Sam Durant
Nonaligned Echoes, Gifts and Returns
Curated by Natalija Vujošević
Gallery of Museum of Contemporary art of Montenegro
10.9.2024 – 10.10.2024
Nonaligned Echoes: Gifts and Returns continues the trajectory of Durant’s work Proposal for Non-Aligned Monuments, Free Movement (2020) and represents the latest iteration in a series of projects addressing the postcolonial period, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the intersection of cultural production and struggles for independence.
By researching archives of the Collection of art from Non-Aligned Countries*, the artist selects 25 artworks for this exhibition that depict groups of people engaged in various activities, ranging from fieldwork, dance, and religious gatherings to portrayals of workers’ protests and anticolonial struggles. A luminous sign in the gallery’s window displays the famous slogan Another World is Possible, known as motto of World Social Forum** 2001 which, addressing passersby from the gallery window, becomes a statement, question, and call to action.
In central space, in dialogue with works from nonaligned collection, the artist presents a new work, model of Park Petrović***, home of the former Gallery of Art of the Non-Aligned Countries, Josip Broz Tito, and now the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montenegro.
By accompanying work with workstations and a reading area, the artist invites visitors to join in learning, reflecting, and imagining an alternative world by creating monuments, writing slogans, and learning from past ideas that once envisioned different futures from the one that has materialized. In this way, the exhibition evolves into an active, process-oriented space and collective artwork. The artist carefully arranges these elements in relation to one another, fostering intercommunication that activates signposts and redefines roles within a space that invites engagement. By subverting the often intimidating role of monuments, typically erected by those who wield power and thereby control the interpretation of history, in the work they become sketches for a better world, conceived and created by the hands of ordinary people.
Shaped as a complex hybrid of historical, artistic, curatorial, educational, and participatory elements, the exhibition serves as a polygon for rehearsing and activating ideas of a common future that can offer alternatives to the violent and vertical mechanisms of a dystopian reality.
The exhibition features the following works: Rabab Nemr Composition 1984 Egypt, Henry Kajubi Rural Idyll 1984 Uganda, Helena Castillo Paradise 1980 Angola, Custodio Da Silva Carnival Studio in Victoria 1985 Angola, Unknown Artist Procession 20th century Benin, Adao Joao Tomas Vista Agitation 1986 Angola, Chanuo Maundu Devils 20th century Tanzania, Bernard Matemera Family 1987 Zimbabwe, Sherif Abdurahman Composition (Battle of Adwa) 20th century Ethiopia, Mody Bounama Cossa Untitled 20th century Guinea, U. Marlar Musicians 1990 Burma, Edsel Moscoso Coconut Harvest 1983 Philippines, Therese Chinivasagam Religious Festival Esala Pageant Kandy Sri Lanka, Unknown Artist Religious Festival Perahera Sri Lanka, Hambis Tsangaris Refugees II 1987 Cyprus, Hambis Tsangaris Kuzminki Park 1981/2 Cyprus, Hambis Tsangaris Together We Fight for One State 1982/4 Cyprus, Serbian Engraving of the 18th Century Binder Johan Filip Old City of Jerusalem 1795, Jan Kujuzović Kolo 1986 Yugoslavia, Map Kovčežić Dušan Jevtović, Yugoslavia, Walter Solon Romero Don Quixote in Exile Bolivia, Irmad Jaimes Carnival 1981 Bolivia, Moises Finale Moises De Los Finale Al De Coa Divertimento No. 40 1985 Cuba, Colette Prat Finch Painting 1966 Mexico, as well as works by Sam Durant Another World Is Possible, Lightbox Sign, Nonaligned Echoes, Gifts and Returns, Sculpture in Making, 2024.
The exhibition is accompanied by a publication featuring texts by Bojana Piškur and Natalija Vujošević, as well as an interview with the artist.
*The collection, now part of MSUCG, is the legacy of the Josip Broz Tito The Art Gallery of Nonaligned Countries Josip Broz Tito, established on December 17, 1981, by a decision of the Assembly of the City of Titograd. Built on the enthusiasm of individuals, donations from citizens, and support from a network of local, republican, and Yugoslav institutions, this gallery accumulated around 800 works from 56 NAM countries and “developing countries” during its decade of active operation. The gallery’s collection began forming in 1982 in collaboration with NAM member countries. It was officially opened to the public on September 1, 1984, marking the anniversary of the first session of the Non-Aligned Movement. The gallery was housed in the Petrović Castle and its annexed buildings, where it remained open to visitors until June 1995, when it was closed by a decision of the Government of Montenegro and integrated into the newly formed Center for Contemporary Art, now the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montenegro.
** The World Social Forum (WSF, Portuguese: Fórum Social Mundial [ˈfɔɾũ sosi’aw mũdʒiˈaw]) is an annual meeting of civil society organizations, first held in Brazil, which offers a self-conscious effort to develop an alternative future through the championing of counter-hegemonic globalization.
The World Social Forum first met in 2001, but it had its roots in Latin American activism, namely the encuentro, a meeting which emphasizes dialogue and exchange of ideas among activists. Some of the founders of the WSF, were part of the First International Encuentro for Humanity and Against Neoliberalism in 1996, and decided to expand the idea and make it a global forum for activists of all stripes opposing hegemonic globalization and neoliberalism.
*** Kruševac Park surrounds the Petrović Castle, once the home of The Art Gallery of Nonaligned Countries, and now the headquarters of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montenegro, with its construction and origins dating back to 1905. In the park, among other things, there are permanent displays of sculptures by Zimbabwean artists Bernard Matemera and Nicholas Mukomberanwa, as well as by Indian artist Avtar Singh. These sculptures were donated and created during their residency visits to the Gallery of Non-Aligned Countries.
More info about artist: https://www.samdurant.net
