Montenegrin curator Natalija Vujošević, engaged in the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montenegro (MSUCG), is the winner of a prestigious grant that is awarded along with the renowned award for culture and theory "Igor Zabel" for the year 2024.
The "Igor Zabel" Prize for Culture and Theory is awarded every two years for exceptional achievements in the field of curatorial, artistic and theoretical practices related to visual arts and culture, and in addition to the main prize, whose winner this year is Edit Andraš, three grants are also awarded.
"The grant is awarded to the artist and curator from Montenegro, Natalija Vujošević, in recognition of her significant research, historicization, activation and contextualization of marginalized, but globally unique art collections and archives from the socialist Yugoslav and post-Yugoslav periods," the jury said in its explanation.
Vujošević told Vijest that this recognition is important to her in different ways and in many different layers, especially in the context of working in Montenegrin (bad) conditions.
"It is significant as a support due to the fact that working in culture here is working in an atmosphere of chronic instability, ignorance and collapsed values that often lead to a feeling of fatigue and loneliness. It is significant as a recognition because it comes from the discourse and from colleagues whose work I greatly value and find inspiring. I perceive this recognition as a confirmation that I am on the right path, as well as a great incentive to continue working on the research and projects I am developing," she told Vijesti.
When asked whether and in what way this recognition will affect her further work in Montenegro and beyond, as well as the Montenegrin scene and the curatorial circle, Vujošević believes that the benefits will be numerous and emphasizes the importance of collective cooperation...
"All the projects I develop are collective and involve the participation of many people. From the Institute of Contemporary Art where we work on an alternative education program for young artists and where I collaborate with Lenka Đorojević, Jovan Milošević, Ana Ivanović, Milena Prelević and many other colleagues, through the Archives of Cetinje Biennials that we are developing with Irene Lagator Pejović and the Petrović Foundation, until working at MSUCG with female colleagues Marina Čelebić, Anita Ćulafić i Nadom Baković on the project of the Laboratory of the Collection of Art of Non-Aligned Countries... This is confirmation and encouragement for all of us, and I hope that it can also be encouraging for young people from Montenegro to think and blaze new paths and cooperation oriented towards shaping and developing content and connections that they consider important and missing," she said.
The curator also tells Vijestima that this recognition further connects Montenegro with the art scene of Central-Eastern Europe, and that she will additionally focus on the projects she mentioned, which will further open up space for greater visibility and connection in a broader sense.
Vujošević, together with his colleagues, has been dealing with the (post)Yugoslav and socialist artistic heritage for years in different ways and in different projects, often facing numerous challenges of the Montenegrin scene, both artistic and political, socio-economic, but don't give up...
"The topics he deals with through his curatorial and research work are actually neglected emancipatory practices from our contemporary history, important for the imagination and orientation of future generations... This is something I believe in, which I consider important and socially responsible, and which occupies a central place in my work in culture, which includes curatorial, artistic and research practices and their overlap", sums up Vujošević and announces new activities...
"In the coming period, we can expect very interesting local and international programs and news, both from the Cetinje Biennale Archive project, as well as from the Laboratory of the Art Collection of Non-Aligned Countries and the Experimental Department of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montenegro," said Vujošević in an interview with Vijesti.
The award, named after the famous Slovenian curator and art historian Igor Zabel (1958-2005), was established in 2008 in cooperation with the Erste Foundation from Vienna and the Igor Zabel Association from Ljubljana, and represents the most prestigious award in this field.
The importance of the award is particularly highlighted by the selection and jury process. Namely, a three-member international jury selects the laureate and winners of three grants, based on the proposal of ten proposers, according to the description of the procedure. This year's jury consisted of an art historian and a curator from Spain Manuel Borha Villel, artist, curator and professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Design of the Slovak University of Technology Ilona Nemeth from Slovakia, art historian, curator and president of the Weissensee School of Art and Design Angelika Richter from Germany. The proposers of the nominees are experts from different countries: Zbinek Baladran, Pavel Braila, Sandra Bradvić, Dessislava Dimova, Margarethe Makovec & Anton Lederer, Zofia Nierodzinska, Adrian Paci, Eszter Szakacs, Attila Tordai-S, Mara Traumane.
"With a total prize fund of 85.000 euros, the Igor Zabel Award for Culture and Theory is the highest and most prestigious award for activities in the field of culture in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe," the description states.
In addition to Vujošević, grants were also received Irfan Hošić from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ovidiu Tichindeleanu from Denmark. The winner of the main prize and the grant winners will present their work during the two-day seminar "Transformative cultural practices/locally located knowledge production" at the Museum of Modern Art and the Metelkova Museum of Contemporary Art in Ljubljana at the end of November, according to the official announcement regarding the award. On that occasion, they will all talk about how art from Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, in practice and theory, can contribute to the world in an era of multiple crises that are accelerating.
The award ceremony will be held on November 29 at 20.30:XNUMX p.m. in Ljubljana, at the Metelkova Museum.
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