Lina Akif, Sara Bezovšek, Maja Bojanić, Domen Dimovski, Nina Goropečnik, Betina Habjanič & Karin Vrbek, Tina Jeranko, Lucija Klauž, Zala Klančnik, Tatiana Kocmur, Dalea Kovačec, Tine Lisjak, Ines Matos, Tamara Mihalič, Monika Plemen, Lara Papov, Lana Požlep, Sara Rman, Nika Tomažič

You are cordially invited to the opening of the exhibition Premiere on Saturday 18 June, Summer Museum Night, at 8 pm at the Gallery of Contemporary Art and a performative event by Lučka Centa at 10 pm at Račka Gallery.

The fifth Premiere Triennial features the latest art production of twenty young artists whose visual and semantic language reflects today's times and who are paving their way onto the Slovenian art scene. The call for entries and the exhibition were conceived in 2009 to offer the youngest generation of artists the conditions for a professional institutional presentation and to provide the professional community and the general public with an insight into new artistic concepts and practices that stand out in terms of form and conceptual orientation. By detecting new movements early on, depending on art media research, study conditions, professional emphases, the general social climate, the concrete circumstances of individuals and groups, and the currents of global movements and politics, we seek to identify how the younger generation of artists perceives the creative process, with the simple intention of understanding the past somewhere in the future. Whether near or far, it continues to pose questions for us today: How will we interpret contemporaneity in the context of art and beyond? How can creative engagement with contemporary media become more prominent in the field of art over time? How is the role of the audience changing in building the relationship between viewer – artwork – artist?

The visible artistic approaches of the nineteen selected projects in the exhibition are processuality and performativity, reflection on object and space, and the interactivity of artistic content. The artists who use modern digital, audio-visual and IT means do not necessarily belong to the field of intermedia or new media art, but are much less burdened by the free choice of media as one of the ways of expressing and empowering their ideas. The digitally processed image (Tine Lisjak, Domen Dimovski), screen, sound and the moving image (Zala Klančnik, Karin Vrbek & Betina Habjanič) are joined in the exhibition by interactivity, by which the artists want to involve the viewer in the artwork itself through active experience (Sara Bezovšek, Dalea Kovačec, Nika Tomažič, Maja Bojanić). The "emancipated" viewer not only activates the artwork by his mere presence and "pushing a button", but also becomes part of the artwork through the initiative that the work cannot be realised at all without the viewer’s action. In contrast to previous editions, performance occupies an important place in this edition of Premiere. The performative gesture is included in recording the process (Nina Goropečnik, Tamara Mihalič), contemplating identity (Lina Akif) or establishing a relationship between subject and object (Monika Plemen, Tatiana Kocmur, Tina Jeranko). The process or procedure of execution is also crucial in the works that deal with the handling of material as the artists raise questions on the transformation of materiality and the (in)visibility of the object (Sara Rman, Lara Papov). Attention is also drawn to contemporary printmaking (Lucija Klauž, Ines Matos) and installation, which defines space and place (Lana Požlep). Careful consideration of the artistic medium and process in the form of comprehensive chapters in the exhibition stands out more this time than theme-based content-related segments. The contents of the works refer to the attitude towards intimate and public space, to the consideration of the relationship between man and the environment. In their works, the artists emphasise alienation and immersion in the images of the future on the threshold of the present. They explore their own identity and the language of nature. Above all, after two years of distance, we are invited to actively step into contemporary art, to engage with aesthetic images, thoughts and relationships.

Curator: Maja Antončič
Production: Celeia Celje Institute
Supported by: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, Municipality of Celje

Accompanying exhibition events:

18. 6., 22.00, Galerija Račka
Lučka Centa: Potatoids, performance

30. 6. 2022, 18:00
Guided tour of the exhibition

12. 7. 2022, 18:00
Guided tour of the exhibition

11. 8. 2022, 18:00
Guided tour of the exhibition

16. 8. 2022, 18:00
Performance workshop with artist Tina Jeranko

8. 9. 2022, 18.00
Presentation of the catalogue and conversation with the artists

10. 9. 2022, 10:00
Concluding guided tour of the exhibition