“The relationships between art, technology and identity have not been explored and expressed with such intensity, dynamics and continuity as it is a case with the medium of video. (…) Selected works deal with the issues of self-­‐representation in the physical, emotional, social and cultural contexts as one of key topics in Croatian art since early 1970s” writes the curator of the Marseille exhibition Branka Bencic, during the Festival of Croatia in France.

According to Culturenet.hr and 25 InstantsVideo from Marseille: “Constructed by means of language and representation identities are not a stable unit but a changing thread of ideological positions built as a temporary meeting point of subjects and codes on the crossroads of different social formations and personal histories. Project is developing as a survey of contemporary video production in Croatia.” (…) ” We can map historical trajectories of conceptual art and feminist art practices – that opened a model for understanding a relevant part of contemporary artistic production, practices considered self-­‐referential, performance and body based activities.”

Those older conceptual video masters – SANJA IVEKOVIĆ and DALIBOR MARTINIS, inspired the younger generation of artists :  IVAN FAKTOR, ZLATKO KOPLJAR, VLASTA ŽANIĆ, SANDRA STERLE, RENATA POLJAK etc.

* Image: Dalibor Martinis from 1970’s interviews himself in 2010 on Croatian National Television. One of the key questions was if he has been alive…

MV