Still from the documentary "The State Of Exception Proved To Be The Rule"

STATE OF EXCEPTION: Arts Under Siege
Film Screening & Talk with Eduard Freudmann & Ivana Marjanovic
Mon 23 Feb, 8pm to 10pm
Presented by Rumah Air Panas and The Annexe Gallery
Admission Free


THE STATE OF EXCEPTION PROVED TO BE THE RULE (2008, 84 mins)
A video documentary of the prevention of an exhibition
In Serbian, with English subtitles
Directed by Eduard Freudmann and Jelena Radic
Produced by DEZ.ORG and Kraja

+ + + +







Stills from the documentary "The State Of Exception Proved To Be The Rule"

BACKGROUND & FILM SYNOPSIS

On February 7 2008 the opening of an exhibition entitled "EXCEPTION: Contemporary Art Scene From Prishtina" featuring artworks by Albanian artists from Kosovo at Kontekst Galerija in Belgrade was prevented by a clerical-fascist organization, violent football hooligans and the Serbian police.

The incident was accompanied by an infamous campaign in the Serbian media, marking another milestone in the continual state of ‘exceptions’ in the Serbian public space after the overthrow of the Milosevic regime in 2000. It became apparent in 2001 when Belgrade's first Gay Pride Day was brutally suppressed.

The realisation of both events was impossible due to lack of security. Following Boris Groys' assumption that art differs from non-art by existing under an extraordinary police protection, non-protection of the exhibition should be recognised as an attempt to invalidate the exhibition's artworks, converting them into non-art.

Along with a narration of the abovementioned series of events, the documentary video examines the tradition in which the incident was portrayed in the media and how it was politicised, revealing the political preconditions that exist. The hateful reactions instigated by the state were being triggered by the fact that Serbian cultural racism refuse to accept any attempts to undermine its stereotype of the "uncivilised Albanians" which otherwise would’ve been annulled by the perfectly articulated artistic positions of Prishtina's contemporary art scene.

In the discussion that will follow the film screening, one of the film's authors, Eduard Freudmann and one of the curators of the exhibition "Exception – Contemporary Art Scene From Prishtina", Ivana Marjanovic will be present.

+

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS


Eduard Freudmann born 1979 in Vienna. Researches on and intervenes in the intersections of art and politics, power relations and social contexts, theirstory/ourstory and media mechanisms. He lives and works in Vienna and Belgrade and teaches at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.

Ivana Marjanovic was born in Belgrade in 1979. In June 2005 she graduated from the Department of Art History of the Faculty of Philosophy of Belgrade University. Since November 2005, she has been working on the Kontekst Gallery project. She is currently attending a doctoral studies course at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. She lives and works in Belgrade and Vienna.

http://www.dez.org.yu
http://kraja.org
http://www.kontekstgalerija.org

+

FURTHER READING

EXHIBITION

EXCEPTION: Contemporary art scene from Prishtina, exhibition project; at the Museum of Contemporary Arts Novi Sad
23 Jan to 5 Feb 2008; shut down in Belgrade, at KONTEKST Gallery on 7 February 2008
Artists: Artan Balaj / Jakup Ferri / Driton Hajredini / Flaka Haliti / Fitore Isufi Koja / Dren Maliqi / Alban Muja / Vigan Nimani / Nurhan Qehaja / Alketa Xhafa / Lulzim Zeqiri
Curators: Vida Knezevic (Belgrade), Kristian Lukic (Novi Sad), Ivana Marjanovic (Vienna/Belgrade), Gordana Nikolic (Novi Sad)

Exhibition catalogue:  http://www.kontekstgalerija.org/pdf_08/odstupanje.pdf


TEXTS AND ESSAYS ANALYSING EVENTS POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONTEXT

Ana Vujanovic in collaboration with the actors of the Other Scene, NO EXCEPTION!
In: "Reartikulacija", No 3, Ljubljana, 2008; "Kontekst Archive 06/07/08", Kontekst, Beograd, 2008, page 168
http://www.kontekstgalerija.org/pdf_08/KontekstArhiva.pdf

Eduard Freudmann and Ivana Marjanovic, The exception proves the rule, A report
In: "Reartikulacija", No 3, Ljubljana, 2008; "Kontekst Archiva 06/07/08", Kontekst, Beograd, 2008, page 171
http://www.kontekstgalerija.org/pdf_08/KontekstArhiva.pdf

Vida Knezevic and Ivana Marjanovic, (Artist) Second-Grade Citizen, Social context and contemporary art, In: catalogue of 49th October Salon 49th "Artist-Citizen, Contextual Art Practices",Cultural Centre Belgrade, 2008; and "Kontekst Archive 06/07/08", Kontekst, Belgrade, 2008, page 188
http://www.kontekstgalerija.org/pdf_08/KontekstArhiva.pdf