ROOM TO NEGOTIATE

Guests: Adnan Softić, Nina Softić

What happens to a space when the conditions for polyphony are systematically removed? The question is not theoretical. It arises in Prijedor, where a high-rise building has become the tomb of the idea of a classless, multicultural society.

In Thessaloniki, where the eradication of Europe's oldest Jewish community appears not as a void, but as building material. In Skopje, where a brand new ancient city is being built. In Varna, where a monument to propagated friendship becomes a stage for coded masculinity. In Cyprus, Novi Sad, Tbilisi - and beyond. Studio Softić's ongoing series of works since 2016 - predominantly shot in regions marked as the periphery of Europe - does not collect evidence. It collects conditions. It asks not only what has been destroyed, but also how destruction continues to have an effect as a structure - and about the techniques of its sedimentation. Spaces are read as operative systems. The majority of the works will be created as part of the ifa touring exhibition 'EVROVIZION - Crossing Stories and Spaces' and will be further developed and shown in 13 countries until 2029. The series shifts the focus from representative centers to those places where European self-images are materially produced. From the edge as a supposedly deficient zone to the edge as a production site of the so-called center.

In 'ROOM TO NEGOTIATE', the object of negotiation remains absent. Overwritten. Occupied. Repressed. Recoded. Studio Softić's works do not react with synthesis, but with opening: they create temporary arrangements in which hidden structures and blocked meanings become visible - and thus renegotiable. The exhibition marks an intermediate stage in this ongoing artistic investigation. An accompanying educational program continues the investigation in talks and screenings.

Selected films from the exhibition in the cinema
fux Lichtspiele
MI to SO 15-19.4.
2 pm