Belgrade-based visual artist Igor Simic uses mobile phone games to make darkly comic political commentaries as well as create stunning effects. Continue reading Serbian Artist’s Phone Games Fuse Humour and Politics
Nataša Rašić je mecosopran u Narodnom Pozorištu u Beogradu, ali i diplomirana pravnica. Pričali smo, između ostalog, o tome kako izgleda bavljenje operom u 21. veku u Beogradu, kako je odlučila da se bavi umetnošću a ne pravom, i kako svako može da zavoli ovu prelepu umetnost. Beleške Operosa festival u Herceg Novom Gianni Schicchi u Narodnom Pozorištu u Beogradu Continue reading Pokretači #34 Nataša Rašić – mecosopran, Beograd
On this rainy day, I had the privilege of being allowed to see a preview of the National Museum’s new permanent display. As the old one was removed 15 years ago, the Museum for me is a vague memory, conspicuous by its absence. It was a place where I can’t take my visiting friends, it contained artworks that I, alas, cannot see, and was proof … Continue reading National Museum of Serbia, preview
Sculptures on Belgrade’s buildings were created in the relatively narrow period of time. Out stone and bronze citizens were all born in the stretch of about 80 years, between the end of the austere Balkan architectural style in mid-19th century (which, following the Islamic custom forbade depiction of people) until the final victory of modernism in Belgrade’s architecture, when Tito broke away from Stalin and … Continue reading Hidden Belgrade (32): Eternal Belgraders
O umetničkoj sceni u Srbiji, pravljenju izložbi i organizovanju udruženja i, naravno, secesiji. Continue reading Pokretači #30 Majda Sikošek – Lepota Života / Beograd
One of my greatest pet peeves in Belgrade is the ugly signage that is endlessly sprouting up on the facades. Garish colours, flashing lights and comic sans fonts, printed for a few thousand dinars and hung on cheap metal are calling you to eat at this or that bakery, exchange money here or buy crap there. The sad thing is that, back in the day, … Continue reading Signs of Times
All those following the contemporary art scene, know that one man’s trash these days is not only another’s man potential fortune, but actual exhibit-able art. Guided by this logic, the almost permanent, seemingly curated collection of debris found on the wall of 26 Hilandarska street in Stari Grad, can be considered a rare instance of folk, collaborative street art installation. According to the Serbian press, … Continue reading Hidden Belgrade (28): The Wall of Undesired Things
For a nation that takes immense pride in its famous sons and daughters, the Serbian public’s apparent disinterest in Marina Abramovic’s global success as an artist is an aberration. Despite the fact that Abramovic is by far the most acclaimed living artist from the former Yugoslavia, the average Serb would probably not know her name. She is mostly absent from the Serbian press, there are … Continue reading Understanding Marina Abramovic
ARTEZ iliti Andrej Žikić se bavi uličnom umetnošću od 2003. Sada njegovi nadrealni murali krase zidove širom sveta: od Urugvaja do Finske, i od Indije do Brazila. Andrej je podelio svoj fascinantan transkontinentalni put od 14. Beogradske gimnazije, preko Arhitektonskog Fakulteta do učešća na svetskim StreetArt festivalima. Beleške Behance profil Sanje Milanov StreetSmart Belgrade Andrejev profil o nomadskom životu Street art umetnici: ARYZ Vhils Theic … Continue reading Pokretači 1.16 ARTEZ
Pokretači je podcast koji se bavi preduzetništvom i zanimljivim karijerama u Srbiji i regionu. Gost je Igor Simić: umetnik, pisac i dizajner video igara, alumnus Columbia University-a. Pričali smo o tome kako je baviti se umetnošću na svetskom nivou a živeti u Beogradu, da li su video igre budućnost umetnosti i kako slušati dobronamerne savete. Ovih 35 minuta nisu bili dovoljni da pričamo o svim … Continue reading Pokretači 1.6. Igor Simić / Demagog Studio
Unfortunately, this article would probably be better titled “Disappearing Belgrade”, as it is certain that Grafički kolektiv (“Graphics collective”), one of the city’s best galleries, will be no more, at least in its current from, from next August. Instead of its unique wooden interior, designed by Peđa Ristić in 1961, and examples the regions best print art hung on the walls, its premises at … Continue reading Hidden Belgrade (14): Grafički kolektiv
Why are we fetishising the same crap all around the world? While we were sitting in a stylishly decaying café in Santa Teresa in Rio, watching the local “creatives” go about their Saturday the way “creatives” anywhere else in the world do, my mother had a hissy fit. “Why do you always take us to these crap places? Why are you afraid of going somewhere nice … Continue reading All the shit places
Hristifor Crnilović’s life was an exciting one, certainly more than his slightly pompous old-school name and passion for national costumes, would let on. Born in a middling family in Vlasotince in 1886, Crnilović decided to pursue a painterly career and moved to Munich to learn his trade. In Munich, according to one source, he was in class with Adolf Hitler to prepare them for the … Continue reading Hidden Belgrade (6): Hristifor Crnilović’s extraordinary passion project
Due to the low public and private investment in art in Serbia in the past three decades, there have been only a few remarkable additions to the cultural map of Belgrade, and quite a few remarkable subtractions, like the National Museum and Museum of Contemporary art. Probably the most exciting new(ish) spot in greater Belgrade’s museum scene is a temple to 20th century avant-garde perched … Continue reading Hidden Belgrade (5): Museum Macura
Although Belgrade’s oldest existing religious building is in fact Bajrakli mosque (built in 1575), it is the Orthodox Cathedral, Temple of St Sava and St Mark’s church that came to define iconic city views. In the recent boom in church building there are few new interesting places of worship, as most of the new temples are built according to conservative tastes of churchgoers. Nevertheless, there are three fantastic … Continue reading Hidden Belgrade (4): Unusual churches
This year marks 110 years since the birth of Petar Lubarda, one of the most accomplished Yugoslav artists. Lubarda’s colourful, raw works, reminiscent of the barren and dramatic landscapes of his native Montenegro, achieved international recognition during the 1950s and 60s. His career peaked when he beat Picasso and Dali for a Grand Prix at Sao Paolo Art Biennial in 1953. A stone’s throw away … Continue reading Hidden Belgrade (2): Legacy of Petar Lubarda in Dedinje
Like any city that has been around for about two millennia, Belgrade is filled with fantastic stories of people and places that have made it what it is . Unfortunately, due to its turbulent past, frequent destructions and mass migrations, many of these stories are precariously close to perishing. In the time when even the most beautiful old house can fall prey to a sledgehammer … Continue reading Hidden Belgrade (1): Works of Dragutin Inkiostri Medenjak
