2008, “(Artist) Second-Grade Citizen - Social context and contemporary art“

1r

(Artist) Second-Grade Citlzen Socia[ context and contemporary art Vida Kneievii and lvana Maryanovii

1 This ls how the the0retrc an Giorgto Agamben exptains the concept 0f the state 0f exception: "...the

state 0f exception 0r state 0f emergency has become a paradigm 0f g0vemirent today. 0riginally underst00d as someth ng extra0rdinary an excepti0f, which sh0uld

0ur jntention in this text, In keeping with the subtrtte of this year's Saton

- "ContextuaI

artistic practices", is to focus

0n a criticaI anatysis of the sociaI and cutturaI c0ntext in which the works presented at this exhibiti0n have come into being and which they deal

with thereby providing

a certa n framework for reading them. We shatt then analyse the

retati0nship between the said context and the institution of contemporary art and point 0ut its key probtems.

have valid ty onLy for a [imited period 0f time, but a

hlstorcal transformation has made it the normaI form of governance". See: []lrich RauLff "interview with Giorgio Agamben

-

Life, A Work 0f Art With0ut an Allth0r: The

State of Exceptlon, the Administrat on of Disorder and Private Life", 5 German Law.Joumal No. 5, Speciai Edi

G

forcibty prevented and the event was censored.2 In February this year, Betgrade was shaken by gatherings of extreme

orgio Agamben, "State of Exception", University of Chicago Press, 2004.

2

Bojana Pejti, the curator of the Saton, extended an invitation to us to work as assistant curators t0 her within the

framework of this year's Saton, and in the course of our initiaI working consultations, on February 7th 2008 at the Kontekst Gallery in Betgrade, the opening ofthe exhibition "Exception, ContemporaryArt Scene from Prishtina" was

ti0n, 2004, http//ww.germanlawjoumat.com/article. phprid=437;

From the very beginning, 0ur w0rk on the 49th 0ctober Salon has unfolded amidst an atmosphere of a state of excepti0n,r within the locaI society and 0n the contemp0rary artistic and cutturaI scene atike. At the time when

right organisations and politicaI parties protesting against the dectaration of Kosovo's independence; in the course

of rioting that ensued, the city witnessed scenes 0f wanton destruction and looting. ln the course of our work oi Under pressure from the potice, just fied by the

ctaim that they coutd not guarantee the safety of the organizers and the visitors, the Director of the CuLtural Centre where the gallery is Located decided not to go ahead

this text, the above-mentioned organisations and potiticaI parties have organised protest ratties against the arrest cf Radovan Karadlii and his extradition to the Hague Tribuna[, under charges of genocide and crimes committed agarns: Bosniaks and Croats during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

with the opening ceremony. As the city and

repubI can authorit es did n0t react and make it p0ssrble to go ahead

with the exhibition, we constder th s

situati0n a case 0f cens0rship. F0r m0re d€ta [s 0n the exh bition and the events surround

Freudmann

-

vana Marlanov

It may be said that, 0n acc0unt of at[ this, the 49th 0ctober Saton wrt[ open in rather specific social surr0und ngs resulting from the process of transition from the turbo-fascjsm of the Miloievri era (as jt was referred to by tt-. sociologist iarana Papii) to the neotiberaI capitalism active here and n0w

ng t see: Eduard

i,

"The Exception

Proves the Rule", Reafrlku locijo, no. 3, 2008,

http://

www.reartikulacija.org/pdfs/Reartikuiaclja3 web.pdf

;

"Except on, Contemporary Art Scene from Prishtina", exhrb t on catalogue, K0ntekst, Belgrade, 2008.

www.

kontekstgaterija.org (pdf catatogue); and 7. februar, organ of cutturaI workers, issue no. 1, Betgrade, April

20!8 http//radn ciukulturi.net/files/Tfebruar Glasi-

1

0ne of the rare intettectuats to write criticatly about the rote of Serbia in the wars fought on the territory of the

duced the term "turbo-fascism" to designate the potiticaI and sociaI reality 0f that period.3Numerous phen0mc". -

to%20Radnika%20u%20kulturi.0df

our society after the ousting of the Milo5evii regime (in the year 2000) and what is referred to as democratic 3 See, Tarana Papli, "Europe after I 989: ethnic wars, the fascisat on of sociaL life and body politics in Serbia" , in: FilazoJski vestnik, spec (ed.) Marina Gri

nii Mauhhr, F

alissue fhe Bady ,

ZRC SAZU,

for-=-

Yugostavia in the 1990's f rom a feminist theoreticaI position was the sociologist Zarana Papii (1949-2002) Anali,s the phenomenon of the fascisation of public and private life in Serbia in the course 0f the 1 980's and 1 990's, she r:': -

Llubtiana,

20!2, pp. 191-205

cha':.,

s-

point to the fact that certain aspects of turboJascism sti[[ determine our society. Today's form of turbo-fasr somewhat different

-

:..

we can recognise it as part of the discourse of Euro-Atlantic integrations and the gtobal

of capitat.alnthisnewsystem,theontyinterestof societyisafreeandunobstructedflowof capita[.The ss,=, freedom,social justice,equatity,discrimination,peace,etc.areraisedontywhentheyconstitutean0bstrr:

,

.

-

-'

--.'

threattocapitat.Atmostasarule,probtemsotutionsinthiscontextarereducedt0emptywordsthatactua..,,-4

Many theoreticians have p0inted out the c0nnectt0n

stitute ittusory solutions or i[usory improvements 0f the situation.5

between neoliberai capttatism and postmodern fasc sm, for example, Marina Grlinr6. See: li,larina Grlin

i,

"Rearticulat on of the state of things or Euro-Stoventan Necrocap tatrsm", Reortikulocijo, no. 3, 20l8, and Marlna Griin i, "Euro-Sloven an Necrocapttattsm", transversal

- eipcp multitingual weiljouma[

httpl/eipcp.net/transversat/0208/grzin

,

Retying on the postmodern and feminist theory of "shifting concepts, iarana Papri points out that we sr--hesitate to use "big terms" such as "fascism" tf lhey occuroteLy "serbie: politicat

describe certain

reatities.

haditsownconcentrationcamps,itsownsystematicrepresentationofviotenceagainst0thers,itsown:-,-'-. famity and cutt of the leader, an expticitly patriarchaI structure, a cutture of indifference towards the excLus

c/en.

Other,aclosureof societyuponitsetf anduponitsownpast; ithadatabooonempathyandataboo0nTt.r,r..:-'-: ism; it had power{uI media acting as proponents of genocide; it had a nationalist ideology; it had an ep c

to refer here to numerous Marxist, post-cotontal, femin st etc. theories, wh ch have been cr t calty

revielring the above mentioned soc al phenomena.

:

listeninglo the word and obeyingaulhority"6 Proceeding with her anatysis, Tarana Papii writes: "Ihe prefix 'turbo' refers to the specific mixture of polii :

'mentaI powers'and the pauperisatron of life in Serbia: the mixture of ruraI and urban, pre-modern and

p!:

after

1989: ethnic wars, the

:i.c,,,

llltl

cs

n Serb

a" rbld

, --

,

popcuttureandheroines,realandvirtuat,mysticatand'normat,'etc.lnthisterm,despiteitsna.te:--'., appearances, there is stit[ fascism in its proper sense. Like a[[ fascrsms, Turbo-Fascism inctudes and

: S:: I::zr; r'apii'Europe ',,,,.',- :' :,, .. .': :.!

r:-

-,

with a critique of capitat-

sm and gtobalisation. lt does not seem necessary t0 us

-'

:-

2!08,

5 European and wortd theory have produced a sizeabte corpus of work deaL ng

- -.

:..: , -

:.

pejorativerenaming,atienation,andfinattyremovat,oftheOther:Croats,Bosnians,andAtbanians.Turb:',,.

=:

,

,'

:

fact demands and basicatly reties on this culture of the normolity of lascism that had been structuralty constituted

7

ktd

B

ttit

wett before atl the kittings in the wars started."T Further on, the author points out: "Paradoxicatly or not, from the [ate elghties this normality ol

erl against the 0ther

betonged to the nornol everydoy L/e in Serbia. The above mentioned processes and changes were necessary in order

9 Shqiptar hturaL S/5glpiorr?t) is an Atbanian [anguage

for it to become so. This was the resutt of a sophisticated policy of cottective amnesia that made individual con-

ethnonym (autonym), by which Albanians, mainly

sciences feet'free'to be suspended by a coltective Super-Ego. ln these processes of issuing, 'ticenses to kitt'were

those from Albania and Kosovo, catl themseLves.

pystematically issued by the state

TV, private and commercialTV programs,

it was the dominant form of politica[

discourse, and an open message from the 'hoty messages of the Serbran 0rthodox Church.'These Serbian institutions

Se'bs. howeve', rse 't to re'er to Atbar ans pejoratively, translators note.

and individua[s did construct during eighties some kind of superconscience lhal permitted obtivion and the suspen-

'l

sion of empathy, memory and toterance toward the 0ther. We are stit[ far away from any understanding that there

to the potice and warned of possible (announced!)

exists a whole range of loyers of responsibility for the crimes committed: for exampte, responsibility for remaining silent, for forgetting, for hatred and for media propaganda. The responsibitity for remaining silent is the most compticated, since silence inctudes agreement, bulalso oworeness of repression - and even a shadow of doubt."B We sha[l refer

0 Even though the organisers reported the gathering

incidents, the Secretariat of InternaI Affairs in Betgrade provided a sma[[ number of poticemen, many of whom made homophobic, offensive comments and refused to protect the threatened citizens brutaLty

to severaI events that point to the soclaI phenomena that iarana Papii wrote about, such as the

beaten by the attackers. For more on this see: httpy'/www.[abris.org.yu/index.php?option=com_con

exp[icitty patriarchaI structure of society, nationatism, the culture of indifference towards the exctusion of the Other

tent&task=view&id=1

(for exampte, A[banians, Roma, Chinese, gay men, tesbians, transgender persons, sex workers, women...), the ctosing

net/lnfo/vesti/index php?dd=30&mmd&yg,ry=200

of the society within itsetf and its obsession with its own past (for exampte, the Kosovo myth), the taboo against

httpy'/wwwlabris org yu/index.php?option=com

sympathising with others and empathy, pejorative renaming (for example, "fag", "shquiptar',e "Gypsy") alienation and removal of the 0ther, aversion towards the Other, the normatity of evil towards the 0ther

-

ontent&task=view&id=554<emid=68;

Ptace for Everyone" were scheduled to be hetd in Betgrade's Repubtic Square on June 3Oth 2001, organised by "Labrrs"

-

LGBT"

-

1

;

c

http//www

youtube.com/watch?v=Y0aZK-G0Euk.

1

0n the occasion of the lnternational Day of Lesbian and Gay Pride, a gay parade and a gathering entitted "Ihere ls a

the Group for Lesbian and Human Rights and "Gayten

2<emid=43; http//wlto1/v.b92.

those are the normatities

of everyday life in Serbia even today.

-

1

1 For more on this see: "Exception, Contemporary

Art Scene from Prshtrna', exhrbiti0n catatogue, Kontekst, Belgrade, 2008 and www.kontekstgaLerija. org

cataLogue).

hdf

the Centre for Promotjon and Devetopment of

the Rrghts of Sexual Minorities. Before it coutd get under way, the gathering was forcibty prevented by members of the extreme right ctero{ascist group "Ihe Homeland Movement'0braz [Cheek]' ", supporters of the Rad and [Work]

Crvena zvezda [Red Star] footbatl ctubs and the city potice, which oversaw and toterated this viotent demonstration

of hatred towards sexuaI minorities.r0

1

2 During the course of the Novl Sad exhibition, the

Sociatist Party 0f Serbia, the Serbian

RadicaL Parly,

the

[)emocntic Palry of Serbia, as weLl as the pre-etect on campaign ofTomislav Nikotii, the Deputy Chairman of the Serbian Radical Party, openLy advocated the lynch-

0n February 7th 2008, at the Kontekst Gallery in Betgrade, the opening of the exhibitron "Exception, Contemporary

ing of this exhibition and its organisers.

Art Scene from Prishtina", organised by the citizens' associations Kontekst from Betgrade and Napon [Tension] from

I 3 For more on thrs see: httpy'/www.obraz.0rg.yu/

Novi Sad, was forcibly prevented. The same exhibition had previousty been presented at the Museum of Contemporary

Aktivnosti/0braz_na_deLu/2008/SprecavanjeSiptar-

Art in Novi Sad. The intention behind the exhibition "Exception",ll along with panel discussions and presentation of

skelzlozbe.htm; httpy'/wwwobraz.org.yu/Aktivnosti/

young Atbanian artists from Kosovo that were also scheduled, was to offer a critical reflection of the present moment

Saopstenja_i-komentarl/2008/UmetnostTerorizma. htm; httpy'/www.y0utube.com/watch?v-hxCgz7Bro6o.

and of the retations between Serbs and Kosovo Albanians in recent history, to discuss the semi-offcial apartheid programme canied out against the Atbanian poputation of Kosovo by the Betgrade authorities, a poticy that treated

14 0n May 30th 2007, a premiere ofthe fitm So[

Atbanians as a foreign body, the parattel social system emerging in Kosovo as a result of the massive differentiation

Peonuts

and exclusion of Albanians from potitical lrfe in Kosovo fottowing the passing of the new Constitution in 1990 and

is, the Zagreb artist Tomistav Gotovac, was scheduled

the abotition of Kosovo's autonomy, and contemporary potitics in Serbia, where the radical nationalism of Mitosevii's

-

Hot K[ob of

at the "Students'Town'

ftons by Antonio Lauel that

Cuttural Centre in Betgrade.

Foltowing a brief introductory speech by Antonio Lauer,

potttics stitl represents an important phantasmatic area.r2 0n the day scheduted for the opening of the Betgrade

a group of persons forcibly intenupted the showing of

exhibition, "The Homeland Movement 0braz" and other like-minded groups (overseen by the police, who were "tak-

the fi[m. Owing to the interuention of the staff and the

ing care of security"), destroyed the art work "Face to Face" by Dren Matiqi and managed t0 prevent the scheduted

support of the audience, the incident was moved out

exhibition from being

of the cinema hat[ and the screening went ahead. For

hetd.13

more on this see: http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.

Other events

- the incidents occuning at the "students'Town" Cultural Centre in Betgrade -

where the very same

php?14,ryy=2007&mm=06&dd=0

1

&nav_rd=249352.

organisations and groups prevented a pr0gramme from being hetd on severaI occasions, constitute proof that there

Apart from this, on July 3rd 2008, members of the "Hometand f4ovement 0braz" intenupted the perform-

is a distinct [ack of politicaI wi[[ to prevent this viotence.ra

ance "Breathing

Ihe perrod immediatety preceding and fottowing the proctamation of the independence of Kosovo on February

Savii 17th

Ra,

-

Watking

-

Touching" by 6abr4el

scheduled to be held at the "Students'Town"

2008 was marked by a number of events that made the tendency of the fascisation of our society even more visibte.

CulturaI Centre, within the framework of the Performance l-estivai 'Ars in Actio". For more on rhis se"o:

ln addition to protests characterised by viotence, attacks on embassies and looting, perhaps one of the most expticit

httpy'/www.studi0-b.co

yu/info/vest.php?id=26071.

examptes of this was the campaign of boycotting bakeries owned by Atbanians and the campaign of free distribution

of bread in front of such bakeries in Sombor The lack of any reaction on the part of anyone after the first such campaigns testifies to the extent of the normality of thrs profascist discourse in Serbia lhrs is atso confirmed by the fact that the exhibition "Exception, Contemporary Art Scene from Prishtina" was never hetd at the Kontekst Gatlery and

1

5 0n the occasion of the incident at the Kontekst

Gattery,

offcials from the

L4in

stry of Culture of the

Repubtic of Serbia and the City of Betgmde Assembty

ssued statements for the media (not, however, the

that the city and republican authorities never provided the proper conditions to enabte the opening of this exhibition,r5

Dem0cratlc Party 0r the key art tnstttutions such as

that the gay parade was never organised even though the organisers of this and other events that were prevented

the 14useum of Contemporary Art in BeLqrade, the

from being held insisted on being enabted to go ahead with them.

Association of Fine Artlsts of Serb a, the

LJnivers

ty of

Art in Belgrade, etc.). The communiquds issued by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbta and the City of Betgmde Assembty are availabte:

-

-:,"r,,1v.seecult.0rq/p0rta[/htm[/moduLes. -,

,-:

:=- ld[0ad&f ame=News&fi Le=article&s -' -1ip:iiwww.seecutt.0rg/p0rtaL/html/

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-: r::=rodLoad&name=News&fite=artic

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: -t: irv,arvw b92.net/info/vesti/index.

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:&nm=02&dd=08&nav_id=284078;

;:'i;kstgaterja.org. ln additi0n to the , -,,',- .-'e rithe Repubticof Serbiaand the :=.:=:. j:semb[y potiticaI ..,,,,

r

-

pailies

some

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League of Vojvodina Youth, the

- . . ,.-:_::: Farty and G lT Ptus condemned r , ::-. --e !rgan sati0ns that c0ndemned -, -,,.-. T:si strongtywerethosefromthe -

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-s:rnnalion,WomeninBlack,the

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" . . : ... .:.= :. ^to ilwww.kontekstgalerija.0rg. . .' .:.- - , :::vt

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Wor, Feminists ond Foscisn

httpl/k.mihalec.tripod.com/ fem_in_serbia.ht.

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, _ _-'*,1 :,i the fact thar _.. .-: '_-er Serbian Pnme

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2008),wroteanarticLefor

-:::',.-,:,,.,,rnchthe

"l]ometand Movement

,-' -: -...:'-:: ior Koitunrcas article : - :-:_ - _::z' see: httpy'/\.w\,lv.b92.net/info/ Vol sLav

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: . -- :-= s."::nentsof membersof theclero:.-...:-'_bizz'that'hs n2001,theywitl

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":::-:::r!ffreakshandpervertedvalues -. -=.. :'i:.Ezde' reported bytheBelgrade - - . :; :, . :,:.,e Supervisor 0f Eurosong Svante

.,

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, ., ,,. : :.: of Serbia guamnteed _.: ,' :, ::.::ai ons, medra and fans'to him, :' - -: " : r::..: .: :leryone. http//wr,r,lv.labris.org. - - : :-: :.: _-:::r-content&task+iew&id=2l8 . :, .

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=-

.

According to Tarana Papii, the final decade (of the ZOth century) can be defined as a specific historical processuatity, as "transiti0n" from pro-Yugostav c0mmunrsm to the potiticalty autistic, aggressive, profascist cottectivism that she

sees as the reason why, among other things, there was never a democratic atternative to Mito5evii's war-politics based on "ethnic struggte" against att. "Even the so-catted oppositional men-teaders coutd not hetp themsetves and t00k part, each to his abitities, in this 'l-don't-mind-if-you-are-cteansed' game. The only politicat subjects in Serbia who dared to chattenge thrs deadly game, since the beginning 0f wars in

'.

:-'.r. - s:o,Lne, Govemmentalrty and -:- ".- -: --' -L-oor Ro,r.edqe.2005. ?l

htd

,1991,

were some (now very much marginalised)women p0liticians and some feminist and pacifist groups"l6 (such as Women in B[ack, the Autonomous Women's Centre, Betgrade

such as the 0ther Scene, the

. _.-'.'"_::c . as lvell as a great number of r :-: , ::-- ,,,,(: nrtiated or signed two mass '

Our conctusion would be that a lack of reaction, of voicing a view, actuatty means acknowtedgement and approval

of such a state of affairs.

-

V.

K.,1. M).

Knowing that this kind of "oppositjon" t0 the N4ilosevii regime came to power after the year 2000, we shoutd not be

surprisedthattodaythe"0braz"movementand0ther0rganisationsandindividua[sof some potiticaI parties for achieving various potitical goals

simitarorientation areusedby

r7

The incidents referred t0 above are a new face of censorship in the era of neotiberal "democracy", when the law and

the Constitution promote the freed0m 0f (arlistic) expressi0n. Today, cens0rship functi0ns Iike this: the auth0rities, at various levets, atlow the (pro-)fascist street forces to "decide" which event should be atlowed to happen and which shoutd not, and the potice "cannot guarantee safety" t0 the participants. We coutd therefore conctude that the ideoiogy 0f the potiticatetites in Serbia (and elsewhere in Europe, of which we shattwrite later) is right-wing, whether they present themsetves as democrats, radicals, sociatists or [iberats. The state interuenes 0NLY in cases invotving interest in the shape of financiaI capita[. Thus, for example, the "Eurosong 2008" contest, organjsed in Belgrade in May, despite the threats comjng from the

"0braz" organisation 0n account 0f the announcements that a great number 0f gay music fans woutd be attending the event, passed without a singte incident, even th0ugh tens of thousands of foreign tourists visited the city and it

was necessary to take care of security not just at one ctosed venue but in the entire city! Ihe President of Serbia persona[y guaranteed the safety of the delegations, media and fans at the time.rs

7 This [ocaI profascist discourse fits very precisety int0 the discourse of Euro-Attantic integrations and the gtobalisation of capitat. When we anatyse what Europe (or to put it more precisety, the European Union) reatty is, it becomes ctear why the pro-European potiticaI option in Serbia did not consider it necessary to react when the exhibition "Exception, Contemporary Art Scene from Prishtina'' was prevented from being hetd and in simitar situations, that is, the logic behind this pro-European discourse in Serbia becomes ctear. The European democratic vatues promoted by the European Union (or the vatues 0f European civil societies) are not

-

universal human vatues those are actuatly values that exist onty in relation to economic processes where the concept of freedom is directty and sotety connected with the unobstructed flow of caprtal, which must atways and anew be ensuled by using various technotogies of power.reThis, then, does not pertain to universaI human rights but to rights connected wrth making a profit and the turnover of capital (of multinational companies). For the purpose of increasing efficiency as mush as possible, the market and private capital are entering even lhose areas that have atways been sociatty owned and taken care 0f by the state culturaI institutions, art institutions, natural resources,

-

education, public transportation, etc. As the borders within the EU became more open

with the development of the single market and the monetary union,

new security threats have been constructed

- terr0rism, crime, mass apptications for asy[um, ittegal migrations, trafficking rn human beings, etc.20 White, 0n the one hand, the European Union is presented as a "tand" of human rights, to[erance and democracy, on the other hand, repression, controt, exploitation, unfair distribution of goods and money

laws on migrations and asytum show the absurdity of this economy of inctusion through exctusion. The issue of (ittegat) immigrants and asytum is especiatty indicalive of the way in which the probtem of European

security is construed and how this discourse produces everyday racism. Enforced deportations of Roma citizens from "abuse"

EU and Schengen countries, the deportations of those who the right to seeking asytum even though they are faced with the threat of imprisonment, torture or even the death penalty, are merety some of the examptes of the "democracy", "toterance" and "human rights" of the European Union.2lThe safety measures and the brutaI behav ou. of security forces in the cases of anticapitalist critique of the main institutions of capitatism, such as the GB summ ls

or the NAT0 summits, testify to the "freedom" of expression advocated by the European Union and the United State: of America.22

This is the reality of the civil society of Westem Europe, which is gettrng rich by exploitrng the markets of the new and

future member countries (Eastem European countries), which, by entering the

EU,

enter into a kind of modern cotoniaI

retationship with Western European countries. ln order to avoid the position of a mere observer, consumer or victim, it is important t0 try to ponder possibte sotutions by retying on criticattheory. At this point, we woutd like to refer to the writings of Watter D. Mignoto, a theoretician

from Argentina, member of the "Modernity/Cotoniality/Decotoniality

, modernity outside cotoniatity; cotoniality is constitutive of

project" cotlective, who says that "there is no

modernity".23 "...What is etiminated by the narratives of

modernity (and post-modernity) is not its own past, but a[[ knowtedge and [ifeJorms that have to be integrated, "...modernity conceived in terms of a marginalized or destroyed, so the satvation mission of modernity can continue". rhetoric of salvation, goes hand in hand justifying the logic of cotoniatity..." Mignoto exptains that the cotonial matrix of power is made up of four interlinked areas: control of the economy, contro[ of authority, control of gender and sexuatity, and controI of knowledge and subjectivity.2a What the Modernity/Cotoniatity/Decotoniatity

project proposes is the idea of de-linking from the cotonial matrix of

power, of which the neo-tiberal version of capitatism is one component, where neo-tiberatism is the latest version we

know of the history of imperiatmodernity/cotoniatity, and capitatrsm is a lifestyle rn which growth and accumutation take precedence over humans and life in general.

'

..De-tinking from the cotoniaI matrix of power impties a gigantic, collective and gtobaI diversity or pturi-versity..."

23

that modemity is not a historicaI

MignoLo writes

period but a rhetonc based on the idea of satvatlon

"..in a coordinate diversrty of vision towards a society in which the goaI is not living to work or living to consume, but

-

instead, working to live and consuming to tive." "...De-[inking from the cotoniaI matrix of power is a subjective and

missionaries), civilizing missions (British and French

theoretical operation, and it is hard, because it is not just economic transactions we are tatking about, but the control

agents), by devetopment and modemisation (US ex-

of knowledge and subjectivity."2s

What is of key importance here, as pointed out by Watter Mignoto, is that we should not only understand this cotonial division but atso, even more importantly, review our own position within the colonial matrix of power. He says that "the geopolitics of knowledge", one of his key concepts, "shoutd not be treated as an object of study and seen from a perspective "outside" geopotitics. Ihere is no outside to the geopotitics of knowledge because there is no outside to

imperiaI difference or cotonial difference! Ihe central issue of the geopo[itics of knowtedge is, firstly, to understand, "from the side of cotonial difference" and what type atthough it may be criticat, what type of knowtedge is produced

through conversion (by Spanish and Portuguese

perts in economy and politics guiding the Third Wortd towards the same standards as the First) and through market democracy and consumerism. He pornts out that "Atthough it is true that coionialism ended

with twentieth century decolonization, coloniality was again re{ramed by the hadership of the United Walter 14ignoto, "DeStates.' See: I,1arina Griinii

-

linking epi$emology from capitaI and pluri-versatlty', Reortikulocijo, no. org/pdf

t,

2008, httpy'/wwwreartikutacija.

s/Reartikulacija4-web

pdf

.

of knowtedge is produced "from the other side of cotonial difference"26 In the [oca[ context, in political terms (also in the fietd of art, among others), this means that today we shoutd not view

-

24 lYarina Griinii

Waiter Mignoto, "Delinking epis-

temotogy from capitaI and pluri-versality", ibrd

ourselves onty as victims of cotoniality (of the European Union and the United States), but must review the hegemonic place of our society in the past and at present. 0nly through a critical rearticutation of history and by detecting inner

25 "...0nce such principtes are accepted', writes

cotoniaI situations can we reach the point of de-tinking our society from the coloniaI matrix o{ power and constituting

lMionolo, "the question is

the col[ective and globatdiversity or pluri-versality proposed by Watter Mignoto. This means that, when deating with

projects can emerge from coloniaI locaI histones:

knowtedge, potitical activism and art, we should read the theory, art history or activist social analyses written by

what kind of de-coloniaI

from Eastern and CentraI Europe (that is, the Europe at the margins 0f the imperiaI states, and wlth dense

Shkdtzen Matiqi, Sezgin Boynik, Sefik Seki Tattii, iarana Papii, Women in Black, the Autonomous Women's Centre,

and diverse histories, languages, and rettgions); from

0ueer Betgrade, etc,

coionial immigrants within Europe and the

LJS

and

from European (in senso largo, inctuding the Balkans and Eastem Europe) scholars and rntellectuats who want to de-Link from Eurocentered (sens0 stncto

3

-

Heget's heart of Europe) conception of life and

knowtedge and join the "ex-Thlrd World crowd" and

Ihe institution of contemporary art, both locatty and gtobalty, is not at at[ innocent in the processes of cotoniatity as

the mass of migrants from the ex-colon es to the

defined above; on the contrary, it is one of the important factors of the overatl economisation of society, a promoter of

heart of Europe and the US'. For more on this see:

the ideotogy of neotiberal capitatism, Euro-Attantic integrations and a means of cutturatisation. ln this constellation,

It4arina

0riinii

-

Walter Mignoto, 'De-linking ep

$e-

motogy from capitaI and pturi-versality', rbid

culture assumes a new status and a new rote. Within the framework of the processes of implementing the vatues of the European Union in societies where various forms of socialism were in power, cutture has become a catalyst "cleansing" and depotiticising of the of the process of cutturalisation, which represents a total abstraction, negation, fietd of cultura[ and artistic production with a view to ensuring unobstructed flow of capital. What actualty happens in reality is that burnqng socia[ issues remain marginalised (the problems of the pauperisation of society and high unemptoyment rate, itt-round privatisation under suspicious circumstances, monopoty in the hands of war profi-

26 Walter M'gnoto,

"Tne

0ntine JoumaL',

to the pacification and neutratisation of the above-mentioned sociaI probtems and the establishment of a seemingty ordered society.2T An important role in the said processes is ptayed by prrvate capitat, civiI society and the state.

27

For more

\':;:: -:.

httpy'/magazines.:::--:-:.

For more on l"lignoLo

EE

'Doclmeria

aro,:;:-' rr-]s cofiatl: s::

fronteno/articte.php?loI

waltermignoto.com.

trends, define the kinds of projects that get accepted, who shoutd cooperate with whom, what kind of anatysis of art

of."o,v..:;:

i: :,-:'

San Sebastian 2007 and

teers, escalation of nationatism, racism, c[ericatism, homophobia, etc.). The process of cutturatisation actuatly leads

ln this context, multinational companies, insurance companies and banks support cultural and artistic projects through a system of foundations they have; through art collections, they become owners 0f contemporary art, dictate

geopolt cs

power."an lterv !,', ',', :"Zehai. Mignolo by Catherine Walsh, in

and the colonial ty of

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