The New Era exhibition presents the works of three female artists and an artist collective from Slovenia, who in their creative practices, consistently and continuously address the relationship between human and nature. The selected works provide a profound contemplation about anthropogenic interventions into natural environments and about current sociopolitical and economic structures of governance which are based on principles of infinite growth of production and consumption.

The PLATEAURESIDUE collective, Maja Smrekar, Robertina Šebjanič and Tanja Vujinović by using different means of visual art making these artists are commonly dedicated to exploration of topical issues of modern age such as comprehension of natural environments, need for colonising nature and analysis of environmental policies that are nowadays still firmly based on the concepts of modernisation and development. In the history of modern and contemporary art, since the emergence of industrial revolutions, ideas and works of artists often touched upon phenomena of natural environment but only on the level of representation; however, in the past decades some artists took on more active role and started to relate their artistic practices with scientific and other interdisciplinary discourses. This particular orientation is summarised with this group exhibition showcasing highly analytical and engaged creative responses of artists to topical issues such as the world's ecology, consequences of interventions in the environment, relationship between human and non-human, overcoming the culture-nature dualism, and the future of humankind.

The PLATEAURESIDUE collective is an imaginary identity of the geographer and artist Aljaž Celarc and the art historian Eva Pavlič Seifert. In their work they deal with landscape ecology and seek for new ways to raise public awareness. Through a mixture of ecology and art they addresses the consequences of geological and ecological changes - such as the melting of the icecaps and the changes in the temperatures in subterranean caves - on the everyday life, the here and now.

In her hybrid artistic practice Maja Smrekar addresses the current phenomena in contemporary society. Contrary to her early works, in which she often addressed human permeability through the clichés of popular culture, the understanding of the future through fiction or the ethical aspects of human interventions into nature and natural processes, her latest works focus on the basic issues linked to the human position on this planet.

Robertina Šebjanič focuses on the influence of human presence and operation on the lives of various water habitats. In her long-term research projects, in which she usually cooperates with scientists and other experts, she deals with monitoring and analysing water ecosystems, and translating the findings into poetic works of art, which are often based on a mediated image, sound, aroma or the transfer of knowledge.

The artworks created by Tanja Vujinović often contemplate the complex social, economic and communication systems that mankind has gradually established over the past two hundred years through the various levels of industrial revolution. The artist regularly cooperates with scientists in her creative process; however, she usually freely interprets their measured phenomena and findings or uses them as metaphors for expected processes.

The exhibition has been realised in collaboration with the Božidar Jakac Gallery, Kostanjevica na Krki with support of City of Zagreb, Ministry of Culture and Media of Republic of Croatia and Ministry of Culture of Republic of Slovenia.

Curator: Miha Colner

Coordination for MSU: Vesna Meštrić