The We are the compost project begins by considering the so-called more-than-human ecology, which theorist Donna Haraway conceives as the coexistence of multiple species through models of the “dynamic disorder” of diverse bodies. She points out that we and all other life forms need to meet each other in unexpected combinations and collaborations—in hot piles of compost—to coexist with each other.

Instead of the classic exhibition format, this project primarily focuses on works in progress, and artists Ana Kuzmanić and Zrinka Užbinec have been invited to develop new works that symbolically tackle the concept of compost. The reality of the pandemic has directed us all to the ubiquitous questions we ask ourselves as curators and artists: How can we work in new circumstances, and how and why do we produce something new? We recognize that we are currently in a compost state between the reality we lived before the pandemic and the anticipation of a return to some new normal. At the same time, in the everyday life of the pandemic, we are all directly feeling the concept of the coexistence of several species.

Ana Kuzmanić’s artistic research starts from the meaning of the word “compost.” The prefix “com-” means “with,” while the prefix “post-” has a dual connotation of “what is coming to an end” and “what is yet to come.” However, we do not have to read “post” as an end but instead can conceive of it as an imperative to examine and process. Kuzmanić completely exposes her artistic process, turning it into an open laboratory that begins by collecting a wide range of literature related to composting, death, ecology, and fiction and is followed by an open invitation to visitors to donate their books or borrow the ones on display and to engage in dialogue. In this artistic research process, composting becomes a figurative and literal process in which collages of references and conversations of different historical, scientific, and artistic views are created, which gradually inhabit the gallery space.

Zrinka Užbinec’s performance research does not endeavor to produce explicitly new material but rather uses old, forgotten, and “rotten” material to re-examine the multiple possibilities of performance. The starting point for her most recent composted performance is material from BADco.’s plays Is There Life on Stage? (2012) and Nature needs to be built (2013). The performance is layered together from the remains of notes and memories related to a segment from one of the above-mentioned performances, and it is further complemented by reflections on everyday life during the pandemic. Užbinec has also composted an old costume from the play, which she has symbolically revived with newly inhabited microorganisms.

In addition to these two new works, We are the compost includes the film In the Stomach of the Predators by artist Alice Creischer. The film represents one part of a much larger work that she produced in collaboration with artist and writer Andreas Siekmann, which deals with aspects of globalization and the transnational structures of exploitation of things that we consider to be part of the common good: seeds, land, and intellectual property. The main protagonists are four predators—a wolf, a hyena, a bear, and a jackal—who expose various forms of privatization and the monopolization of seeds as being counter to the common good. In the Stomach of the Predators is dominated by the theatrical spirit of silent film, and the narrative follows the journey of the animal characters traveling from Spitsbergen to Benin to Istanbul to encounter unusual and absurd situations.

As part of the project, curator Vanina Saracino has put together a film program featuring works by Marjolijn Dijkman and Toril Johannessen, Tuomas A. Laitinen, Viktor Pedersen, and Jenna Sutella. The film screenings take place on Wednesdays (April 28, May 5 and May 12) at 7 and 8 pm, with an introduction from the project curators.

The film program is part of WHW’s series of film and video programs and conversations It’s a matter of concern, a conversation about trees.

The We are the compost project is also deepened through collaboration with Green Network of Activist Groups (ZMAG), an NGO that focuses on different composting practices in gardening.

The cooperation with ZMAG will be realized as a home composting workshop led by Sendy Osmičević 11/05 6–8 pm on the Zoom platform https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84966278603

Gallery Nova is open to visitors from 20/04 to 15/05 on Mondays from 5 to 8 pm and on Thursdays and Fridays from 11 am to 4 pm. The artist Ana Kuzmanić invites visitors to borrow or donate literature and to enter into a dialogue with it.