Exhibition Opening: "Dancing, Resisting, (Un)working – Aspects of Dance as Cultural, Political, and Art Work in Yugoslavia and After"

Wednesday, 20th November 202419:00Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb

We are excited to invite you to the opening of an exhibition that presents a collaborative research project and curated program of the Nomad Dance Academy network, in cooperation with the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb. This exhibition marks a long-term investigation into developing a digital archive of contemporary dance and performing arts from the post-Yugoslav region.

The exhibit features documents, photographs, video documentation, catalogs, and books, as well as maps connecting dance artists, thinkers, and structures. The materials explore dance archives as intersections of space(s), memory, working materials, a body of knowledge, history, presence, future, friendships, policies, politics, resistance, resilience, love, enemies, silence, protests, dissonances, socialities, togetherness, and much more that dance holds and produces through imagination and perspective.

This exhibition is curated by Biljana Tanurovska-Kjulavkovski and Rok Vevar, with co-curation and co-research by Slavcho Dimitrov, Milica Ivić, Tea Kantoci, Igor Koruga, Iva Nerina Sibila, and others. The curatorial support is provided by Jasna Jakšić from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb.

Artists and Collectives:

The exhibition features works from an extensive list of renowned artists and collectives, including Dalija Aćin Thelander, Dragana Alfirević, BADco., Maja Delak, Goran Devide, Igor Grubić, Matija Ferlin, Siniša Eftimov, Ana Maletić, Matjaž Mrak, and many more. These artists explore the complex relationship between dance and its cultural, political, and social contexts.

(Non)Aligned Dance Archive - NADA

Within the exhibition, the (Non)Aligned Dance Archive (NADA) will also be presented. NADA is the first digital archive of dance and performing arts in the post-Yugoslav region, which will be open and accessible to researchers, artists, and writers via www.nada.nomaddanceacademy.si.

Accompanying Book: "Bodies of Dance"

The exhibition is accompanied by the book "Bodies of Dance: Aspects of Dance as Cultural, Political, and Art Work in Yugoslavia and After" edited by Jasmina Založnik and Nika Arhar. This book articulates the political, cultural, and artistic frameworks that influenced dance practices in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and North Macedonia over the last century.

Acknowledgements

This exhibition marks the final phase of the long-term project (Non)Aligned Movements, carried out by the Nomad Dance Academy partners: Sation Service for Contemporary Dance, Lokomotiva, Nomad Dance Academy Slovenia, Nomad Dance Academy Croatia, Object of Dance, and Tanzfabrik Berlin.

We express our gratitude to all the artists, collectives, organizations, and colleagues across the ex-Yugoslav region who selflessly shared their precious archive material with us!

We would also like to thank the organizations that supported this project: the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, the Ministry of Culture of North Macedonia, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the City of Ljubljana, the Ministry of Public Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, the City of Skopje, Goethe Institute, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Culture for Democracy, Hartefakt Fund, the City of Zagreb, and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia.