TRANSformacije, book no. 50
Editors: Gregor Moder in Aleš Mendiževec
© Maska, Ljubljana, 2023
The book was published in Slovenian with the support of the Scientific Research Centre ZRC and the Slovenian Book Agency.
Jasmina Založnik: Claiming of Space. New Performative Art Practices in Yugoslavia
In this work, Jasmina Založnik analyses “performance art practices” in the period between 1965 and 1987 in Yugoslavia, focusing on Ljubljana, Novi Sad and Belgrade. “Performance art practices” are those practices that dealt with and emerged from the body – they reconstructed the understanding of the body and explored its “(re)presentations, uses and thoughts”. In considering these practices, the author draws conceptually on Michel Foucault’s theory and his understanding of the body and space, showing through the examples discussed how corporeality has become “an equivalent language in art”. She highlights the heterogeneous nature of these practices, which often emerged at the intersections of different disciplines and thus transcended the limited domains of theatre and other forms of performing arts. Založnik also focuses on the political context of Yugoslav self-managed socialism and shows the impact of new performance art practices on the regime. Finally, the author skilfully confronts us with the question of the extent to which this regime censored and enabled cultural practices, and what we can see today in these rebellious artistic bodies where freedom and power clashed.
TRANSformacije, book no. 50
Editors: Gregor Moder in Aleš Mendiževec
© Maska, Ljubljana, 2023
The book was published in Slovenian with the support of the Scientific Research Centre ZRC and the Slovenian Book Agency.
Excerpt from the cover
The book focuses on artists from the former Yugoslavia who have been active since 1965 and whose artistic practice has marked a departure from the conventional understanding of the work of art. These figures no longer felt nostalgia for the post-war revolutionary achievements, but were more motivated by the worldview of the youth in Yugoslavia, and wanted to speak out about their problems and put into practice the processes of self-management in their organisations. In addition, due to the relatively high level of liberalism at the time and the strong influence of Western currents, their efforts at cultural transformation found fertile ground in a number of imported theories and practices, either Western or some Soviet and other influences from the Non-Aligned Movement. Among others, the influences of the historical avant-gardes, Weimar cabaret, Dada, Neo-Dada, Fluxus, Post-Fluxus, musical experimentation (Cage), Artaud, postmodern dance (improvisation, new forms of choreography), Grotowski, Schechner, Brooke, Kaprow, Conceptualism, Punk and New Wave are all discernible, together with other artistic currents of the time, they triggered locally (culturally) specific interpretations that stimulated a complex development of artistic tactics in the younger generation of artists, leading to the formation of new currents in mixed media, visual and performing arts.
About the Author
Jasmina Založnik is a dramaturg, theatre critic, critic and producer. She completed her MA in Philosophy in Intercultural Studies – Comparative Study of Ideas and Cultures at the University of Nova Gorica, and her PhD in Visual Culture at the University of Aberdeen, UK. She is involved in the local and international field as a writer, dramaturge, curator, editor, lecturer, researcher, archivist, producer and artistic collaborator. She works primarily in the field of contemporary dance and strives to connect socio-political issues with performing practices. She is a co-founder and co-curator of CoFestival, an international festival of contemporary dance, and an active member of the Nomad Dance Academy Slovenia collective, the Nomad Dance Academy regional network, the City of Women, professional associations (the Association of Critics and Theatrologists of Slovenia and the Association for Contemporary Dance of Slovenia), and the editorial board of the Dialogues magazine. She is the recipient of the Ksenia Hribar Award in the category of criticism/dramaturgy/theory (2015) and the Mete Vidmar Charter (2023). Her monograph Claiming of Space is her debut book.
Photo: Dino Schreilechner
Book Presentation
- 16.4.2024 at 18h, Kino Šiška- Lower Hall
On the occasion of the publication of the book Claiming of Space. New Performative Art Practices in Yugoslavia, author Jasmina Založnik will present her debut book. In this book, she takes a look at the always familiar and relevant Yugoslavia and presents all the great, while also highlighting the so far unnoticed, artistic practices which, in the tumultuous period between 1965 and 1987, made a real turn and brought the idea of the body to the forefront. This idea established a new discourse, opened up new spaces and changed the practice of art. The presentation will be followed by a discussion moderated by Pia Brezavšček.