Final exhibition of the 18th generation of The World of Art, School for Curatorial Practices and Critical Writing, 2021/2022.
13 May – 8 June 2022
Opening: 13 May at 7 pm
Škuc Gallery, Stari trg 21, Ljubljana
Artists: Lene Lekše, Danilo Milovanović, Robert Marin and Matjaž Rušt
Curators: Katarina Bogataj, Ajda Bračič, Hana Čeferin, Maša Knapič, Teja Kosi, Sanja Vatić, Maša P. Žmitek
Mentors: Alenka Gregorič, Vadim Fiškin
Head of School: Miha Kelemina
Professional Assistance: Lara Plavčak
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
This year’s The World of Art, School for Curatorial Practices and Critical Writing annual exhibition focuses on the inapproachable, ephemeral or overlooked spaces in the city, those points of aversion to automatism that highlight authenticity and remind us of the need to actively practise spatial freedom. Common and public spaces increasingly and repeatedly serve the assertion of the interests of capital as opposed to the encounter and exchange of opinions. Yet behind the scenes of touristy squares and streets, we still find urban life in all its spontaneity, transience and variability.
The artists presented in the exhibition attempt to document, interpret and, not least, intervene in the spaces of the city in different ways. Their different approaches intersect in moments of subjective stocktaking of interactions that, precisely because of their uniqueness, reflect the common experience of living in a contemporary city. How can one describe life in an ever-changing multiplicity of spaces inhabited by a vibrant abundance of different groups while remaining true to the limited subjective position of the viewer? How can we escape the lure of the common denominator and create access to limited and inaccessible spaces of encounter (whether they are inaccessible because we do not know them or because we are prevented from entering them) without consciously intervening in them?
In order to maintain personal and collective autonomy, we must as individuals and groups actively exercise our right to the city.[1] The right to work creatively within the community and to reinvent ourselves as individuals, the community as a whole, and the city as the space of our work outside the framework and pressures of institutions or the market. It is not about the right to use the existing city, but about the right to build ever new, ever different alternatives to the existing.
The exhibition of the 18th generation of the World of Art School at Škuc Gallery is one of the entry points into the mycelial series of urban spaces in which each of us is simultaneously centre and periphery. Info Point is thus an alternative city guide: instead of visiting tourist attractions and spaces dedicated to a particular group, it invites reflection on space, the politics that shape and control it, and daily rebellion and active participation for spatial freedom and the right to the city.
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[1] The concept was introduced by Henri Lefebvre in his work Le Droit à la Ville in 1968.
Lene Lekše has participated in several group and solo exhibitions in Slovenia and internationally. In 2021, as the winner of the OHO Award, she was hosted at Residency Unlimited in New York for two months. She is a member of the collectives Galerija 7:069 and Portal 2-7-7-8, which focus on exhibiting the production of the younger generation.
Danilo Milovanović was a member of the Rog autonomous community for many years and now works within the Metelkova mesto autonomous cultural centre. During 2019–21 he was a resident at the MGLC Švicarija Creative Centre in Ljubljana. His works can be seen in local and international institutional and public spaces.
Robert Marin is completing his studies in Cultural Sociology and History at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions of contemporary Slovenian photography and has also presented himself independently. During 2017–18, he undertook further training under the mentorship of Klavdij Sluban. He has been working on the photo project The Most Beautiful City in the World as a co-author since 2014.
As a documentary photographer, Matjaž Rušt focuses on various elements of marginalisation in contemporary society. He has exhibited in many institutions in Slovenia and internationally. His photographs are part of the photographic collection of the Museum of Modern Art. He has been working on the photo project The Most Beautiful City in the World as a co-author since 2014.
EXHIBITION EVENTS
18 May at 6 pm: viewing of the exhibition with the curators; the event will be held in Slovene
29 May 3 pm: Ljubljana Art Weekend, viewing of the exhibition with the participating artists and the curators; the event will be held in English
8 June 6 pm: viewing of the exhibition with the curators; the event will be held in Slovene
COLOPHON
Slovene Proofreading: Inge Pangos
English Translation: Arven Šakti Kralj Szomi
Cover Image: Najlepše mesto na svetu / The Most Beautiful City in the World
Design: Lea Jelenko
Sound: SsmKOSK
Production: SCCA–Ljubljana, Center for Contemporary Arts / World of Art School
Co-production: Škuc Gallery
The final exhibition is supported by Municipality of Ljubljana – Department for Culture
Acknowledgements: AVA – Academy of Visual Arts, Vodnik Homestead Šiška
