Artists: Ana Aleksić, Bojan Stojčić, Darja Bajagić, diStruktura, Dragan Vojvodić, Gordana Kuč, Irena Lagator-Pejović, Ivan Đurišić, Ivan Šuković, Ivana Ivković, Ivanka Vana Prelević, Jelena Pavićević-Marković, Lana Čmajčanin, Lidija Delić, Milka Delibašić, Nada Kažić, Nenad Šoškić, Nikolina Zuber, Robert Jankuloski i Monika Moteska, Selma Selman, Selman Trtovac, Sreten Milatović, Vaso Nikčević, Marija Marković, Jelena Tomašević, Tomo Pavićević i Nikola Marković

Curated by Sanja Kojić-Mladenov

The first Salon exhibition after a long break aims to collect and present contemporary local and regional artistic practices. As a manifestation of a long tradition, this year's Salon builds on the results already achieved, which have followed both social and art historical trends and continue to question current artistic phenomena, as well as methodological approaches and concepts. During the period of the Salon's absence, the world was shaken by various crises or the effects of previous ones were felt (global economic crisis, migration crisis, Brexit, Corona crisis), while military conflicts (war in Ukraine and in the Middle East) deepened the feeling of fear, hopelessness and general insecurity. Intellectual, scientific and artistic discourses are raising questions and seeking answers about possible solutions to overcome the accumulated problems of governance, power relations and value systems, the oppression of nature, migrants, minorities, women, others and dissenters. The control over nature and others has proved wrong, creating great differences between people, and geopolitical imbalances as a product of neoliberal exploitation of natural resources.

According to Hito Stejerl in her book Duty-Free Art, the effect of the constant crisis, which has become a global problem and not just a commonplace of transition countries, has become a "time loop" or, as she picturesquely puts it, "The museum leaks the past into the present". The author believes that without the future, there is no past because it is the future that gives meaning to the past and makes the past possible in the first place.

The symbolic "Garden of Hope" starts from the relationship between man and his environment, questioning the richness of diversity and the challenges he faces in his search. Through a theme linking current social processes, the exhibition emphasises the importance of biodiversity and environmental conservation, highlighting the negative aspects of hierarchical thinking and the instrumentalisation of others for one's own interests. The concept points to the richness of the art scene and the importance of art in discovering fundamental values of life, such as truth. Truth has attracted the attention of many artists throughout history. Today, in the cacophony of media information, it has become an invisible, illusory and almost utopian need. How important is truth in the process of maintaining natural balance, how much has it been forgotten in socio-political reality, and is there any hope of establishing equality?

The exhibition is organised through a methodological framework that involves several collaborators, and curators who, with their previous experience, can contribute to laying the foundations for further collaboration and development of both the salon itself, the institution and the local art scene. Through the networking of regional curators, artists and organisations, and the sharing of organisational processes, the importance of community and exchange is emphasised, giving hope for improvement.

 

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