Contemporary Thesaurus - Museum of Contemporary Art of Republika Srpska (MSURS) guest exhibition at the MoCAV

June 29 – July 24, 2016

Opening: Wednesday, June 29, 2016 at 8pm, Gallery N
June 29 – July 24, 2016

Exhibition concept: Žana Vukičević, senior curator at MSURS

Artists: Igor Bošnjak, Ninoslav Kovačević, Nikola Kekerović, Mladen Miljanović, Radenko Milak, Borjana Mrđa, Mila Panić, Selma Selman, Saša Tatić and group Tač.ka

Exhibition „Contemporary Thesaurus„ was designed to represent a new cross-section of contemporary visual art in Republika Srpska, and it deals with its current tendencies, theoretical genesis, and media particularities. The exhibition includes works by ten authors (Igor Bošnjak, Ninoslav Kovačevid, Nikola Kekerovid, Mladen Miljanovid, Radenko Milak, Borjana Mrđa, Mila Panid, Selma Selman, Saša Tatid, and group Tač.ka), who were recognized as the leaders of the current art scene of the region through their active and intensive presence.

Exhibition concept is based on the term 'thesaurus' (lat. thēsaurus), which in museology refers to the process of creating museum collections constituting their contemplative and cognitive foundation. Therefore, as a contemporary treasury, the exhibition encompasses and represents collected/thesaurusized knowledge related to contemporary art of Republika Srpska.

„Contemporary Thesaurus„ aims to identify designing starting points of contemporary art practices developing in Republika Srpska after year 2000 and their positioning in corresponding context matrix. Selection of several most important, referential, and recent art phenomena, and their interpretation according to different parameters of contemporaneity stemming from current art theories resulted in categorization into conceptual and contextual wholes, which offer potential model for deciphering individual artistic expressions. These individual artistic opuses were recognized as the nuclei of active development processes and continuing qualitative superstructure. The exhibition thus intends to present the continuity of duration of this animated and heterogenous micro-scene and its expansion during relatively short time period, at the same time marked by extreme pluralism of artistic expression and several generations of young artists.

Conceptual basis of the exhibition is related to drawings placed on the interior of the Monument to Fallen Krajišnici on Banj hill near Banja Luka in a particular way. This monumental statue dating from 1961 is the work of Antun Augustinčid, while its interior walls are adorned by Ismar Mujezinovid's drawings with the WWII motifs, and based on his father Ismet Mujezinovid's sketches. The largest part of the drawing was damaged and permanenetly lost and their reconstruction is today possible only through photo documentation. Considering historical, ideological, political and cultural heritage parameters, as well as particularities of the region, Mujezinovid's drawings were given a symbolic role of encompassing factor in the process of thesaurization of knowledge about rich visual art orginating in this region.

Exhibition concept was designed by Žana Vukičević, senior curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Republika Srpska.