Exhibitions

The Smell of Freshly Chopped Wood

19.12.2024. - 23.02.2025. / MSU, 2. kat povremenih izložbi

The exhibition The Smell of Freshly Chopped Wood tells about our life, work and belonging to specific landscapes, forests, islands, plateaus and valleys of Balkans and Mediterranean region, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Italy, which at first sight look like idyllic nature. In fact, they are "living archives" whose "documents" are trees marked for felling, artificial lakes, objects left behind by refugees or the memories of the people who live there, their traditions, knowledge and experiences. We experience nature only through our presence and our activities: nature is wood for cutting, water for hydroelectric power plants, wind for windmills, animals for hunting, plants and fruits for our food, or the routes of our transport routes.

SintArt 17 - Driant Zeneli: The Valley of Uncanny Lovers

03.12.2024. - 03.03.2025. / Zbirka Richter

The project Driant Zeneli has created for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb centres around a wondrous and touching film about uncanny lovers, made in the midst of the lithium mining crisis and fight for environmental and ecological justice in the Western Balkans. The central protagonist of the narrative is a small leaf embodying the fragility and vulnerability of the modern man. Driant Zeneli uses the image of the love-obsessed leaf as a metaphor of complete openness and vulnerability, but also as, paradoxically, a daring hero who uncompromisingly follows his vision regardless of the loss of illusions during his mission.

Dancing, Resisting, (Un)working – Aspects of Dance as Cultural, Political, and Art Work in Yugoslavia and After

20.11.2024. - 23.02.2025. / MSU, 1. kat povremenih izložbi

This exhibition represents long-term research on the development of a digital archive of contemporary dance and performing arts of the post-Yugoslavian region. As that is an ongoing process, we do not think of this manifestation as a final act or actualization of the material, but as a step towards sharing the relations we are building with the materials. We are showing it as a(n) (un)working material, as a research space that is in its potentiality, not being there yet, or finished.

Divided Time: Cries and Whispers / The Imitation of Life Studio 1987–1991

07.11.2024. - 12.01.2025. / MSU, Black Box

Thirty-three years following the end of their collaboration, the artistic duo Darko Fritz and Željko Serdarević present themselves with the exhibition Divided Time at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, which brings together their joint artistic production consisting of fine artworks, the documentation of installations in public space, and music and stage performances.

The exhibition “Futures”

04.04.2023. - 31.12.2025. / MSU, 2. kat

The two main views of the future are often mutually exclusive; the first is based on progressive advancement and growth, while the other one sees this advancement and growth as a threat to the planet and all living beings. Already from these different views, we can conclude that the future before us is not a single one; rather, there are several possible futures and hence, we do not speak of a “future,” but rather of the “futures.” 

Comradeship / Collection as a Verb

07.07.2022. - 31.12.2025. / MSU, 1. kat

'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. 

Sad Songs of War / Collection as a Verb

05.04.2022. - 31.12.2025. / MSU, 1. kat

The first sequence of presenting works from the fundus of the Museum is conceived as an answer to the current situation. It is a desire to express solidarity and empathy with the country undergoing a tragedy similar to that which is still fresh in our memory. The exhibition was named after the sound work by the Lithuanian artist, Deimantas Narkevičius, produced in 2014 in the period of the first protests, unrests, and plights in The Ukraine, on the Independence Square in Kyiv.