SOUTH, SOUTH! LET’S GO SOUTH! – 30TH NADEŽDA PETROVIĆ MEMORIAL

Abstract

Nadežda Petrović’s ethical and aesthetic principles have for sixty years been the cornerstone of the eponymous Nadežda Petrović Memorial, one of Serbia’s oldest and most important biennial art events, and they also formed the basis of its jubilee 30th edition, whose focus is closely on the post-Yugoslav art arena. Since the time of Nadežda Petrović, the Memorial has consistently cherished and promoted close common bonds and sustained cooperation between artists, despite the heterogeneity of the former Yugoslavia and its history of political turbulence. The similarity between artistic concepts and distinct trajectories is equally seen in new practices and among contemporary art phenomena. This paper explores the concept of the 30th Nadežda Petrović Memorial and its selection of artistic practices, as featuring a variety of media and art phenomena, as well as artists belonging to different generations, i.e. the post-Yugoslav scene, as an illustration of the complexity of post-Yugoslav societies.