The 1990s was a decade of great change in the territory of the former Yugoslav federation, leading to the emergence of a number of countries. Born in wars and in more or less successful political and economic transitions, the countries were prone to abandon their heritage. Political performance was a form of personal or organized artistic resistance in those turbulent times, the consequences of which are still felt today, and it is at the focus of the exhibition Realize! Resist! React! Performance and Politics in the 1990s in the Post-Yugoslav Context. The period of disintegration brought new national borders and symbols, linguistic demarcation, militarization, clear differentiation from neighboring countries, and capitalism. Several emancipatory forms of resistance emerged from the antiwar and labor protests, street actions and performances, from a civil society at odds with the newfound values of emerging democracies, as well as from small gestures and personal interactions.
Organized in collaboration with the Moderna galerija, Ljubljana, the exhibition draws heavily on the eponymous exhibition staged at the +MSUM in the pandemic year 2021. The version presented in Zagreb, focusing slightly more on the Croatian art scene, addresses the legacy of the 1990s through performance art and in the context of the threats of war, siege and genocide that we continue to witness today.
Courtesy: MSU Zagreb, photo: Ana Opalić
