25.06. – 18.07.2020.
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exhibition
Anything heard makes demands
Foto: Vanja Babić

ARTISTS:
Vanja Babić, Jasna Čagalj, Luana Lojić, Maja Rivić

CURATOR:
Martina Kontošić

Gallery Nova, Teslina 7, Zagreb

performances by Maja Rivić: 
30/06, 07/07 and 14/07 at 7 pm

gallery working hours:
Tue– Fri 12–8 pm
Saturday: 11 am–7 pm 

Following the idea of coexistence as an unobtrusive harmonic existence in space, through months of communication and relationship building, four artists explored specific backgrounds of meaning and the context that the notion of coexistence encompasses. We did this by choosing sound as an assertive sensory stimulus, which does not wait its turn but insists on a contest for dominance. This characteristic makes it a fitting allegory of the glorification of competitiveness. Constant competition at any cost and to the detriment of empathy and solidarity is an extremely problematic point of modern society that overflows into the space of culture and into the practice that should confront it. Vanja Babić, Jasna Čagalj, Luana Lojić and Maja Rivić, in collaboration with curator Martina Kontošić, build their temporary common space in a complex relationship with other sounds, physical contact and a field of visual and virtual, refusing to turn the exhibition and gallery space into another field of rivalry. In this demanding process, wider social phenomena are mapped into the micro-situation of the gallery, turning the exhibition into an experiment and maintaining a fragile balance between works as equal independent entities, each with its own voice, and exhibitions as a whole, that communicates a common message.

With this exhibition, in its content, but what is equally important – production approach, we tried to escape the pitfall of reproducing contests as a pattern of behavior encouraged by the current socio-economic system. We try to raise awareness and minimize the harmful effects of competitiveness policies and methods, at least in our own circle and by our own example, setting the exhibition as a multi-layered inclusive space of experiments and collaboration in which the boundaries between personal and public, external and internal are not entirely clear.
The exhibition takes place within the program of the Nova Gallery and the project of the curator Martina Kontošić “Coexistence: Spaces of Sound”. Exploring the role of art and culture through the contextualization of experiences in the field of sound art, we seek to create a space for collaboration and exchange of knowledge and experience by evading the logic of competitiveness of contemporary society. The program will be realized this year through several production and discursive events in physical space and online. The next event within the project, a panel called Conversation on Sound Curating that was postponed out of a sense of responsibility towards the health of our visitors, will be held in early October.

All works are in mutual sonic interaction, sporadically letting go of the visitor’s attention for the sake of other works, complementing each other, but also leaving occasional moments of silence when the gallery space is taken over by the sounds of the immediate neighborhood.

As part of the exhibition, every Tuesday at 7 pm, as well as in several other unannounced dates, Maja Rivić will hold a performance within the exhibition. In the conversation after the performance she will be joined by an artist with whom she shares space and the curator.

Vanja Babić (1984, Zagreb) graduated at the New media department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. Before studying at the Academy he graduated from the Polytechnic University in Zagreb. His works are often based on the principle of social practice, questioning everyday boundaries that affect the lives of individuals. His main inspiration and motive for intervening in everyday situations is his personal experience. For him, labour is a sincere reaction to the environment in which he lives and through it he tries to point out systematic issues of the society.

Jasna Čagalj (1989, Split) completed her undergraduate studies in film and video at the Academy of Arts in Split. In 2015, she enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, where she received her master’s degree in animation and new media. She operates under various pseudonyms.

Luana Lojić (1991, Pula) graduated from the Animation and New Media department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. She deals with applied biophilia. From poetry for stones to live installations, videos, films and live art that thematize human’s relationship with the systems, perception and materialities that surround him, in his work she seeks to understand natural processes outside and within the concept of the senses. She is an 1/6 of Ljubavnice – an art collective for the interdisciplinary work of science and art, as well as a part of the M28 collective.
Maja Rivić, Vibrate in Sympathy, 2020
Performative recording and sound installation

Maja Rivić (1982, Zagreb) graduated from the Faculty of Graphic Arts in Zagreb, graduated from jazz and contemporary singing / arranging at Middlesex University in London, and is currently in her final year of graduate studies at the New Media department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. She participated in performances by Loupo Abramovici and Tomaž Grom, and co-authored performances with dancer Silvija Dogan and editor Iva Gavrilović. She is a vocalist in the jazz orchestra Mimika, free impro quartet MILK, collective Živa Voda, Maja Rivić Septet, and collaborates with the Jazz Orchestra of HRT and Darko Rundek.

Martina Kontošić (1981, Zagreb) graduated Art History and Cultural Anthropology at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb and specialized in Tourism Management at the Faculty of Economics, University of Zagreb. She is a curator and project manager in culture. She works as a collaborator on projects with WHW and Kurziv – Platform for Matters of Culture, Media and Society.

The exhibition takes place within the program of the Gallery Nova and the project Coexistence: Spaces of Sound developed and coordinated by curator Martina Kontošić. Exploring the role of art and culture through the contextualization of experiences in the field of sound art, we seek to create a space for collaboration as well as knowledge and experience exchange by evading the logic of competitiveness of contemporary society. In 2020 the program will be realized through several production and discursive events in physical space and online. The next event within the project, a panel called “Conversation on Sound Curating”, which was postponed out of a sense of responsibility for the health of our visitors, will be held in early October.