Collective Nonument Group, photo by: Peter Giodani
In the public call for the selection of a project to represent the Republic of Slovenia at the 61st International Art Exhibition in Venice, which will be open from May 9 to November 22, 2026, the selected proposal is Discomfort of Memorialisation (working title) by the Nonument Group, consisting of Neja Tomšič, Martin Bricelj Baraga, Nika Grabar, and Miloš Kosec. The project curator is Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez.
The public call, announced by the Museum of Modern Art (Moderna galerija), was open from March 19 to May 5, 2025. Fourteen complete applications were received, and the winning proposal was selected by a professional jury based on predetermined criteria. The jury consisted of Chus Martínez, Vít Havránek, Igor Španjol, and Martina Vovk.
The Nonument Group addresses structures not only in the context of architectural history but also as site-specific materialities, using testimonies and narratives, archival documents, and performative acts. In doing so, they reveal what would otherwise remain invisible in the space. Discomfort of Memorialisation will focus on the ruins of the first mosque on Slovenian territory, built during World War I in Log pod Mangartom. They will treat it as a nonument—architecture whose meaning has shifted due to social or political changes.
The pavilion will thus open a broader reflection on religion, military infrastructures, ruins, and empires in the contemporary age of reparations, marked by a cosmopolitan ethic as a counterpoint to new colonial, nationalist, or expansionist attitudes. The project also responds to the main curatorial theme of the 61st Venice Biennale, In Minor Keys, conceived by Koyo Kouoh, which invites us to slow down and listen to quieter, less exposed stories. The project will be accompanied by a publication co-edited by Dr. Anja Zalta, a research associate on the project.
According to the expert jury, the selected project is distinguished by the relevance of its theme, as well as its innovative artistic and precise curatorial approach to questions of historical memory, cultural visibility, and erasure. The jury recognized a clear statement, international relevance of the artistic approach, and a strong potential for the project to foster dialogue within the framework of one of the world’s most important contemporary art exhibitions.
About the Participants
Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez is a curator and critic. She works as the head of the artistic and cultural program at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris. From 2010 to 2012, she was co-director of the Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers center in Aubervilliers. In 2020, she co-founded the Initiative for Practices and Visions of Radical Care. She has curated exhibitions at the Reina Sofia Museum (Madrid), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Jeu de Paume (Paris), Kunsthalle Wien (Vienna), Sursock Museum (Beirut), and Times Museum (Guangzhou). She was also the curator of U3 – The Triennial of Contemporary Art in Slovenia and the Contour Biennale in Belgium. Among other roles, she served as editor-in-chief of L’Internationale Online and Manifesta Journal.
Nonument Group is an artistic-research collective focused on nonuments—hidden, abandoned, erased, or forgotten architecture or public spaces whose significance has changed due to political or social transformations. Their work has been presented at Creative Time New York, ISEA Durban, the Cultural Center Dnipro, MSUM, MAO, the 35th Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts, the U3 Triennial of Contemporary Slovenian Art, the gallery of the Cité internationale des arts in Paris, and more. In 2021, the group received the Plečnik Medal for their contribution to enriching architectural culture.
Dr. Anja Zalta is an associate professor of the sociology of religion at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, and head of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Her work focuses on Islam in Europe, religious minorities, and intercultural dialogue.
