Darka Radosavljević Vasiljević is the curator of the exhibitions and editor of the monograph.
The exhibition elements of the project have been mounted in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Remont Independent Artistic Association.
The exhibition will be opened on Friday 23rd April from 6 pm to 8 pm.
The Salon of the MoCAB respects all recommended epidemiological measures and the allowed number of the visitors present at the same time is 20.
“Public Clandestine” is a project dedicated to the complex multimedia work of Miomir Grujić – Fleka, a cult figure of the Belgrade art scene of the 1980s and 1990s. It consists of three independent elements. There is a multimedia retrospective exhibition in the Salon of the MSUB, the Remont Gallery presents previously unseen works and concepts, and a monograph has been published by Remont NUA editions.
Miomir Grujić – Fleka was a phenomenon in the urban culture of the 1980s and 1990s in Serbia, pushing many of the perceived boundaries of artistic creation. He launched a number of initiatives which had a strong influence on the development of urban culture. Among these were Klub Akademija (Club Academia), Radio Šišmiš (Bat Radio) and the Urbazon project. In the magazines and newspapers he edited or contributed to, he presented provocative and committed articles and graphic content. He worked as a visual artist from the mid to late 1980s, bringing to the existing art scene a different sensibility and attitude to artistic creation. At the end of the 1980s, because of his visual impairment, a new phase of performance and social engagement began, primarily through the unique audio format Radio Šišmiš (Bat Radio) and the Urbazone movement.
He often referred to himself as “Public Clandestine” and explained this seemingly meaningless expression thus: “It indicates all the absurdity and inverted meaning which has been the hallmark of our reality. Any attempt to rebel with a different opinion causes indescribable suspicion in the environment.” “The artist is a public clandestine. The artist as process, a radiation that endures regardless of whether it is noted or ignored. Nonsense and absurdity, irony and cynicism are the features of the current reality, and at the same time the best means of unmasking and fighting against that kind of reality.”
The Salon of the MoCAB
As a complex endeavour to present the significance of Miomira Grujić – Fleka, this exhibition focuses on his brief career as a visual artist. This is less familiar to the public, but of course includes other interdisciplinary works, extremely important for the perception of his work.
The exhibition is conceptually divided into three zones. The first, under the title IDENTITY VS. AUTHORITY, is inspired by a statement, the title of an interview, and presents the author’s cult articles. The second is INSTINCT ZONE, inspired by Fleka’s ultimate cult text “Instinct-Ultrazon”. This deals with his visual works and paintings of the 1980s. The third, ZOMBIE ZONE, in the form of documentation as well as audio and video works, indicates the indestructibility of Grujić’s spirit, social engagement and creative power.
Remont Gallery
In the course of preparing this project, a fascinating number of drawings and graphics depicting the female nude were discovered. A collection of about thirty nudes, produced in the mid and late 1980s, will be seen in public for the first time at Remont Gallery.
Monograph
The 280-page monograph presents the complete and complex creative output of Miomir Grujić – Fleka. The book comprises thirty articles, of which about a third are new authorial texts, while the remainder are reprints of Fleka’s articles and interviews. English translations of key texts are included. The monograph will be launched during May, 2021.
During the exhibition audience will be able to see selection of films in following schedule:
12, 2, 4 and 6 pm
1. ZOMBIETOWN (1995) 25’32”
Author: Marc J. Hawker
Production: Darkfibre Entertainment Ltd., Flipside Productions, Lomond Television
2. BEOGRADSKI INTERVJU – BIT (1997) 30’30”
Author: Dragana Kanjevac
Production: Studio B
3. AKADEMIJA REPUBLIKA (1997) 30’12”
Authors: Zoran Vujović, Dragana Kanjevac
Produkcija: B92
4. PARALELNI SVET (1995) 6’51”
Authors: Janko Baljak, Zoran Petrović, Vesna Pavlović
Production: B92
5. GRAĐANIN X (1996) 26’35”
Author: Dragana Kanjevac
Production: TV Politika
Saturday at 6 pm:
BY FLEKA – GLAS UNDERGROUNDA (2017) 75’53”
Author: Darko Pavlović
Production: Cultural Center Šabac and Independent production Opušteni diktator
Miomir Grujić – Fleka (Šabac, 1954 – Belgrade, 2003) studied law and painting in Belgrade. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts (FLU) in 1985, where he also obtained his master’s degree in 1987. Since the mid-1970s, he has been active on the local cultural and social scene as the initiator and organizer of various programs, being a journalist and multimedia artist. In his twenties, he was noted cooperating with multiple organizations and print media in his hometown of Šabac (Kolokvijum, 25.Maj and others); at the end of the seventies, he initiated the opening of the Zavičajni klub studenata (Fatherland Student Club). The Club was colloquially called Rupa (The Hole), and it still operates under the very name. At the beginning of his studies in Belgrade, he teamed up with Omladinske Novine and other print media. A collaborator and editor, he has published literary works, illustrations, texts, essays, translations within the field of popular culture, extended media, and art theory. After enrolling at the Faculty of Fine Arts (FLU), soon after he became the editor-in-chief of the magazine 4F of the University of Arts in Belgrade (1982-1984) and later on the program editor of the Academy Club at the FLU (1984-1989). Within the Academy Club, he introduced a new standard to the Club’s activities, programmatically connecting the visual arts and the rock & roll scene. In the same period, he has also exhibited intensively in solo and group exhibitions. During the late eighties, he fell ill, losing his sight. In December 1989, he launched the experimental media program Radio Šišmiš on Radio B92, which was broadcasted, with a single-halt until March 1999. At the same time, in 1993, he launched the URBAZONE project, which was attained in formal and informal spaces until the year 2000, resulting in over a hundred different actions. Since 2000, in cooperation with KC REX (REX Cultural Center), he has been implementing the TROTOLETAK project, through which he has published visual articles in the daily Danas.
Photos: Bojana Janjić, MSUB