'Comradeship' exhibition is the second in a series called Collection as a Verb, which we are doing as a team, to redefine the concept of a museum and the social context in which it is located. After the the first exhibition – 'Sad Songs of War', about war and violence, 'Comradeship' opens up the themes of solidarity and compassion, the role of art and museums in improving the world. The word 'camaraderie' has the same root as society, and comrades are connected by affection, cooperation, connection with an idea or work.
That's why 'Comradeship' presents works from the collections of Museum's art collectives, as well as works by artists realized in cooperation with various communities. Ranging from today's canonized neo-avant-garde to recent participatory research, 24 artists and art collectives show the innovative ways in which they can contribute to change, and even improvement, both for individuals and communities.
We want to encourage the reflection of camaraderie on the topics of solidarity, empathy, collectivism and togetherness, ethics, and care for others. At the same time, we point to the specific historical experience of the region to which we belong, because the art of the second half of the 20th century records numerous artistic groups. Can camaraderie as an idea of true and permanent solidarity bring people together and united around local and global crises? What does camaraderie represent today, what ideas and values shape it?
Chronologically speaking: from the Croatian groups EXAT 51 and Gorgona, which radically changed artistic practices, the international group Fluxus, whose legacy never ceases to fascinate, through the group OHO and their community The Family from Šempas, the Group of Six Authors, IRWIN and Nova Evrope/NEP - it is evident how fruitful and innovative the joint action was.
The works of individual artists testify that socially engaged art has expanded the boundaries of problematizing social anomalies since the 1990s. Impressive participatory works include the criticism of the political system, failure to solve social problems, awareness of the general public about the vulnerability of some groups and their social exclusion.
The range and diversity of the exhibited works also indicate local horizontal cooperation (the involvement of MSU in cooperation with non-governmental organizations and other participants from the cultural scene). However, we showed camaraderie and solidarity towards the museums that suffered in the recent Croatian earthquakes, and we ceded our work and exhibition spaces to the Museum of Arts and Crafts, the Croatian School Museum and the Croatian Museum of Natural History until the completion of the renovation.
On the occasion oft his exhibition, and as its part, the iconic Atelier Kožarić, and "the revival laboratory" oft the prominent artist Ivan Kožarić, a space that was adored by MSU visitors, will be reopened.
And all under the motto We build the Museum, the Museum builds us!
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Authors and collectives at the exhibition: Aleksandar Battista Ilić, Vera Fischer, Tomislav Gotovac, Igor Grubić, Sanja Iveković, Ivana Keser, Oleg Kulik, Andreja Kulunčić (with collaborator Dubravka Stijačić and with patients of the psychiatric hospital Vrapče in all segments of the project, and Vlatka Prstačić and the designer team Kuna zlatica on part of the Vrapče Pillows project), Kristina Leko, Lala Raščić, Vjenceslav Richter, Ivana Tomljenović Meller, Žarko Vijatović, EXAT 51, Fluxus, Format C, Galerija stanara, Gorgona, Group of Six Authors, IRWIN, Nova Evropa/NEP, OHO, Family from Šempas, Vigo
Curator team: Zdenka Badovinac, Kristina Bonjeković Stojković, Petra Cegur, Renata Filčić, Iva Rada Janković, Jasna Jakšić, Vesna Meštrić, Martina Munivrana, Ana Škegro and Leila Topić.
Visual identity of the Collection As a Verb series: Igor Grubić
Comradeship / Collection As a Verb
Opening: Museum of Contemporary Art, opening: Thursday, July 7, 2022 at 8 p.m
More about the cycle of exhibitions Collection As a Verb
