A good place for exhibitions. Interview with curator Miroslav Karić.
 He is one of the most successful curators in Serbia: Miroslav Karić.
At the moment, he is
preparing the donumenta 2011´s exhibition “Views:Visions – Sketches of Serbian Art after 2000” which will be opened September 15th in Regensburg. Some days after his latest visit in Regensburg in June 2011, we did an interview with him.
When you came here: Did you prefer walking or sitting and looking or sleeping in Regensburg and why?
In every foreign city I try to walk as much as possible. I think that is the best way to feel the rhythm and energy of one city. Of course, from time to time it is good to have a break, to sit down, relax, sort out thoughts and just watch people. For me, one of the most beautiful things is to wake up in another town, when you open your eyes and see a completely different perspective than you're used to. I have been twice to Regensburg and I can say that I really enjoyed long walks, visiting art spaces and parks in particular.
You live as a curator in Belgrad, a million-people-city, with traffic, great places and also wounds. With which feelings were you walking through Regensburg?
Belgrade is a big city, very dynamic in daily life and by night. Belgrade knows such as all large cities to be tedious, burdensome, always in „speed“. Staying in Regensburg was my brief respite from big city life, but also (as I’m always at work) an opportunity to look at and compare happenings on the Serbian and your artistic scene. Of course, it was an opportunity to sort out thoughts and to focus on the forthcoming exhibition in your town. I was very relaxed, calm, to be precise. I really enjoyed your town and this is due to "inhalation of fresh air" which any travel or change of environment inevitably carries.
It was the second time now that you have been in Regensburg, planning an exhibition that integrates severals places. How did the map and your impressions of Regensburg influence your concept of the exhibition?
I have to say that the concept of donumenta has inspired me a lot. For ten years now this important event has been dedicated to the presentation and promotion of artistic and cultural scenes in the Danube region. Including many artists, donumenta havs presented different views and visions on numerous topics concerning the contemporary life. One of the inspiring words for this year’s concept was the word perspective which is also embedded in the main idea of donumenta and that is: cooperation, cultural exchange and networking of the artists, scenes, countries... My first encounter with the exhibition places in Regensburg (especially historic buildings) immediately made it clear that I will face a lot of challenges in setting up the exhibition... Those places are fantastic, strong enough in their appearance and set not-so-easy tasks to think about and solve them in the context of presentation of contemporary visual content. But I really enjoy thinking about the concepts of those spaces and for me it is one of the most beautiful moments in the process of making exhibitions.
The title of the exhibition is „Views: Vision“: Which importance had the title for you within the two days you spent here?
It confirmed the importance it had from the very beginning and that is: being sufficiently open and comprehensible to everyone. The world is composed of a number of views and as I said in the text bringing one view does not imply the exclusion of others, on the contrary: it implies communication through identification, confrontation, adaptation or change. The vision remains the key motor and initiator when we talk about the future, and without it, if properly perceived complexity of the world and includes understanding, tolerance, caring about the community, there is no progress of civilization. Artistic views and vision bring the much needed new and fresh look at the world and without that unique perspective I can not imagine what kind of life we would lead.
donumenta integrates the idea of the Danube as a river vonnecting human beings. How narrative is the Danube when you look at her in Belgrade?
I have to say the same. Rivers in human history play an important role in communication and networking, especially large rivers such as the Danube, which has historically been strategically, militarily and economically significant. I do not mean only on those aspects, but also to their role they had in the expansion, connecting different cultures and artistic achievements. When I think of the power of rivers I always have in mind the beautiful project "Collection of Rivers" by the Belgrade artist Vera Stevanović. She started that project in 1992 devoting it to the main idea that river means life. Through many years, people around the world were bringing rivers in bottles to the artists, thus forming an interesting network of places, people, fates and lives... Like the artist herself says: water ties everything and everyone... life...
A mean question: Which place or street from Belgrade would you bring to Regensburg because Regensburg needs it?
When I'm abroad I have to admit that I do not have that kind of nostalgia that I just badly miss something from my environment. I do miss some people, but not places. In every new city I try to find my favorite place. In Regensburg those are definitely gardens/restaurants tucked in a beautiful parks.
What do you think: If you lived here in Regensburg – would you like to go to Belgrade?
Of course I'd like to go to Belgrade. I enjoy travelling and I think the journey is necessary, an important moment in the maturation of every human being, in his acceptance of other cultures and diversity. Unfortunately, my country has been under sanctions for almost a decade and inability to travel freely had effects especially on younger people. The inability to travel, isolation, being anchored at one place could result in a lack of understanding for what is foreign and in xenophobia. I have to say things are changing in that respect and visa abolishment and the ability to travel freely throughout Europe is one of the most important things that have occurred to the Serbian society lately.
Interview by Alexandra Karabelas. |
