SMALL GESTURES, GREAT SYMBOLIC POWER

Zlatko Kopljar (born 1962 in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina; lives and works in Zagreb, Croatia) critically examines contemporary history in his performances, video works, and installations. He calls his works “constructions” because they question and reconstruct patterns of memory, both during the performative creation process and in their reception. In the photo series K9 Compassion, his act of kneeling in front of places such as New York’s Wall Street, the EU Commission in Brussels, or the Duma in Moscow is a compelling pose of powerlessness against global power structures. With this clear and potent gesture of humility, Kopljar symbolically calls for reflection.

The catalog Constructions accompanies Kopljars eponymous exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb and reviews nearly 30 years of artistic creation.The texts were written by Sanja Cvetnić, Ory Dessau and Kate Christina Mayne.

Publisher: DISTANZ Verlag GmbH, Berlin

https://www.distanz.de/en/buecher/zlatko-kopljar/constructions

Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb

14.12.2019 – 16.02.2020

History, Architecture, Performance: On Zlatko Kopljar’s Body of Work

Ory Dessau

In 2002 Zlatko Kopljar blocked the main entrance to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb. He did so with a twelve-ton block of reinforced concrete, corresponding in size to the measurements of the building’s doorway. Titled K4(1998–2002), the action was part of the group exhibition Here Tomorrow, in which curator Roxana Marcoci offered an examination of the contemporary Croatian art scene seven years after the end of the war in former Yugoslavia. However, since it kept the museum closed and inaccessible, the protective concrete shield of Kopljar’s K4implied that even in 2002 the war was not over yet. By sealing its entrance Kopljar referred to the museum as if situated in a stage prior to demolition. He marked the museum’s building as a future ruin among already existing ruins. Likewise, Kopljar’s sealed entrance also suggested that the premises were being purged, purified of the near past sediments and ghosts of the war.

Read More “CONSTRUCTIONS / ZLATKO KOPLJAR RETROSPECTIVE”

26.04.2019 – 26.10.2019.

Do secret services dream of a museum?

Curated by Basak Senova, Branko Franceschi, and Jonatan Habib Engqvist,

“Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past”.1984 by George Orwell

The D-0Ark Underground Contemporary Art Biennial was initially programmed to be completed in 5 editions and designed to become an amalgamation of a military and contemporary art museum after completing its cycle. In this respect, the 5^th edition is the “end” that is also the “new beginning”. “Do secret services dream of a museum?” underlines this transition that overlaps closures with the openings and transcends function with vision. The project is a unique example of how the contemporary art —whilst in a situation of insufficient financial resources, intermittent professional opportunities, and lack of political or social stability to maintain any of the art institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina— saved a military museum, thus preserving the archives from the past for the future. Furthermore, it suggests how different fields of knowledge and research can nurture one another other and create a common ground for social growth.

Read More “The 5th Project Biennial of Contemporary Art D-0 ARK Underground”

SONDERAUSSTELLUNG IN KOOPERATION MIT DER STIFTUNG BIBEL UND KULTUR UND KULTUM GRAZ, 6. MÄRZ – 7. JULI 2019

VERTRAUT UND FREMD.
VULGATA77

ZEITGENÖSSISCHE ZUGRIFFE AUF DIE BIBEL IM DOMMUSEUM MAINZ

Die Bibel zählt zu den inspirierendsten Quellen für die abendländische Kunst. Umgekehrt hat diese unser Wissen um die Bibel sogar maßgeblich geprägt und sie verständlich gemacht. VULGATA – die lateinische Bibelübersetzung des Heiligen Hieronymus vor 1600 Jahren – hat diese Verständlichkeit sogar im Namen. Sie war die Basis für die Kunst. Wie verhält es sich damit heute? Wie setzen sich zeitgenössische Künstlerinnen und Künstler im „Betriebssystem Kunst“ in der Gegenwart mit der Bibel auseinander? Was inspiriert sie an ihr?

Read More “VERTRAUT UND FREMD. VULGATA77”