VGA 01 / ALU, APURI, AUKOS
Group exhibition
A group exhibition of works by students of the Academy of Fine Arts of the University of Zagreb, the Academy of Applied Arts of the University of Rijeka and the Academy of Arts and Culture of the J.J. Strossmayer University of Osijek entitled "VGA 01".
This exhibition project was created in cooperation with the Art History Students' Club of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb and the Virtual Gallery Akademija, and in addition to the Šira Gallery, it was simultaneously presented at the SKC Gallery in Rijeka and the Kazamat Gallery in Osijek (HDLU Osijek).
FROM THE PREFACE OF THE EXHIBITION
Art is everything, it was proven about a hundred years ago. That is, art can be anything.
And yet, it is precisely after radical avant-garde reflections, after setting the new as a requirement of modernity and contemporaneity, that there are repeated reactions to a return to figural and fine arts. Unfortunately, it often happens that the form of a work defines its reception as of high quality, which is what this conception wants to warn about. Artificial inventions are the primacy of the type, the superiority of one form of expression over another, as well as the division into the obsolescence of traditional or excessively radical new and experimental media – each work should be interpreted according to the quality of its technical, performative, and conceptual excellence. That is why in today's age, often negatively connoted, pluralism, we encourage authors to publicly establish and present excellence independent of expression. We are of the opinion that it is unnecessary to choose and defend only one statement because they are all just an expression and reflection of artistic activity, let the value of the traditional but also the innovative be proven, let the effectiveness of the pure medium as well as the intermedia one be shown.
In addition, the exhibition project VGA 01 sets the democratization of art as the norm – both by playing with virtuality and by disseminating works into new local environments. The decentralization of Croatian student production is the first step in which exhibitors are trying to offer an answer to the growing demands of self-promotion, networking and omnipresence. With the performance of the three exhibitions, there is a partnership exchange of authors between cities and gives them the opportunity to present themselves to an "unknown" audience, and the visitor an insight into the creative tendencies of students from other backgrounds. Such a replacement actually achieves an active perception of Croatian student art production and encourages mutual communication, as well as the exchange of experiences.
Mihaela Zajec
Organizers of the exhibition project: Art History Students' Club of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb and Virtual Gallery Academy
Organizers of the exhibition at the Šira Gallery: Academy of Fine Arts of the University of Zagreb, Art History Students' Club of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb and Virtual Gallery Academy
Curatorial concept: Josip Drdić and Mihaela Zajec
Assistant curators: Daria Granić, Buga Kranželić, Lora Rajčić, Ivana Završki
The exhibitions were realized with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, the City Office for Culture of the City of Zagreb, the Student Union of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb and the Art History Students' Club of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb.
You can see the works at the Virtual Gallery Akademija: #01VGA
The exhibition at the Šira Gallery can be viewed during the Gallery's working hours (Mon-Fri: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., 6 p.m. – 8 p.m., Saturdays: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.) until November 29, 2019.