Poetrying and Book Launch — Building Human Relations Through Art: Belgrade Art Collective Škart from 1990 to Present

Škart (Dragan Protić, Đorđe Balmazović), Seda Yıldız, Rob van Leijsen

Salt Galata

June 8, 2023 18.30

1book Cover <i>Building Human Relations Through Art: Belgrade Art Collective Škart from 1990 to Present</i>, Onomatopee, 2022 [kapak]
Görsel: Rob van Leijsen
Building Human Relations Through Art: Belgrade Art Collective Škart from 1990 to Present, Onomatopee, 2022 [book cover]
Image: Rob van Leijsen
Salt Research

Organized by independent curator and writer Seda Yıldız, Belgrade-based collective Škart, and graphic designer Rob van Leijsen, What Knows What, What is What? begins with a poetry performance and launch of the book Building Human Relations Through Art: Belgrade Art Collective Škart from 1990 to Present.

From its meager beginnings in a workshop in Belgrade on the outbreak of war, Škart has spent thirty years using creativity to unite people—usually outside the established art institutions. The collective has been operating within and around existing hierarchies of the art world and everyday life, working in collaboration with marginalized groups, NGOs, and anti-war movements. Škart’s understanding of the artwork is fluid and relationship based. No matter the medium—poetry, embroidery, graphic design, choir, or radio broadcast—its artistic explorations are characterized by self-organization, rooted in creating open and accessible infrastructures for being together. This approach has been incorporated into different activities ranging from the street level to participation in the Venice Biennale of Architecture. Different social experiences create different forms of relativity.

Edited by Seda Yıldız, Building Human Relations Through Art traces Škart’s practice through conversations with the collective members and a collection of poems, images, and drawings, accompanied by newly commissioned texts by Zdenka Badovinac, Branislav Dimitrijević, and Milica Pekić.

This free-admission program will be held in English and is open to everyone.

Building Human Relations Through Art: Belgrade Art Collective Škart from 1990 to Present
English, 240 pages ©Onomatopee, 2022
ISBN: 978-94-93148-82-6
Editor: Seda Yıldız
Authors: Zdenka Badovinac, Branislav Dimitrijević, Milica Pekić, Seda Yıldız
Graphic Design: Rob van Leijsen

Škart was founded in 1990 in the graphics studio at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Architecture. Dealing with poetry, music, graphic design, and alternative education, the collective’s first decade (1990-2000) was marked by self-released (samizdat) anti-war resistance projects and their sharing on the streets. In the second decade (2000-2010), the group co-founded several collectives and initiatives: Horkeškart and Proba choirs, children’s choirs Deca sa meseca and AprilZMAJun, Defiant Pensioners poetry group, NONpractical Women embroidery group. Since 2010, the collective has been experimenting with site-specific workshops, animated poetry forms, comics, documentary illustrations, and film.

Seda Yıldız (Istanbul, 1989) is an independent curator and writer based in Hamburg and Istanbul. Having a background in art practice, design, and literature, her transdisciplinary practice spans curating, writing, and editing. Her research interests comprise artist collectives and self-archiving practices, focusing on collaborative approaches to publicizing art. Conviviality and friendship are central values in her artistic work. Currently, she is working on curatorial projects to be realized at the Kunstpavillon & Neue Galerie Innsbruck (2023) and Škuc Gallery Ljubljana (2023).

Rob van Leijsen (Tilburg, 1983) is a multidisciplinary graphic designer and writer based in Geneva, Switzerland. He runs his own design studio next to his teaching position at the Visual Communication Department of HEAD–Genève. In 2012, he obtained a master’s degree in Design Spaces and Communication at HEAD–Genève with his graduation project “Art Handling in Oblivion.” Bringing together five art collections stolen during wartime, this catalog was published by Edition Fink in 2014. His most recent book is the bilingual essay Copy, Tweak, Paste: Methods of Appropriation in Reenacted Artists’ Books (Editions Clinamen, 2020).
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