Saturday, November 3, 4-6 pm

Are we looking at the past because of our fear of confronting the void of the present? Are we connecting the past with the future because there is nothing in the present to connect it to? Is the 'new modern' of today turning out to be privatized in the same way we could claim that politics have become privatized?

A talk with special guests:
Svetlana Boym, writer, theorist and media artist
Sanja Ivekovic, artist

In conjunction with the exhibition Stalking with Stories: The Pioneers of the Immemorable

Moderated by:
Antonia Majaca & Ivana Bago, curators of the exhibition

This event marks the closing of Stalking with Stories: The Pioneers of the Immemorable at apexart. It will provide a broader contextualization of the issues dealt with in the exhibition, presenting some of the theoretical ideas and artistic practices that have served as starting points and inspiration for curators Antonia Majaca and Ivana Bago.

The Russian-American theorist and artist, Svetlana Boym, will talk about her research and views on the question of nostalgia, as well as present her concept of the off-modern. The Croatian artist Sanja Ivekovic (whose work is featured in the show), will present and discuss a selection of her more recent projects relating to the issues of history and memory, confronting social amnesia and deeply rooted social conflicts. All the topics will be discussed within the broader context of the phenomena of dealing with issues of nostalgia, memory and re-narrating the history in recent contemporary art practice.

Sanja Ivekovic, who lives and works in Zagreb, began exhibiting her photo-collages, videos, performances, and installations in the mid 1970s. Her work from the 1990s deals with the collapse of socialist regimes and the consequences of the triumph of capitalism and the market economy over living conditions, particularly of women. Her recent exhibitions include “Documenta 12”; “General Alert”, Fundacio Antoni Tapies, Gothenburg Konsthall (2007); Kölnischer Kunstverein, “Public Cuts”, Galerija P74 (Ljubljana, 2006); “Open Systems: Rethinking Art c. 1970”, Tate Modern (London, 2005); “Die Regierung”, Secession (2005); “Women’s House”, Palazzo Ferreri, (Genoa, 2004); Documenta 11 (Kassel, 2002); “Personal Cuts”, NGBK (2002); Galerie im Taxispalais (Innsbruck, 2001); “After the Wall”, Moderna Muset (1999/2001); Manifesta 2 (Luxembourg, 1998).

Svetlana Boym is writer, theorist and media artist. Her books include The Future of Nostalgia (2001) Common Places (1994); Kosmos: Remembrances of the Future (with Adam Bartos, 2002); Death in Quotation Marks (1991); the novel Ninochka (2003); and Territories of Terror (exhibition catalogue, 2006). Svetlana leads parallel lives between writing and visual arts. She is currently finishing two book projects "Architecture of the Off-Modern" and "Another Freedom:  Art, Politics, Philosophy." Svetlana Boym teaches in Comparative Literature at Harvard University and is an Associate of Graduate School of Design. Native of St. Petersburg, Russia, she now lives and works in Cambridge, USA. She is currently finishing two book projects "Architecture of the Off-Modern" and "Another Freedom: Art, Politics, Philosophy."

Antonia Majaca and Ivana Bago are curators based in Zagreb, Croatia, where they are currently programming G-MK | Galerija Miroslav Kraljevic, a non-profit contemporary art center dedicated to research-based and contextual art practices.

Please join us.
All events are open to the public and free.

apexart
291 Church Street, NYC, 10013
t. 212 431 5270
www.apexart.org

Directions: A, C, E, N, R, Q, 6, J, W, M, Z to Canal and 1 to Franklin.

Stalking with Stories is supported in part by FACE Croatia and the Trust for Mutual Understanding.

apexart's exhibitions and public programs are supported in part by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts.

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