Darije Petković: Damnatio memoriae
08. 10. 2021 – 13. 02. 2022
The exhibition Damnatio memoriae by the Zagreb based photographer and artist Darije Petković addresses the ways in which we constitute our memories through visual means. The artist uses the medium of photography to show his personal view of the cultural landscape marked by numerous historic events and inscribed into the collective memory through public and media discourses. The works from his current series lucidly follow and comment upon the consequences of the social, ideologic and economic transition in Croatia as well as throughout the broader region.
Over the past fifteen years Darije Petković focused on the role of photography as an important culturological category that can be used to show social reality by depicting the cultural landscape. Photography is often linked to the experience of time and space, both of which are witnesses to historic memory. Since the disintegration of Yugoslavia thirty years ago, Croatia remained a transitional society that is, similar to the post-World War II society, marked by the rejection of social values from the previous period and historic revisionism. Such breaks in the continuity on all levels of society have eliminated numerous positive achievements and events from the previous times, which have been substituted by an immense void. Already Petković’s previous works such as Okupacija u 26 slika (Occupation in 26 Pictures, 2008), Zagrebačke tvornice (Zagreb Factories, 2010) or Duhovi prošlosti (Ghosts of the Past 2008-2013)) revealed the pathologies of politically motivated historic constructs. Through photographs, objects and archive material, which he uses to construct a coherent narrative of the relativity of historic facts and their dependency on the current political discourses, the series Damnatio memoriae (2019) continues with his research into the ways we relate to the past. The artist chose six symbolic locations (from the famous uvala Slana on the island of Pag to the political school in Kumrovec) that marked the semi-recent past as the central points of this series.
The exhibition emerged in cooperation with the Vladimir Bužančić Gallery, which operates within the Novi Zagreb Cultural Centre, where the exhibition Damnatio memoriae was presented for the first time in 2019.
Curator: Anita Zlomislić
Foto: Jurij Vižintin
Exhibitions / Current
Bogdan Borčić & Johnny Friedlaender
Dialogue
08. 02. 2025 - 25. 01. 2026
As part of the 19th exhibition in the Graphic Cabinet of Bogdan Borčić, the works of two great artists and masters of printmaking, Bogdan Borčić and Johnny Friedlaender, are placed in dialogue.
Distant Gaze: New Objectivity and Realisms in Central Europe (1925-1933)
22. 11. 2024 - 23. 03. 2025
The international exhibition Distant Gaze: New Objectivity and Realisms in Central Europe (1925-1933) focuses on the historical period of the second half of the 1920s and early 1930s in Central Europe, when expressionism, then dominant movement in modern art, lost its momentum and gave way to …
Exhibitions / Upcoming
Dušan Fišer
26. 09. 2025 - 08. 02. 2026
The solo exhibition of Dušan Fišer in the former monastery church of GBJ will showcase a selection of his predominantly recent works, which are going to be adapted to the specific ambience of the space.
Development Directions: Works from the Gorjup Gallery Collection
12. 09. 2025 - 15. 02. 2026
The exhibition Development Directions: Works from the Gorjup Gallery Collection will mark the 50th anniversary of Galerija Božidar Jakac – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, and will showcase the rich and extensive collection of works from the Gorjup Gallery Collection, which is the …Vesna Perunović
Home Paradigm
25. 07. 2025 - 30. 11. 2025
The exhibition of Vesna Perunović, an artist who lives and works between Canada and Serbia, presents works from the past 15 years, when she has used various means to reflect on the establishment and representation of identity.
30th International Symposium of Sculptors Forma viva
01. 07. 2025 - 01. 08. 2025
One of the greatest visual manifestations in our recent history, the International Symposium of Sculptors Forma viva, will take place for the 30th time in 2025 at the Kostanjevica na Krki worksite.
Ivo Prančič
A Retrospective
16. 05. 2025 - 24. 08. 2025
The overview exhibition will present the extensive body of work of Ivo Prančič, who since the 1980s has made a significant contribution to the development of non-mimetic and expressive abstract painting in Slovenia and the wider region.
Apolonija Simon
09. 05. 2025 - 31. 08. 2025
The exhibition of the painter Apolonia Simon in the former monastery church will showcase her recent paintings. Simon is one of the most prominent and pervasive painters in the Slovenian cultural milieu, capable of making artworks of monumental proportions with highly topical subject matters.…Ana Vrtačnik
11. 04. 2025 - 29. 06. 2025
Coming soon to GBJ Lapidarium. The paintings she creates, which emphasise texture, light and movement, are expressive and minimal, beautiful in their simplicity yet full of emotion. The materials she uses are completely organic, as she works mostly with felt and wool, which she gets from local …
Marjan Gumilar
O
14. 05. 2004 - 20. 06. 2004
Dušan Fišer
26. 09. 2025 - 08. 02. 2026