The exhibition presents a significant part of Vienna’s “Kontakt” collection, which aims to collect some of the most important works, created in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, as well as to draw parallels between the various conceptual artistic practices, having developed since the 1960’s.

“Kontakt” was founded at the end of 2004 as an association, represented by: BCR, Česká spořitelna, Erste Bank Croatia, Erste Bank Hungary, ERSTE Foundation, Erste Group, Slovenská sporiteľňa.

Contemporary artworks from countries with similar historical fate are presented in Bulgaria for the first time. The exhibition follows the development of video, performance, conceptual photography, object, installation, and action in Serbia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Bulgaria. The exhibition also features works by leading Austrian artists, as it was through Vienna that contact with the West was being made for many years.

The collection poses a variety of questions concerning both more distant and more recenthistory. It touches upon sensitive issues such as the darkest aspects of the communist past or the damages done by the war in former Yugoslavia. Yet, the red thread tying the works is the search and establishment of identity of one’s own – starting with making sense of modernist legacy, passing through inner opposition to the political status quo, to go on to introduce gender issues. The question “What is art?” (the title of a work by Raša Todosijević) acquires profound dimensions when viewed in light of the artists’ capacity to sense, analyze, comment upon and trigger situations, events and changes.

Artists: Paweł Althamer, Luchezar Boyadjiev, Geta Brătescu, Carola Dertnig, VALIE EXPORT, Stano Filko, Gorgona, Ion Grigorescu, Marina Grinić, IRWIN, Sanja Iveković, Šejla Kamerić, Julije Knifer, Július Koller, Jiri Kovanda, Edward Krasiński, Katalin Ladik, Natalia LL, Kazimir Malevich, Vlado Martek, Dalibor Martinis, Ivan Moudov, OHO, Roman Ondák, Tanja Ostojić, Neša Paripović, Boryana Rossa, Kateřina Šeda, Aina Šmid, Mladen Stilinović, Raša Todosijević, Peter Weibel, Artur Żmijewski

An exhibition catalogue is available in Bulgarian and English.

Two lectures will take place in the frames of the exhibition: VALIE EXPORT, artist, Vienna and Bojana Pejic, curator, Belgrade/Berlin.