[spectre] (fwd) Belgrade Cultural Centre presents The 50th October Salon, Belgrade

[Andreas Broeckmann]

Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:47:07 -0400
From: Art-Agenda <art-agenda at mailer.e-flux.com>
Subject: Belgrade Cultural Centre presents The 50th October Salon, Belgrade


The 50th October Salon, Belgrade
October 2nd - November 15th 2009

Belgrade Cultural Centre
Knez Mihailova 6/I, 11 000 Belgrade, RS
phone: + 381 (0)11 2622 926
fax: + 381 (0)11 2623 853
Contact: Zorana Djakoviç
zorana.djakovic at kcb.org.rs
http://www.kcb.org.rs
http://www.oktobarskisalon.org


Belgrade Cultural Centre presents The 50th October Salon, Belgrade


Official inauguration:
Museum of Yugoslav History - Museum 25th May
Botiçeva 6, Belgrade
October 2nd 2009 at 7:00 pm

The 50th October Salon
CIRCUMSTANCE


Artists: Phil Collins, Miljenko Dereta, Biljana 
?ur©¢eviç, Uro” ?uriç, Bojan Fajfriç, Îivko 
Grozdaniç, Ivan Grubanov, Igor Grubiç, Aleksandar 
Jestroviç Jamesdin, Îolt Kovaã, Kunsthistorisches 
Mausoleum, Marko Luliç, Zoran Naskovski, Pe©¢a 
Ne”koviç, Vladimir Nikoliç, Oleg Novkoviç, 
Darinka Pop-Mitiç, Branimir Stojanoviç, Zoran 
Todoroviç, Ra”a Todosijeviç, Katarina Zdjelar, 
Îelimir Îilnik

Art Director: Branislava An©¢elkoviç

Exhibition venues: Museum of Yugoslav History 
(Botiçeva 6), Belgrade Cultural Centre (Knez 
Mihailova 6 and Trg Republike 5/I), Centre for 
Cultural Decontamination (Birãaninova 21), 
Kunsthistorisches Mausoleum (Braçe Radovanoviça 
28) and the Public Garage in Masarikova Street 
(Masarikova 4).

The project CIRCUMSTANCE has been motivated by 
the necessity of reviewing the contemporary art 
scene in Serbia in its international dimensions 
and in relation to the circumstances of its local 
production. The framework of the project is made 
up of the exhibition, through which it will be 
possible to review the most prominent, 
inspirational and critically founded artistic 
positions in Serbia at the moment, that is, the 
work of those artists who have developed specific 
artistic languages and philosophies, in various 
media, whom it is necessary to present to a 
broader public in Belgrade and in Serbia as 
thoroughly as possible. The exhibition 
CIRCUMSTANCE has not been conceived as a mere 
"agglomeration" of works but as an attempt to 
represent, through selected projects of the 
artists who were invited, the uniqueness and the 
specific character of the positions and 
propositions on the contemporary scene in 
relation to the social processes, and especially 
in relation to the very real sense of crisis we 
are living in.

Since 2004, when the October Salon turned from a 
local exhibition into an international art event, 
apart from its long-awaited internationalisation, 
there has occurred a controversial 
differentiation between a figure of a "domestic 
artist" and that of an "international artist". 
This year's October Salon, with its emphasis on 
artists who mainly live and work in Serbia but 
also make their presence felt on the 
international scene, does not aim to bring this 
event back to the status of a local exhibition; 
on the contrary, it aims to present "a local 
artist" as "an international artist" who remains 
connected to local experiences, on the basis of 
which he undertakes initiatives and suggests 
interventions. Some artists who do not live in 
Serbia, but whose work we consider to be an 
active element of contemporary art in the local 
milieu, have been invited to this exhibition as 
guests.

The projects that will be presented do not merely 
express the way in which an artist "deals" with 
matters of significance for society and art; they 
constitute direct interventions into our 
comprehension of and our attitude towards these 
matters. This applies irrespective of whether 
those issues concern the position and the role of 
the artist, the (non-)existence of the art 
system, the disappearance of art from the public 
and media space, the inadequacy of discourse 
about art, or the pressing issues of the social 
and economic crisis such as the process of 
privatisation, social stratification, cultural 
isolation, the trauma of historical memory, 
citizens' inactivity and inertia, social 
(in)tolerance, etc.

In view of the fact that the October Salon is an 
art event that is most visible to the general 
public in Serbia, the starting point is the idea 
that this project will initiate mechanisms of 
communication between artists and the audience. 
There is a need to present contemporary art not 
just by way of the exhibition but also through 
various side events, the aim of which is to 
establish a dialogue and to contribute to a 
better understanding of the position and the role 
of the artist in society. The exhibition will be 
accompanied by a catalogue in which each 
individual artist will be thoroughly presented 
not only through his/her authorship over a 
particular work but also through the complexity 
of his/her artistic, intellectual, political and 
ethical positions.

Within the framework of the project CIRCUMSTANCE, 
two special artistic projects will be realised. 
Igor Grubiç's project Individual Collectivism is 
made up of a series of brief television clips 
presenting the artists featured in this 
exhibition to the general public. These TV 
portraits will be broadcasted for the duration of 
the October Salon. Ra”a Todosijeviç's project 
Artist as Prophet will be realised in the public 
space of the city and will constitute a specific 
form of communication between the artist and the 
social/personal circumstances that he is 
conditioned by. In both projects, it is the 
artists who intervene within the framework of the 
usual "promotional" activities characteristic of 
such exhibitions.

Contact
Miroslav Kariç (press) - mkaric40 at hotmail.com
+381 63 7060504
Vesna Miliç (co-ordination) - vesna at msub.org.rs
+381 11 3676293