>> Opening on Saturday, 10 December 2022, at 5 PM.

>> Curators: Nada Baković, Marina Čelebić, Anita Ćulafić, Natalija Vujošević, Katarina Hergold Germ, Andreja Hribernik

Artistic interventions: Jasmina Cibic, Ana Hoffner ex-Prvulovic*, Irena Lagator Pejović, Nonument Group, Đorđe Balmazović (Škart), Ivan Šuković

The exhibition also includes Cartography of SFR Yugoslavia’s international collaborations in culture with developing countries by Teja Merhar.

Artists: Mariam Abdel Aleem, Ahmed Abdel Wahab, Vitorino Antoni Madonga, Roland Van den Berghe, Maria Bonomi, Omar Carreno, Helena Castillo, Ines Cordova de Imana, John Obaso Diang’a, Kwak Duck-Jun, Brana Džokić-Borojević, Peter E. Clarke, Abdel Fatah El Azazi, Helga Gamboa, Joao Ingles, Vlado Jakelić, Frederik Kahendra, Silvo Kresnik, Diddo Kusdinar, Frits Lensvelt, Miha Maleš, Edna Manley, Chanuo Maundu, Charles Mwenze Mungolo, N. A. / U. A. (Kenija / Kenya), N. A. / U. A. (Benin), N. A. / U. A. (Koreja / Korea), N. A. / U. A. (Indonezija / Indonesia), Rabab Nemr, Simon Njuru(r)i, Mordecai Ochungo Buluma, Ankica Oprešnik, S. Priyanto, Anton Repnik, Manuel Antonio Rodriguez Sr., Walter Solón Romero, Branko Ružić, İsmail Saray, Custodio da Silva, Carlos Silva, Gurcharan Singh, Aldona Skirutytė, Paula Sluiter, Oswaldo Subero, Sunaryo, T. Sutanto, Mokini Trikha, Hambis Tsangaris, Francisco Van-Dunem, Victor Vasarely, Hermann Walenta, Toon Wegner, Udeleženci brigade MIR 75 / Participants of the working brigade Peace 75

The exhibition project Collections for a Solidary Future is the result of cooperation between the Contemporary Art Centre of Montenegro from Podgorica – the Laboratory of the Collection of the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška. The exhibition on the one hand represents a dialogue between the works from both collections, and on the other hand provides an actualization of these works through interventions by contemporary authors. The exhibition was opened on 10 December, on International Human Rights Day and at the same time the anniversary of the opening of the exhibition Peace, Humanity and Friendship among Nations in 1966 in Slovenj Gradec.

The Contemporary Arts Centre of Montenegro houses a collection of artworks that were donated by countries, members of the Non-Aligned Movement, for the Josip Broz Tito Gallery of Art of the Non-Aligned Countries, which was founded in 1984 in Podgorica, then called Titograd. Based on these donations, the collection was formed that today totals around 800 works from 56 country members of the NAM and developing countries. The gallery’s spaces were located in the Petrović Palace, where, in addition to collecting works, group and solo exhibitions were organized presenting art from Algeria, India, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Ecuador, Mali, Indonesia, Uganda, Cyprus, Argentina, Bolivia, Tanzania, Tunisia … Furthermore, artist residencies were also established and artists’ study visits were organized, as well as many cultural events in cooperation with the abovementioned countries. There was also close collaboration with UNESCO, which organized many lectures and talks within the gallery’s framework on the topic of the NAM countries. During is existence, the Gallery developed into one of the liveliest and most frequently visited institutions in the city. The Gallery formally ceased to function in 1995, when Montenegro’s Assembly established a new institution, Contemporary Arts Centre of Montenegro, which today houses and maintains an extremely important international collection that bears witness to past initiatives and cultural dialogue.

Within the framework of the Laboratory of the Collection of the Non-Aligned Movement, which operates at a project level and opens the collection and archive to researchers and artists, the aim today is to highlight the crucial historical context of the collection and to encourage new modes of reading and interpretation of the collection through various collaborations. A part of this collaboration and initiative is also the exhibition Collections for a Solidary Future.

The collection Gallery for Peace, as we have named the segment of works that came to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška’s collection through donations from artists participating in the international exhibitions under the auspices of the UN with the idea of establishing a museum in Slovenj Gradec that would represent the ideas of peace, solidarity and international cooperation, shares many parallels with the collection of the former Josip Broz Tito Gallery of Art of the Non-Aligned Countries. Although formed with a time difference of fifteen years, both collections were created as solidary collections, collections that advocate for certain broader social ideals, and both collections were created on the basis of donations, either as a result of diplomatic cooperation or gifts from artists. Either through the very process of their foundation or also directly through their artworks, both collections attest to the idea of an active role of art in the transformation of society. At the same time, both collections today are witnesses of a certain past that was, despite its ideological frameworks, oriented towards thinking and envisioning a better future.

In the context of contemporary times, when it seems difficult to imagine a different, more communitarian and humane future, these collections thus become important activators and starting points that enable us, despite everything, to think the unthinkable.