BLOOD & HONEY. Future is at the Balkans! @ Essl Samlung, Viena

Future is at the Balkans!

Harald Szeemann shows 72 artists from 11 countries

16.05. – 28.10.2003

VERNISSAGE 15.05.2003 – 19,30

HARALD SZEEMANN:  THE EXHIBITION

“BLOOD & HONEY” is an attractive title, particularly in Austria. Only in Austria an exhibit evokes like the corpse car in Sarajevo of a student named Gavrilo Princip murdered successor to the throne Franz Ferdinand and its wife Sophie countess Chotek the First World War and in consequence the end of the many people state. Also the Osmani realm, which divided with the Austrians the Balkans, was forced in this time (Balkans wars 1912/13) to the retreat.

Blood is not only for Rudolf Steiner and Joseph Beuys the most precious juice, also the Viennese actionists loves the red liquid. “BLOOD & HONEY” is beside “mountains” a possible translation of the Balkans. The title, thrown from Melentie Pandilovski during a meeting of the members of the BAN (the Balkans kind network) into the discussion, was to be tackled for me the trip, the project. “more than one group exhibition of a certain part of Europe, a type of exhibition, which was maintained again and again in the west, promised BLOOD & HONEY”. The title evokes the poles of anger and tenderness, disaster and idyl, of deeply human one and universal one.  

I have that several times established with exhibitions like “Visionaere Switzerland”, “Austria in the rose net” go “hats you from your dreams you could be in the dreams to other one again” (100 years art in Poland), which starting point were a country, from whose culture from free magnetic fields of the associations a world was suggested, poetically and A-historically. At the einpraegsamsten this succeeded reliably with “Monte Verità. The mountain of the truth “and the utopias such as anarchy, Theosophie, life reform, Sexualrevolution, lived on it, m., whose representative fought each other in the life, but by the exhibition was possible among other things it to let it all appear like the embodiment of an ideal society their conception worlds and ideologies another history of Central Europe suggested. Also the sub-title of this exhibition is to be understood about therefore it: “future is at the Balkans” refers not only to a South-east Europe, which has the multi-cultural unit still before itself, but also on the connecting under this multilingual Ethnien and religions, majorities and minorities ? by art. It concerns here thus not pointing out Exotik, but the integration of a culture landscape into the consciousness of western sensitivity.  

While the line of the Biennale in Venice I could experience, as importantly straight these countries their national agency was and as very the countries of the east were interested in it by their operational readiness level to show that also they belong to Europe. Already in former times, but now more intensively, contacts were attached at that time to Serbia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Albania, also Ukraine, to Poland and Armenia. The enthusiasm and the solidarity among artists and curators in the different centers made me happy. I felt carried back to the 1950er and 60’s, when artists were my actual informants.

Wanderer at the Danube, miss you not this Narration with heights and depths, of Tragik, joke, satire, subversion, poetry and deeper importance:

“BLOOD & HONEY ? FUTURE IS AT THE BALKANS “. BY ART.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS (name, country, birth year)

Abramovic, Marina Serbia and Montenegro 1946 Aladag, Nevin Turkey 1972 Alptekin, Hüseyin Turkey 1957

Altindere, Halil Turkey 1971 Aydogan, Cem Turkey 1968 Bajević, Maja Bosnia-Herzegovina 1967

Bartha, Jozsef Romania 1960 Beqiri, SokolKosova 1964 Berksoy, Semiha Turkey 1910 Bertok, Goran Slovenia 1963

Borlakov, Basir Turkey 1977 Boyadjiev, Luchezar Bulgaria 1957 Braila, Pavel Moldova 1971 Demirel, Ali Turkey 1972

Dimitrijevic, Braco Bosnia-Herzegovina 1948 Djurdjevic, Biljana Serbia and Montenegro 1973

Djuric, Uros Serbia and Montenegro 1964 Dodig-Trokut, Vladimir Croatia 1949 Druta, Veaceslav Moldova 1972

Erkmen, Ayse Turkey Ersen, Esra Turkey 1970 Gemisheva, Mariela Bulgaria 1965 Georgieva, Alla Bulgaria 1957

Gianikian, Yervant & Lucchi, Angela Ricci Italia 1942 Graur, Teodor Romania 1953 Hajdinaj, Alban Albania 1974

Hila, Edi Albania 1944 Irwin Slovenia 1983 Iveković, Sanja Croatia 1949 Jandrić, Djordje Croatia 1956

Karamustafa, Gülsün Turkey 1946 Kastrati, Venera Albania 1975 Kavdanska, Mihaela Bulgaria 1976

Kipke, Željko Croatia 1953 Kostov, Lyuben Bulgaria 1952 Kostova, Daniela Bulgaria 1974

Kusturica, Emir Bosnia and Herzegovina  1954 Labin Art Express Croatia 1991 Marketou, Jenny Greece 1954

Martinis, Dalibor Croatia 1947 Maznevski, Antoni Macedonia 1963 Moudov, Ivan Bulgaria 1975

Nikolic, Vladimir Serbia and Montenegro 1974 Niksic, Damír Bosnia-Herzegovina 1970 Paci, Adrian Albania 1969

Petercol, Goran Croatia 1949 Pogacean, Cristi Romania 1980 Posavec, Ivan Croatia 1951 Pravdoliub, Ivanov Bulgaria 1964

Purg, Franc Slovenia 1955 Radic, Jelena Serbia and Montenegro 1978 Rama, Edi Albania 1964 Rassim  Bulgaria 1972

Sala, Anri Albania 1974 Scerbina, Igor / Rusu, Stefan Moldova 1966 / ?

Serapionov, Kalin Bulgaria 1967 Shkololli, Erzen Kosova 1976 Shkurti, Gentian Albania 1977 Solakov, Nedko Bulgaria 1957

son:DA Slovenia 2000 Stankovski, Aleksandar Macedonia 1959 Stilinović, Mladen Croatia 1947

Stoyanov, Kamen Bulgaria 1977 Strukelj, Miha Slovenia 1973 subREAL Romania 1990 Teodorescu, Patricia Romania 1972

Todosijevic, Rasa Serbia and Montenegro 1945 Todorovic, Zoran Serbia and Montenegro 1965 Tur, Nasan Turkey 1974

Vangeli, Zaneta Macedonia 1963 Verlan, Mark Moldova 1963 Vorpsi, Ornela Albania 1968 Xhafa, Sislej Kosova 1970