Name: Igor Grubić: Traces of Disappearing (In Three Acts)
Start: 2019-12-5 20:00
End: 2020-01-04 20:00
Location: Museum of Contemporary Art (MSU)

MSU Zagreb

Igor Grubić: Traces of Disappearing (In Three Acts)

Igor Grubić: Tragovi nestajanja (u tri čina)

Following the success of the project Traces of Disappearing (In Three Acts) by Igor Grubić as the representative of Croatia at the Venice Biennale, Zagreb’s audience will have the first opportunity to see the project in its entirety at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Traces of Disappearing (In Three Acts)

The artist initiated the project in 2006, when he began documenting the post-war, transitional reality in Croatia, particularly the transition from socialism to capitalism, from a centralised, state-planned economy to a free-market economy. Within the thirteen-year period, during which he studied the influence on changes in housing, urban tissue, public space and social relations, Igor Grubić has produced three interconnected photographic essays and an animated film, which together make a whole defined by chapters.

The exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art will remain open until 4 January 2020, after which it will be presented in Split, Osijek, and Rijeka.

The participation of Croatia at the 58th Venice Biennale has been funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, with support by Kreativni sindikat (Creative Syndicate) and the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC). The exhibition at MSU has been organised in collaboration with AM Centre.

Igor Grubić’s project for the Biennale, Traces of Disappearing in Three Acts (2006-2019), is thirteen years in the making. It consists of three inter-related photo essays and an animated film, set in a specially designed mise-en-scène. The project began in 2006 when the artist began documenting post-war, transitional reality in Croatia, particularly the fundamental shift from socialism to capitalism, from a central, stated-planned to a free market economy. It explores how this has affected changes in habitation, the urban fabric, public space and social relations.

Wild House, the first chapter or ‘Act’, examines changes in homes, living and public space with the privatisation of property and the consolidation of neo-liberalism in the country; Filigree Sidewalk (Act II), looks into traditional vocations such as local handcrafts and specialist workshops, highlighting which professions survive and which not in the new economic circumstances. Finally, Deconstruction of the Factory (Act III) presents a series of defunct factories, monumental reminders of the transition from industry to post-industry, and changing conditions of work. The latter also become the setting for Grubić’s short film, How Steel was Tempered, which weaves together issues of worker history, family bonds and generational shifts, suggesting also the importance of fruitful future relationships based on solidarity, shared social space and creative, collaborative working. The film has already received four awards. A newly edited version will be presented in Venice for the first time.

Grubić’s project sits firmly in the humanist dimension of documentary photography, bridging together poetics, politics and social reality. The project for the Biennale expands his already significant contribution into socially committed documentary work, and the preservation of the memory of Croatia’s architectural history, work and culture. Its scope is local but also ecumenical, analysing as it does the changes engendered by globalization, privatisation and the consolidation of neo-liberalism. Finally, it highlights the new situations that are coming to replace the old, while subtly inviting us to think about future ways of imagining – and inhabiting - our world.

Curator: Katerina Gregos

EXHIBITION Traces of Disappearing
(In Three Acts)

Museum of Contemporary Art (MSU),
Zagreb

December 12, 2019 - January 5, 2020

WORKING HOURS:

TU – TH: 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
SA: 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
SU: 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
MONDAY: CLOSED

Igor Grubić (b. 1969, Zagreb) is one of Croatia’s most accomplished and internationally acclaimed artists.

His work includes site-specific interventions in public spaces, photography, and film.

Since 2000 he is also working as a producer and author of documentaries, TV reportages and socially committed commercials.

Exhibitions include, among others: Tirana Biennial 2 (2003); Manifesta 4 (Frankfurt, 2002); Manifesta 9 (Genk, 2012); 50.October Salon (Belgrade, 2009); Gender Check, MuMOK (Vienna, 2009); 11.Istanbul Biennial (2009); 4.Fotofestival Mannheim Ludwigshafen, Heidelberg (2011); East Side Stories, Palais de Tokyo (Paris, 2012); Gwangju Biennale (2014); Zero Tolerance, MOMA PS1 (New York 2014); Degrees of Freedom, MAMbo (Bologna, 2015); 5th Thessaloniki Biennial (2015); Cut / Rez, MSU (Zagreb, 2018); Heavenly creatures, MG+MSUM (Ljubljana, 2018); The Value of Freedom, Belvedere 21 (Vienna, 2018). Grubić is represented by Laveronica arte contemporanea, Modica, Sicily.

More about Igor and his work

Igor Grubić 'How Steel was Tempered' (2018.)