“DREAMERS” OPENED
58TH OCTOBER SALON – BELGRADE BIENNIAL, TO AUGUST 22, AT SEVERAL VENUES IN THE CITY
This year’s edition of the 58th October Salon – Belgrade Biennale under the slogan Dreamers was opened today at several venues in the city – Belgrade City Museum (40b Resavska Street), Belgrade Cultural Centre (6 Knez Mihailova Street and 5/I Trg Republike Square), Belgrade Cultural Centre Hall (6 Kolarčeva Street), the Park in front of the Museum of Yugoslavia (6 Mihaila Mike Janković Street), the Terazije subway (the corner of Kralja Milana and Terazije), the shopping mall Trg republike Staklenac (billboard), the RTS third channel, the Radio Belgrade second channel and other public spaces.
Until August 22, at these locations, 63 artists from different parts of the world will present 140 works of art, of which 40 are new productions and 20 are artistic interventions in public space. All exhibition spaces are open to the public from 1 p.m.
Artistic directors and curators of the October Salon, Ilaria Marotta and Andrea Baccin, pointed out that they are very happy because they managed to open this 58th edition of the October Salon – Belgrade Biennial, after three years of hard work and four opening delays.
We are honored to present the world premiere of some works by Josh Klein and John Ruffman, new projects by Tan Hussein Clark; Max Hooper Schneider, Aleksandra Domanović, Nora Turato, Klara Hosnedlova, Melike Kara, Ebecho Muslimova; Augustas Serapinas, Precious Okoyomon, Emily May Smith, David Horowitz, Claudia Comte, David Balula, artistic duo Invernomuto, Bojan Šarčević, as well as Cyprien Gaillard, who donated his work to the city of Belgrade. We add to this a long list of pieces that are the work of iconic and representative artists, which you will see in the exhibition, and which are presented for the first time in this context. Among them is the installation by Pierre Huyghe, “After a Dream” 1997, which arrived in Belgrade after long diplomatic negotiations with the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, whom we would like to thank and who allowed the reproduction of this incredible work within the exhibition. We also owe great gratitude to David Horowitz and his attempts to open new ways and establish a new dialogue between distant voices and different worlds – said Marotta and Baccin, adding that the Exhibition aims to explore the complexity of today and the burning issues of the modern world through the eyes of the dreamers, thanks to whom we have had the opportunity to define a metaphorical space of freedom in which we can go beyond borders, state or personal, physical or spiritual, and redefine rules, roles and categories, while transcending politics, geography and gender constraints.
This exhibition is a long exploration of the world of dreams. Artists can always create new worlds, despite the world we live in. And in the world we live in, we need artists and their dreams. As with the door in the film The Matrix, we invite you to enter different worlds, which all are happening now and everywhere – said the curators.
A few topics and questions out of the numerous ones in the exhibited works stand out, such as: do the dreams exist and what are their spaces; what makes reality in the digital era and what are its boundary fields; what is imaginary and what is real in the world we live and in which the principle of simulation prevails? Those are just some of the current questions posed by artists as they boldly look at the present with hope for the future. The selectors, presenting the artists as dreamers, open before us a whole new world, the one that is not based on facts or unquestionable reality, but the world of fragility of the soul, individual dreams and everything that is considered vulnerable and imaginary. We are invited to learn that world, expand our own horizons in order to recognise the good in ourselves or others and live our humanity better – said the member of the October Salon Board and the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Marijana Kolarić.
I owe gratitude to everyone, to the whole team that embarked on this endeavor which seemed impossible at certain moments. I’m talking about the things that happen behind the scenes, about the setting itself. I can confirm that those who made the setting caught themselves in it, like fishermen weaving a net and catching themselves in it… they had to be dreamers in order to complete everything that had to be completed. Fortunately, I became a part of it in November. That was the part that was not easy at all, where we still didn’t know whether the October Salon would happen or not. I would like to express my pleasure in being a part of this event – on this occasion said Radovan Jokić, assistant minister of Culture and Information for contemporary creativity and creative industry.
According to the words of the Cultural Centre of Belgrade acting director, Aleksandar Ilić, this year’s manifestation of the 58th October Salon – Belgrade Biennial is being held in a changed time and circumstances due to the pandemic.
It is a great honour and responsibility for us the Cultural Centre of Belgrade has been the organiser of the largest manifestation of contemporary visual art in the region for decades. October Salon – Belgrade Biennial, as one of the most important manifestations of the Belgrade city, managed to be realised with great efforts and numerous changes. As the name suggests, Dreamers show the opening of new perspectives, freedom, and a better position not only for artists but also for human beings in general. Dreams serve to get to know ourselves first, and then the world to which we belong. Of course, we should not forget those without whom it would be unthinkable to open such an important event. I thank particularly the Ministry of Culture and Information, foreign embassies in Serbia, cultural centres in our city, numerous sponsors, curators Ilaria and Andrea, artists from all over the world, Cura magazine, as well as media support. In the end, I thank especially the team of the Cultural Centre of Belgrade and the city of Belgrade – said Ilić.
