The East–West dichotomy defined the entire generation of women artists who experienced the breakup of Yugoslavia and later became associated with "East art". They were only allowed to enter Western art institutions if they were willing to accept and repeatedly reproduce their own exoticisation and othering – an attitude that became their only modus operandi: an entry ticket and a way of coping with the situation. Starting in the 1990s and continuing into the first decade of the 2000s, this trend defined more than one generation of women artists. The East–West divide was soon followed by the North-South dichotomy. Since then, there has been increasing interest in Slovenia in art from and about the Global South, and art crated by the southern art diaspora in the North. At least in recent years, this growing attention has originated from a revived interest in the cultural exchanges within the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and its renewed exploration has changed the discursive positions in Southeast Europe and opened up new ways of imagining what would it mean to decolonialise Southeast Europe from the perspective of art.
The art research included in the international group exhibition at three venues, the two opening performances by Minna Henriksson and George Chakravarthi, the accompanying talks and discussions conceived in collaboration with Tea Hvala, and the dance performance by Christian Guerematchi, look at both the centre and its othering of the semi-periphery, and the semi-periphery and its othering of Others. In this way, they reinforce the mission of the City of Women festival, which does not seek to serve as a corrective for the canon, but looks for allies with whom it can work together to transform the world. To paraphrase Gloria Anzaldúa: those who do not succumb to their suffering will be better equipped to observe the inequality around them.
Exhibiting artists: Doplgenger, Ana Hoffner ex-Prvulovic*; Naeem Mohaiemen in collaboration with Uroš Pajović Selma Selman
The festival is curated by: Iva Kovač
Curator of MGBS: Vladimir Vidmar
Co-produced by: The City of Women festival as part of the BE PART project co-funded by the EU Creative Europe programme, and Mala galerija
Supported by: Creative Europe, the Ministry of Public Administration and the City of Ljubljana
Curator's guided tours of the exhibition:
9 October 2022
4 pm at the Škuc Gallery,
5 pm at Mala galerija and
6 pm at the Alkatraz Gallery (in English)
20 October 2022
4 pm at the Škuc Gallery,
5 pm at Mala galerija and
6 pm at the Alkatraz Gallery (in Slovenian)
