"I CANNOT PERFORM THE WORK FOR THIS EXHIBITION": EXHIBITION AND PUBLIC DISCUSSION WITHIN THE ‘TRIGGERS’ PROGRAM AT THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ZAGREB (MSU)
EXHIBITION OPENING: Thursday, September 14, 2023, at 7 PM
CLOSING DATE: October 29, 2023
BLACK BOX, MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ZAGREB, AVENIJA DUBROVNIK 17
PUBLIC DISCUSSION “UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS CAN I (NOT) PERFORM THE WORK FOR THIS EXHIBITION?” Tuesday, September 26, 2023, at 6 PM
PARTICIPANTS: Dina Karadžić, artist and trade unionist (SKUPA), Damir Očko, artist, Zdenka Badovinac (director, MSU), Leila Topić (curator, MSU), Vesna Vuković, cultural worker (BLOK, Za K.R.U.H. (For BREAD) initiative)
MODERATOR: Ana Kutleša (BLOK)
Being invited to produce a program ‘triggered’ by one of the works from the Museum of Contemporary Art (MSU) collection, we chose the work by Hans Haacke, which was, until now, referred to mostly anecdotally in the local arts and culture scene, through the frame of the case of Galeta’s mirror. Using this outlook, and having added a conceptual gesture, we have opened the question on the conditions of art production. More than 40 years and one counter-revolution later, we are interested in the limitations of possibilities of production in relation to the conditions of (art)work.
In 1980, when Hans Haacke's exhibiton was put on, The Gallery of Contemporary Art (GSU) was still a public institution of, at least nominally, a socialist state, which cannot be said for today’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MSU). How are capitalist relations in Europe’s periphery reflected within the institution of MSU when it comes to artwork? What have we learnt about strategies of self-organization and pressure on institutions from Haacke and his colleagues gathered under the Art Workers’ Coalition, and what have we learnt from contemporary US initiatives, such as W.A.G.E.?
“Code of Practice: Fair Pay in Culture”, launched by the initiative Za K.R.U.H. (For BREAD), is a concrete result of this learning, and the public discussion a place where we can discuss a possibility of its application in the Museum. Unplanned, our appeal to MSU to comply with the Code comes at the moment of a change in the Museum leadership, which could be read as the right time for clearing up practices that have been only whispered about behind the scenes, with the purposes of a fairer treatment of artistic work, whose monetary value can be a subject of discussion, but not mystification.
Therefore, we invite all cultural workers and artists who have worked or could work at the MSU, to share with us their experiences and expectations, to comment and amend the regulation proposed by the Code, to hear others' and share their own experiences of fairer and different treatment of artistic work and to join the request that a fair pay for artistic work should become the responsibility of the umbrella national institution for contemporary art!
To avoid the discussion be gone with the wind, it will be recorded and available for visitors of the exhibition until its closure, and subsequently stored in the MSU archives. All those who cannot participate in the discussion, but feel they are part of this struggle, are invited to use this recording as a trigger for further action.
ANA KUTLEŠA, VESNA VUKOVIĆ
EXHIBTION AUTHORS (BLOK): Ana Kutleša and Vesna Vuković
CURATOR (MSU): Leila Topić
VISUAL: a photograph taken in the MOMA garden (published on January 24, 1969 in the East Village Other newspaper), after artist Takis had removed his artwork from the group exhibition in which it was included without his permission. Support for Takis led to founding the Art Workers’ Coalition.
