even life, with active listening, thereby striving for the path of the possible.

The exhibition features renowned artists from Montenegro, the region and the world: Cem A, Noor Abuarafeh, Basma al-Sharif, Kader Attia, Noorafshan Mirza & Brad Batler, Dante Buu, Yane Calovski & Hristina Ivanoska, CATPC, Ali Cherri, Keti Chukhrov, Jasmina Cibić, Coco Fusco & Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Aldo Giannotti, Igor Grubić, Adrijana Gvozdenović, Terike Haapoja & Laura Gustafsson, Vladan Jeremić & Rena Radle, Nikita Kadan, Šejla Kamerić, Irena Lagator Pejović, Renzo Martens, Mladen Miljanović, Ahmet Ogut, Dan Perjovschi, Darinka Pop Mitić, Roma Jam Session, Driton Selmani, Jonas Staal, Saša Tkačenko, Jelena Tomašević, Anton Vidokle, Ala Younis.

The strength of the exhibition lies precisely in the diversity and dialogue of all of them and their works, attitudes and questions, both on a masterful artistic, interesting theoretical and political level: from the critique of colonial practices, questioning and re-examining the role of institutions, and open calls for inclusion and participation.

The museum that is yet to be created is one that has a voice and that acts both critically and questioningly, that is stimulating for work, carries within itself courage, challenges, responsibility, but also opens up space for further progress. The exhibition is thus both an invitation and a mirror, at the same time, and this in a time of ethical distancing, insecurity, various crises and divisions, both locally, regionally and globally. All this additionally makes the concept stronger and more powerful, both visually and conceptually, while visions and symbolic allegories are permeated. The final impression is that the contemporary museum language is no longer just a framework, an exhibition and a space, but also dynamics, relationships, change, aspirations...

Curator Milica Bezmarević spoke about the concept of the exhibition at the opening, emphasizing that the exhibition "Museum yet to be" is conceived as a space in which we think about the museum, but not about the museum as it is, but about the museum as it can be, the one that is yet to come and needs to be created.

“In times of political turbulence, social inequalities and economic crises, museum institutions are increasingly faced with the question of what it means to act ethically and what it means to be relevant. This exhibition invites reflection on how museums can be more than just spaces for displaying art. It reminds us that museums can be places of experimentation and collective thinking, laboratories of the future in which new models of togetherness, solidarity and responsibility towards people, society and the world around us are tested. Being contemporary means living in the present, but also recognizing the connection with the past and the future. A contemporary museum cannot be an abstract or neutral institution. It is a place where struggles for justice, emancipation and inclusivity are reflected. A space in which artists explore how different communities can function and how art can become a means of transformation,” she said.

Director of MSUCG dr Vladislav Šćepanović, He said that this project stems from the belief that a museum is, above all, a space of freedom, a space in which processes create meaning, and not the other way around.

"A contemporary museum must be a place that reflects on the times we live in and responds to its challenges, but at the same time protects the freedom of artistic expression and curatorial autonomy. With the exhibition 'Museum yet to be' we want to show that a museum can be critical, inclusive and open at the same time, and that its greatest value lies precisely in its ability to recognize and support the differences that shape contemporary society," he said.

She emphasized that this exhibition invites us to think about an institution that has the ability to nurture diversity, provide refuge, and build communities that recognize difference. She also emphasized the aspiration towards an institution that teaches us to include those who have been historically marginalized, to challenge established ideas about what must be depicted and how, and to imagine an institution that is not hierarchical, that does not dominate, but rather fosters solidarity and shared experience.

"Through the works of the artists in this exhibition, we invite you to think about the museum as a space for testing new institutional practices and ethical strategies, a space in which diversity is recognized, creativity is celebrated, and responsibility towards the community is cultivated. This museum does not aspire to be just a place to visit, it wants to be a space in which to live, share experiences, and shape the future. Welcome to a museum that has yet to be a place of ideas, solidarity, and shared exploration, where art becomes the practice of life, and the institution a space of the possible," said Bezmarević.