Zoran Eric, Belgrade
Belgrade Art Scene After Isolation - Stepping Back into the Public Sphere

Belgrade art historian Zoran Eric gives an introduction to the current art scene of the city. He describes the isolation and the "pathological" milieu, in which the artists worked during the Milosevic era, and the problems to find a valid perspective in the new democratic society:

"Serbian society started to change after the dramatic events induced by the election crisis, culminating with the people's revolt on the streets of Belgrade on the 5th of October 2000. In the society's subsequent course of reform, the new democratic regime brought FR Yugoslavia back into the international community and its institutions, and reversed the image of 'the last communist bastion' in Europe.
With the opening up of the country on all social levels, the cultural sphere, which had probably suffered the most from isolation, gained a new platform for communication. All of a sudden, the Serbian art scene, which had so far received little international attention due to its peculiar context and the closed system in which it had to function, came into in focus, enabling the rapid realization of several projects presenting Serbian artists in European countries.
The newly created socio-political environment will hopefully give Serbian artists the opportunity to present their works not just 'encapsulated' in shows that contextualized the 'pathological' milieu where they worked - until now that was usually the case - but to create a dialogue with artists from other countries and to engage into different theoretical discourses on art.
After the loss of the context that had such a strong influence on Serbian artists, determining their behavior and work, art that critically addressed the socio-political framework of the authoritarian regime lost its raison d'être. The new democratic society is being created, and some believe that artists should also take active part in those reforms and help to produce a 'better society' with their ideas.
Nevertheless, there are still many problems in the social sphere and with the way it is being produced and reconstructed. There are also many issues to be raised and many possibilities for criticism and intervention in the public sphere, and I would argue that there should be a more important role for art in society than compliance with its dominant power structures, no matter how 'progressive' they are. Unlike direct and overtly politically engaged art, the new strategy started slowly in the public sphere. The artists using it take a subtly ironical or self-ironical approach to issues such as identity politics, gender, and processes in the social sphere. With their work and interventions those artists began to appropriate some spaces in the public realm and to leave subtle traces of their presence..." (Zoran Eric)

Zoran Eric is an art historian, curator, and lecturer from Belgrade University and Chair of the Society for Art History, Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Currently, he is participant in the Bauhaus Kolleg, Dessau. His subject is art in the urban environment.

Zoran Eric, Belgrade
The Berlin Lab - Lecture
Belgrade Art Scene After Isolation
THU 5th of June, 21.00 h
Admission: 5 Euro

The other Lab participants:
- Ralph Lemon, New York >>
- André Lepecki >>
- Tanja Ostojic, Belgrade/Düsseldorf >>
- The Atlas Group / Walid Raad >>
- Junko Wada, Berlin >>