Venue : Diocletian Palace, Split, Croatia

Preview: Friday, November 4, 2011 at 8 p.m.

Opening hours: Every day, 9 am to 8 pm – closed on Sundays

The central topic of this year’s Split Salon, a biennial event in contemporary art, is the querying of the exhibition as site of ones own exposure and as potential site for the articulation of the lie as legitimate means of gallery narration.

One of the interesting terms to which life is related is the lie.  Provocative here is the fact of the semantic noise that is generated among the Croatian public by approximating two verbal forms: izlagati (to tell a lie) and izlagati se (to exhibit or expose oneself).

The platform of the 37th Split Salon takes its cue from this noise.  All thematic possibilities are taken into account, all possible investigations of the paths of the ‘urban lie’, the negation or distortion of truth, or its manipulation; political, personal, familial and social impulses as well as querying of the actual means of art and the possibility it has of being manipulated.  Nor are the very unstable positions and dangers of ones own exposure in the public domain of artistic appearance ignored in the meantime.

The lie can be understood as a provocation, as a legitimate means in the denunciation of all kinds of anomalies. But it can also be understood as space of freedom, a refuge, a deflection of too great exposure and openness.  Individuals are becoming increasingly accessible to the environment, and ever less to themselves. Cell phones, Internet, Big Brother and other reality shows private life is too easily giving way or is being entirely lost and negated. And after all, at the moment when we so facilely brandish the term transparency, expanding it to the area of political discourse, as well as the field of contemporary art and exhibition practices, iz-laganje has an almost subversive undertone.

In the area of private life, an internal reflexion of general experiences that become personal is being sketched out, as well as the exposure of ones own specialness, which becomes part of the public realm.  From the pith and marrow, the most covert desires, wishes and needs and traumas to the very borders of privacy, across which the individual approaches the other, a wide spectrum of connotations of rights and also responsibilities is revealed. Handling the private life goes on between two extremes  – introversion and extroversion.

In sum, this biennial contemporary art event is interested in the question of how the paradigms of the lie and of private life edge into the discursive space of city and gallery, that is, how they are articulated through contemporary art practice.

The project takes for granted the presentation of all media of artistic expression.

Curators of the 37th Split Salon are Dalibor Prancevic and Barbara Vujanovic.

About Split Salon:

The Split Salon is an exhibition of contemporary art that has been held, in a somewhat uneven rhythm of annual and biennial events, since 1969.

For more than four decades the Salon has brought together the potentials of the art scene not only from the region but from the whole of the area of the Republic of Croatia, organised entirely by the Split Croatian Artists Association, puts before the public the achievements of recent work through all the known manners of expression in the fine arts. The contemporary Split Salon, which is biennial, follows in its subjects the turbulent state of our social vicissitudes.  Through creative authorial commitment and art production the Salon enables fine artists to make reference to social reality and accordingly has become a place for the promotion of universal cultural reality.

By persisting with the project of the Split Salon, the Split Croatian Artists Association cultivates worthwhile humanist values, maintains a critical attitude towards market-oriented neoliberalism, raises the issue of the effective survival of the love of freedom and provides answers via uninhibited liberty of artistic expression mediated via concrete artefacts of high artistic value.

As well as the exhibition programme, the curatorial set-up in the gallery venues, the Salon also organises discussions on a given theme with respect for different viewpoints via public discourse.  The Split Salon regularly penetrates into the tissue of the city with the performative action of some of the participants in the project, exploring the reactions of not only the targetaudience but also of the whole of the public.  In this manner it will happen that casual passers-by become active participants in the Salon, not merely neutral consumers of the artistic fare.

37th Split Biennal is organised by:

HULU, Split (Croatian Association of Artists – Split)
Obala Hrvatskog narodnog preporoda 24,
21 000 Split, Hrvatska
http://www.hulu-split.hr/

Exhibition Architecture as Landscape: A Morphology of Contemporary Croatian Architecture is open from the 19.06.2010 to 04.07.2010 as part of the London Festival of Architecture International Showcase.

Known for its landscapes and the architecture of its cities, Croatia is also a land of profound synthesis of its natural resources and its architecture. The relationship between the landscape and architecture is the subject of the Croatian participation at the LFA 2010’s Embassies Project. The location of the building of the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia is near the Fitzroy Square, one of London’s premier jewels of city-planning and landscaping. The Fitzroy Square Garden is an inspiration and the site for the exhibition, thanks to the generous support of the Fitzroy Square Frontagers’ & Garden Committee.

Coincidentally, it was the Square’s architect, Robert Adam, a noted British 18th century architect, who in 1764 introduced the Diocletian’s Palace in Split internationally, as the architectural crown jewel of the Croatian coast. In this return visit to Mr Adam’s Garden, Croatian architects and some surprise local guest exhibit a series of projects that present a segment of Croatia’s modern and contemporary architecture not associated with the more rigid, Euclidean architectural language, but with a constant stream of liberated architectural spaces, moulded together with the landscape and blended with it. The projects span from early experimental architects’ works exploring organic and kinetic structures as precedents for buildings to the most recent buildings of Croatian architects, visibly present on the international architectural scene.

Due to their beautiful settings, most of the projects exhibited at the Fitzroy Square might be perceived as an invitation to a visit. So the message from Croatian architects reads: Thank you, Mr Adam, and you are welcome, too!

The exhibition is a project of Ministry of Culture of Republic of Croatia in collaboration with Croatian Embassy London and Croatian Architects’ Association.

The lecture about Croatian contemporary architecture will be on Sunday the 20th of June from 12 to 12.40 in the pavilion in Park Crescent, W1.

With the kind permission of the Fitzroy Square Frontagers’ & Garden Committee, this exhibition is open to the public, Monday to Friday 12 to 5 pm and on weekends 11am to 3pm.

The first exhibition of  New Media Art Gallery that was opened in Zadar, the exhibition titled ‘She_story’ began on 13th of March in the space of ex cinema Pobjeda in Zadar and will last until 31st of March. 

Exhibition ‘She_story’ is the world seen through woman’s eyes. 84 new media art works were applied to this exhibition and we selected 20. Art works are using different media to explore the subject of She_story. On a content level the authors are approaching the subject on several levels: from works that refer on the life or work of other artists like Frida Kahlo and Nadja (“Cry me”/ “NadJA”), to art works that use film as a polygon for artistic exploration of intimate world (“Being a woman…”/”The Aria”), works that deal with the relation between body and digital body, or world and virtual world (“Study on human form….”/”Urging Absence”/”Blind hands”), works that explore position of a woman in religious and/or political context (“Roghieh”/”Basbas”), to authors who use body in a radical ways in approaching the subject (“Parto”/”Lovemaking”).

New media exhibition She_story includes also three interactive installations and three performances by Croatian artists. The art selection presents mechanisms and strategies of exploring the She_story, using different contexts and media, and in specific cultural codes worldwide incorporated under the same topic – woman. (Click here to download catalog of the exhibition)

NMG_New Media Gallery_ is a platform initiated by organisation Mavena in cooperation with Teatro Verrdi with an aim to introduce the concept of new media art to the broad public; to produce, coproduce and present new media art, artists and developments; to establish, promote and develop international artistic cooperation’s in the field of new media arts.

NMG is a platform that uses large space of ex cinema Pobjeda in Zadar, with the intention to become „moving“ gallery. The concept of the gallery is focused on developing research art projects through scientific researches and public calls for art works that will explore and promote the present situation on the new media art world scene, and present exhibition of selected works at the NMG;  education projects: new media workshops for children and performance workshops for adults that will focus on education and presenting new projects;  international intercultural and interdisciplinary cooperation between artists, theorists and critics of new media art on collaborating projects;  Living in the Interface_internet lectures-discussions with eminent world new media artists, theorists and critics.  Gallery’s directors and curators are Boris Kadin and Natasha Kadin, while technical director is Juraj Aras. Read more Croatian Art news

The exhibition that includes villas, housing blocks, schools, churches, monuments and infrastructure projects, is presenting Croatian architecture projects from thirties, fifties, sixties and nineties up until 2010.

The cities covered by this exhibition include Zagreb, Split  and Dubrovnik, with introduction to work by Frane Cota, Stjepan Planic, Nikola Dobrovic, Ivan Vitic, Kazimir Ostrogovic, Hrvoje Njiric and 3LHD.

The exhibition is accompanied by an English-language catalogue, with a foreword by Andrija Rusan, publisher and editor of Oris, Croatian magazine for architecture.

Sanja Ivekovic will take part in four international exhibitions during next few months:

MUMOK, Changing Channels, Art and Television 1963-1987
5th of March – 6th of June 2010, Opening 4th of March 2010
Vienna, Austria
http://www.mumok.at/

KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; Early Years
28th of February – 2nd May 2010
Opening: 27th of February 2010
Berlin, Germany
http://www.kw-berlin.de/

Centre Pompidou, Promises from the past
14th of April -19th of July 2010
Paris, France
http://www.centrepompidou.fr/

Museum Rodin, Le Corps Comme Sculpture Video-Performances. 2nd – 28th of February. 2010
Paris, France
www.musee-rodin.fr/accueil.htm

Since the 1970s, Sanja Ivekovic works in a range of media such as photography, performance, video, installations, and actions. Ivekovic belongs to the artistic generation that emerged after 1968 with post-object, conceptual art known as “New Art Practice.” Ivekovic’s work can be characterized as a critical artistic practice, invested in the politics of image and body and an analysis of identity constructions in the media, employing strategies of political engagement, solidarity, and activism. In the (then) Yugoslav (and thus Croatian) art scene, Ivekovic was the first artist to adopt a feminist perspective in her artistic work and activist practice. Since the political change of 1989, she mainly deals with the collapse of socialist regimes and the consequences of the triumph of capitalism and market economy on living conditions, particularly of women.

From her early photography and performance, through to the major collaborative and public projects of recent years, Ivekovic has tracked the changing place of individual and personal values and how they appear (or fail to appear) in public. The constraints of politics, economics, and gender consistently serve as an inevitable backdrop to her works—a position that survives the changes of 1989, altered, but intact. In her persistent exploration of the border between the public and private self, Ivekovic subtly insinuates the collective responsibility we share for the things that take place around us. By doing so, without any moral exhortation, her art permits us to see more clearly the interdependence of things and the scalability of our actions, from small gestures to grand narratives.

Sanja Ivekovic participated in the 10th International Istanbul Biennial (2007), documenta 12 (2007) and documenta 11 (2002) in Kassel, and Manifesta 2 (1998) in Luxembourg. Other exhibitions include (selection): re.act.feminism – performance art of the 1960s and 70s today, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, 2008–2009; As soon as I open my eyes I see a film. Experiment in the art of Yugoslavia in the 60’s and 70’s, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, 2008; The Order of Things, MuHKA, Antwerp, 2008; Living Currency/La Monnaie Vivante, Tate Modern, London, 2008; Forms of Resistance – Artists and the Desire for Social Change from 1871 until the Present, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, 2007; WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2007; Die Regierung. Paradiesische Handlungsräume, Secession, Vienna, 2005; Now What? Dreaming a better world in six parts, BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht, 2003; and After the Wall, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 1999–2000.

Have a look at some videos of work made by Sanja Ivekovic

The Museum of Contemporary Art (Muzej Suvremene Umjetnosit MSU)  the largest museum institution in Croatia and the largest cultural institution since the independence of Croatia has recently been opened in Zagreb.

The new building of the Museum will enable the appropriate conservation and exhibition of the collected art, and the conditions necessary for various programs, educational work-shops, film-projections and theatre performances aimed at the wider public and will make this part of the city the new cultural centre of Zagreb as well as a place of family outings, entertainment and new knowledge.

The overall size of the museum is 14,500 square meters, 3,500 of which is intended for the permanent exhibition, 1,500 for temporary exhibitions and 700 for exhibitions on the roof. The museum features a multimedia hall, library, pedagogical hall, museum store with book-store, cafe, restaurant, suites for visiting artists and curators and a 725 square meter lobby.

After more than 50 years of careful collection, treatment and presentation of only a part of the collection, the fist
exhibition with which the museum introduced itself to the public was its permanent exhibition “Collection in
Movement”. The other exhibition is “Acquisitions 2004-2009″. 

The visitors were also welcomed by the exhibition “Museum before the Museum”, a photography collection by Jasenko Rasol who followed the construction of the museum with his camera.

The art of Croatian and foreign artists that are part of the collection are testimony to the different styles such as abstract expressionism, geometrical and lyrical abstraction, minimalism, proto-conceptualism, analytical and primary painting, Fluxus, conceptual art, optical art, transavangard… reflecting the role of the Museum in following the newest artistic movements.

MSU contains several collections – paintings, sculptures, drawings, graphics, posters, photography, film and video and the media art collection. The museum is also looking after the Richter collection, numbering 182 works of art, the
Josip Seissl collection, numbering 1,258, the Benko Horvat collection with 611, the Toše Dabac archive numbering 200,000 items and the Ivan Kožaric collection with 6,000 items.

Several installations enrich the museum, “the slide” by world-renowned artist Carsten Höller, “Eyes of purification” by Polish artist Miroslaw Balke, on the roof terrace the “Artist at work” by Dalibor Martinis is installed, and in from
of the museum “Frames” by Ivana Franke, Lee Pelivan and Tomo Plejic. On the roof, the installation “War field” is
located, by Ivan Božicevic, and in the museum store the “Alchemy polyptich” by Silvije Vujicic.

The 2010 museum program also features the following exhibitions: A pair of nice shoes – Reality Check in
Eastern Europe, independent exhibition of Danica Dakic, independent exhibition of Aleksandar Srnec, project Gilbert
& George, works from the FRAC collections, exhibition of Zlatko Kopljara, and the Murtic donation.

The Zagreb MSU was founded in December of 1954 and has instantaneously become the reference point on the cultural map of the city. The desire to extend the museum existed in the 1960s, primarily because of the significance of the collections that were kept in unsuitable conditions and were not available to the public.  At the international tender in 1999, the project of architect  Igor Franic won. Construction began in 2003, and was jointly funded by the City of Zagreb and the Ministry of  Culture.

Museum of Contemporary Art website : www.msu.hr

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Last year the remains of a sarcophagus were found in Pocukmarak bay on Silba Island, as well as the remains of another one. Recently, a second phase of underwater research started where archaeologists will explore the wider area and carry out the preparations for opening an underwater museum.

The stone coffer, which is over two metres long, is located at a depth between two and a half and three metres. It has algae growing on it and it is covered by roughly cut stone. On the basis of the lid decor, it is thought to come from the late antique period – from either the 4th or 5th century.

The sarcophagus and other remains were not carved in Silba and it is believed that they were delivered from one of the sculpture workshops on the Adriatic. Sarcophagi are rarely found under the sea so this discovery in Pocukmarak bay surprised experts who are only just beginning to discover Silba’s past, especially that of the antique period.

Archaeologists will clean the silt from the sarcophagus and the other remains, document their current state and record their location on the land and in the sea in the bay in Silba.

The opening of the underwater museum on the site where the sarcophagus was found, which lies in crystal clear sea in a wonderful bay, should prove to be a very interesting destination for inquisitive visitors. Since it is located at a depth of two metres, it is accessible for almost anyone who knows how to swim, and not just professional divers, which is most often the case in terms of underwater archaeological sites that are often found at much greater depths.

It will be held on:

26. November 2009  7,15 pm

at 

NANO Gallery, Gajeva 26, Zagreb

Projection ‘Crtić za laku noć’ is part of Upgrade!Zagreb gatherings for promotion of  new media arts.

This volume is the first scholarly study in the English language of Croatia’s extraordinary artistic heritage. Leading specialists analyse the key cultural developments in this small country’s history, from the extensive Roman remains on the Adriatic coast, through the gothic splendour of the Dalmatian cities in the Middle Ages and intensive artistic exchange with Italy during the Renaissance, to the grand houses and art collections of continental Croatia.

The essays address iconic monuments like Diocletian’s palace at Split and the walled city of Dubrovnik alongside more unfamiliar treasures, some never published before.

This books sets Croatia’s cultural past in context, reflecting the country’s unique history at the crossroads between Italy, Central Europe and the Mediterranean.

With contributions by leading British, American and Croatian writers and scholars, including John Julius Norwich, Timothy Clifford, Marcus Binney, Brian Sewell and Sheila McNally this book presents for the first time a portrait of the culture of this captivating and too little known country.

This book on Croatia can be ordered from www.croatianmonuments.org

THE LOPUD COLLECTION Hotels and Villas offers a rich art program this June in Villa Vilina and its ART Restaurant and Gallery on the island of Lopud. All exhibition openings are accompanied by a guitar performance of Jazz and other types of music by Vedran Mezej of Dubrovnik. Hidden Croatia Marine offers organized trips with their speed boats from Dubrovnik to Lopud and back and include a gourmet dinner in the package.

The art season starts on June 5th with the opening of PARCO, an exhibition of paintings by Petra Ševeljević, a young Zagreb born Croatian painter celebrated in the contemporary art circles. This cycle of paintings is thematically connected with parks and specifically emphasized black pine trees. Petra playfully incorporates other elements not connected with the Mediterranean parks themselves.

On June 19th there is the opening VENUS, an exhibition of stone sculptures of different female forms, popularly called Venus’s, by Petar Hranuelli. Petar is an acclaimed Croatian sculptor and painter, born on the island of Brač where stone is “in the blood” of the people.

One June 26th Villa Vilina hosts the opening of a photography exhibition by Srđan Babić, a native of Makarska. We have rarely seen such an eye for details and photography as Srđan has it. You will be inspired to take the camera yourself and try to achieve something similar. Srđan’s photos are a true work of art.

Aside from the art, every Thursday Villa Vilina organizes Wine Tasting followed by a 3-course lunch, while on Sundays you can enjoy in the Sunday Brunch from 11am till 3pm and indulge in excellent buffet food, Mimosas (Champaign cocktails) and other drinks.

Lopud island and THE LOPUD COLLECTION, the most amazing island escape, awaits you!

website: www.villa-vilina.hr

The Embassy of the Republic of Croatia  and The Croatian National Tourist Office cordially invite you to

SPLIT , ANCIENT AND MODERN: A CAPTIVATING CITY
an evening celebrating the town of Split and the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian

Thursday 16th of April 2009 6.00 to 9.00 pm

at the Croatian Embassy, 21 Conway Street , London W1T 6BN .

6.30 The evening will start with an illustrated talk by Joško Belamarić,  Director of the Conservation Department of the Croatian Ministry of Culture who will present the fascinating new research findings from Diocletian’s Palace

7.00 Ivan Sikavica, Conservator and Restorer, The Croatian Conservation Institute, will describe the current restoration and conservation work in the Palace

7.30 Vedran Matošić, Director of the Tourist Office in Split will present: “Events and Culture in European Cities – Split Project”

8-9 Reception

RSVP:  Croatian National Tourist Office: 020 8563 7979  or Flora Turner: 0207 387 3276

Nearest undergrounds:  Warren Street and Great Portland Street

With the kind support of the International Trust for Croatian Monuments and The British-Croatian Society

The museums that are participating are in following places : Biograd na Moru, Bjelovar, Čakovec, Dubrovnik, Đakovo, Gornja Stubica, Gospić, Karlovac, Kastav, Kaštel Lukšić, Klis, Koprivnica, Krapina, Makarska, Opatija, Osijek, Požega, Pula, Rijeka, Samobor, Sisak, Slavonski Brod, Split, Šibenik, Trakošćan, Umag, Vid (Metković), Virovitica, Vukovar, Zadar and Zagreb.

All participating museums offer entry free of charge.

Click here to download the programme of the Night of Museums and visit Croatian Museums website : www.hrmud.hr

Update: Museum Night marks record in number of visits

Museum Night, an event organised annually and throughout Croatia which offers free entry into museums and galleries from 6 pm to 1 am, saw a record in the number of visits. Some 140,000 people visited museums and galleries in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, Rijeka, Osijek and Split on the 4th Museum Night organised on Friday. Of the 20 museums in Zagreb, the Technical Museum in Zagreb registered a record 16,584; in Rijeka 13,148 people visited the local museums, in Osijek 8,519 and in Split 10,270. The event was supplemented with additional contents – concerts, lectures and performances; in Zagreb with a fireworks display.

The book ‘Insert-Retrospective of Croatian Video Art’

The publication is a follow-up of the museum’s 2005 retrospective and presents the works of some one hundred video artists on 360 pages with 466 reproductions, in Croatian and English.

To order a book, contact Museum of Contemporary Art of Croatia here

The exhibition features 120 graphics and drawings by artists from one of the most powerful movements in modern European painting.

The presented works fo art were collected from a number of museums and galleries in Germany and represent the works of all the major artists whose creations are related to “The Bridge” and “The Blue Rider” groups.

Featured artsts include Erich Heckel, Ernest-Ludwig Kirshner, Otto Müller, Emil Nolde, Mach Pecchstein, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff,  Vasilij Kandinsky, Franz Marc, August Macke, Paul Klee, Heinrich Campedonk, Lyonel Feininger, Alexej von Jawlensky, Gabriela Münter, Max Beckmann, Otto Dix and Ludwig Meidner.

The exhibition will be opened until end of January 2009. More info on gallery home page

The exhibition will last until 23 Nov 2008.

Here are some photos from tonight’s private view:

Sensing the World
When we drive along the road connecting the hinterland and the sea, we usually look in the direction of movement. These are usual scenes, determined by nothing special: a heavier or less heavy traffic, careful or aggressive drivers in front of, alongside or behind us. With our gaze we scrub asphalt in front of us, unable to do anything else. Silvia Potočki has passed this stretch looking sideways. Her gaze is free, focused on conifers, their branches heavy with snow. Silence seems to be one of the prevailing characteristics of her photographs; it is steadfast, nothing disturbs it. Her gaze searches the far-off something, which is already at her reach – a moment at the same time secretive and frightening, like when she once saw and photographed swollen veins on a girl’s hand, or a fly that brought the beauty of a flower down to earth.
During the last two years I have been carefully observing Silvia’s works, increasingly convinced that they do not document particular moments, but that they are questions she asks herself and the viewers. Her personality is strongly assimilated into the photographs; at the same time she manages to keep distance; she lets things follow their own logic and does not try to influence the course of events. Her explorations are soft-toned and her experiences unique.
In a recently shot series of photographs, the centre of the frame is overshadowed by the room in the background, delineated by perspectives of coarse greyish walls on which shadows linger only unwillingly, as if they hesitate to ennoble the dryness of their appearance. In the centre, with its head bowed and a sad look not reaching us, stands a brown bear, holding onto the threshold of its dwelling with his mighty claws. In the next scene the movement of its head and the turn of the body indicate a premonition of an action we at first do not see, focused on the harshness of the ambience the animal lives in. In the third photograph we become aware of the object of his interest when in the photographer’s focus we spot a swallow that has probably made a nest in this inhospitable environment.
Without grand gestures, “doomed” to the beauty of everyday things, we face the author’s experience, trying to infer something from it. Before us we have photographs whose aesthetic effect is based upon almost invisible experiences; these are works in which the author retains the feeling of the unspoken by shooting empty urban spaces, city- and landscapes observed at some unusual time of the day, while shadows do not describe too much, being transformed into commonplaces and specific places. Silvia Potočki’s works function on the principle of recording experiences and memories; they have a specific property of drawing the viewer into “a world of which one doesn’t exactly know how it is constituted but of which one senses that it is there” (W.G. Sebald). (Sandra Križić Roban)

The Underwater Archaeological Treasures of the Croatian Coast – an illustrated lecture by Dr Irena Radić Rossi from Hrvatski Restauratorski Zavod in Zagreb  will be held on Thursday 6 November 2008 at 6.30 pm Embassy of the Republic of Croatia , 21 Conway Street , London W1T 6BN. 
 
The waters of the coast and islands of Croatia hold finds of all periods and bear witness to the intensive historical maritime activity of the Adriatic.

Prehistoric material is present, although difficult to detect because rare; most of the shipwrecks as well as the remains of submerged settlements and harbours date from the Roman period.

From this era dates the unique find of a bronze statue of an athlete – found in the waters of Lošinj.

The medieval period is first represented by early Croatian boats of the 9th century found round Nin, while shipwrecks of ships from the 16th to 18th centuries are abundant with finds. 

These give much insight into everyday life and seafaring ways. More recent metal remains bear witness to the tragedy of world conflict.
 
Dr Radić Rossi’s visit is being sponsored by the British-Croatian Society.  She will also be giving lectures at the Universities of Oxford (5 Nov) and Southampton (7 Nov), and will present a paper at the Nautical Archaeological Society’s conference in Portsmouth (8Nov).

The exhibition includes a total of 135 graphics from three Picasso’s graphic series – Suite Wollard, La Tauromaquia and Suite 156. All graphics are owned by the Kunstmuseum Mülheim am der Ruhr not far from Düsseldorf, representing its greatest graphic treasure.

Art critics consider the Suite Wollard series to be one of the most significant graphic series of the 20th century, which Picasso painted between 1930 and 1937. It comprises a hundred graphic sheets, 89 of which are displayed in Dubrovnik and owned by the German museum. Scenes of life, death and love, with which the painter was preoccupied, prevail in the graphics.

For more info about exhibition and photos check : http://www.ugdubrovnik.hr/e/izlozbe-2008.htm

The Summer Pavilion has opened its doors for the second season running with Your Black Horizon at the beginning of May, a joint work by the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson and David Adjay, a London architect.

The unique lighting installation for Your black horizon in the Art Pavilion was commissioned for the first time by the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (T-B A21) Foundation and ceremonially presented with great success to critics and the public as part of the official 51st Biennial Fine Art program held in Venice in 2005, and during the 10th Biennial of Architecture also held in Venice in 2006.

The Pavilion combines art and architecture into one, and its uniqueness lies primarily in its adaptation to the specific location and environment. In setting up the exhibit on Lopud, the artist Olafur Eliasson, adapted the internal lighting installation of the Pavilion to the conditions of lighting on Lopud.

The Pavillion will remain open until end of October.
More info: www.tba21-croatia.org

The exhibition ‘Welcome – Contemporary Art from Croatia’ opens at Reykjavík Arts Festival
on 16th May at the Gallery 100° presenting Croatian contemporary artists Tanja Dabo, Sinisa Labrovic, Antun Maracic, Toni Mestrovic and Slaven Tolj.

Slaven Tolj and Sinisa Labrovic will perform during the opening ceremony today at 6pm.

The exhibition explores current national themes and attempts to dissolve stereotypes about a country that has become increasingly identified as a tourist destination.

The exhibition is organized by Radmila-Iva Jankovic and JBK Ransu, in collaboration with The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik Energy, Reykjavik Arts Festival, Croatian Ministry of Culture, City of Dubrovnik and Art radionica Lazareti in Dubrovnik.

More info about exhibition at its webpage

If you happened to be in Zagreb sometime before 25th of May, try not to miss ZGRAF  – an international triennial exhibition of graphic design and visual communications that is held in Zagreb since 1975.

The venue of the exhibition is at Dom hrvatskih likovnih umjetnika (a popular ‘Dzamija’ – the circular building in the very centre of Zagreb’s downtown ) at Trg hrvatskih velikana square.

The exhibition, opened on 6th of May is organised by the ULUPUH, the Croatian Association of Artists of Applied Arts. Throughout the years ZGRAF exhibitions have gathered designers, theoreticians and critics in order to discuss essential design issues and design status in contemporary society.

Here are some photos from the exhibition:

See more info about this exhibition at ZGRAF website

The Greeting to the Sun, as the monument is referred to - a large art installation consisting of 300 solar plates incorporated in the stone quay in the shape of a circle, measures 22 meters in diameter.

The monument symbolizes the Sun while the solar plates absorbs solar energy in daytime, transforming into unusual light effects during the night.

Following distinctive originality of the Zadar Sea Organ, the image of which has already circled the globe, Zadar will soon be presented with another attractive feature that will certainly make the city different than any other.

The exhibition presents art projects by Darko Fritz dating from 1987 to 2007 and is therefore a retrospective in nature. Particular projects lasted up to five years. The exhibition explores possibilities of artistic usage of archival means (audio-visual media) and ‘pure information’ as an art form and has been conceived as a ‘movie in space’ within a gallery space. This is the first presentation of his works in Rijeka.

The exhibition presents the following projects:                  
The Imitation of Life Studio – 1987 – 1990 (group project: Fritz, Serdarevic)
Cathedral – 1988 (group project: Bakal, Fritz, Juzbasic, Marusic, Premec)                             
3 x Moscow Intershadow -1992                            
Theatre Time -1994                            
Keep the Frequency Clear -1994 – 1995               
Error Reports – 1995 – 1997     
End of the Message – 1995 – 2000                                      
XXX – 1997 – in progress (group project: p.sound remix:network art)
space=space – 1998 – 2003 (group project: 1999 Fritz, Arapovic)
time=money=time= – 2000 – 2001                                                              
Internet Error Messages – 2001 – in progress
Migrant Navigator – 2002 – in progress      

DARKO FRITZ (Zagreb, 1966) – Fritz studied Architecture in Zagreb (1986 – 1989), and at the Department of media art at Rijksakademie in Amsterdam (1990-1992). He exhibited at numerous group and solo exhibitions in Croatia and abroad, and his works can be found in famous collections (Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Museum of Contemporary Art  Zagreb, Museum of the City of Skopje, World Bank Washington, Museum of Arts & Crafts Zagreb, NSB Zagreb). He lives in Amsterdam, Zagreb and on island of Korcula.

More info about Darko Fritz’s art projects: www.darkofritz.net + www.mmsu.hr

Until February 16, 2008 @ ‘Cut Away’ Anna Kustera Gallery, 520 West 21st Street, NY

Until February 16, 2008 @ White Columns, 320 West 13th Street, NY

Until March 29, 2008 @ ‘Skipping the Page’, The Center for Book Arts, 28 West 27th Street, 3rd floor, NY

Vlatka Horvat is a Croatian – born artist currently living and working in New York. Her work takes several different media forms ranging from performative photography and video to works on paper and projects with text. It often focuses on an encounter between a person and a particular system, state, or physical space, encouraging a constant replaying, restaging and re-enacting of the particular action. The subsequent events, images, and texts become indexes for wider concerns relating to the individual and her place in society and culture.

More info about Vlatka Horvat at www.vlatkahorvat.com

This unique exhibition brings together a collection of artifacts from the monasteries and churches of the Dominicans in Croatia.

The selection of exhibitis includes paintings by old masters Tintoretto, Tizian, Jacopo Palma Jr, Nikola Bozidarevic, Blaz Jurjev Trogiranin and Vlaho Bukovac as well as variety of  illuminated manuscripts and codices, decorated clothing, liturgical silverware, votive jewelry etc..

Dominican monasteries in Croatia are located in Korcula, Dubrovnik, Trogir, island of Brac,  island of Hvar, Split , Zagreb and Rijeka. Some of them (Dubrovnik and Brac) have well organized collections of arts.

The exhibition ‘Dominicans in Croatia’ will remain open until end of March 2008.    

More info on Dominicans in Croatia at www.dominikanci.hr (Croatian Only)