The Balkan Matrix

Cornerhouse, Manchester, UK

www.cornerhouse.org <http://www.cornerhouse.org/>

8 March until 20 April 2003

Gallery 1

The Balkan Matrix

Stevan Vukoviae and Mihael Milunoviae


The Balkan Matrix is an artists? residency exclusive to Cornerhouse. A
continually evolving work, it examines both the West's perception of and its
relation to the Balkan states, encouraging visitor participation in the
shaping of the Balkan identity in both real and virtual space.



The title of the piece is inspired by the film The Matrix (1999), in which
the hero (Keanu Reeves) awakens into the ?real reality?, a virtual world
controlled by a mega-computer. The piece integrates the concepts of virtual
and real space, using installation, text and web technology to establish
parallel Balkan living spaces which exist on-line and in the gallery. The
ordinary objects that fill the room reveal a traumatic history as the
interaction develops - the sofa where Milosevic once sat, Causcescu?s
distinctive hat, trophies that are really weapons used in recent conflicts.
The original perception of the room?s homely domesticity is soon displaced
by a sense of horror and threatening possibilities.



Stevan Vukoviae is an art critic, curator and editor for several magazines in
Yugoslavia and Montenegro. Mihael Milunoviae is a visual artist who has
exhibited extensively both in Belgrade and internationally. They are
participants in the project Balkan Konsulat, Graz, Austria.



A new website is under construction: http://www.balkanmatrix.com
<http://www.balkanmatrix.com/> – a virtual mirror of the installation in
Gallery 1, provides informational links to the objects in the room. It will
eventually include documentation of the construction of the room, and
comments from visitors to the Gallery during the Artist?s residency in
Manchester.




Gallery 2 & 3:

Imaginary Balkans

Curated by Breda Beban

Artists: Tanja Dabo, Vladimir Martek, Zoran Naskovski, Vladimir Nikoliae,
Mladen Stilinoviae, Dragana Zarevac and Igor Grubiae.



Curated by award-winning artist Breda Beban, this exhibition draws together
photography, video and installation work by seven Serbian and Croatian
artists. Breda Beban fled Zagreb in 1991 and now works in London and
Sheffield. Unable herself to deal with the antagonisms created by the recent
unrest and the situation faced now by the two nationalities, this selection
of work from Zagreb and Belgrade expresses her own personal reflection on
the turbulent territory of her former homeland. Beban focused her selection
on the artists who remained in their countries during war rather than leave
as she did.



Each artist defines the term ?Balkan? through their work in sometimes
melancholic, yet often very witty and celebratory ways. Mladen Stilinoviae
explores the routines of everyday Balkan life, the themes of pain, death,
money, work and poverty dominating his style. The negative stereotypical
perception of Balkan ?macho men? is amusingly explored in Dragana Zarevac?s
Perfect Marriage. Vladimir Nikoliae?s playful piece Autoportrait comments on
the post-communist situation in which ownership of a (Western) car has
become one of the strongest symbols of male identity. Vladimir Martek
investigates ambiguous and contradictory meanings of the Balkans through
geographical maps.



The exhibition catalogue, with texts by Chris Darke and Breda Beban, is
available in the Cornerhouse Gallery Bookshop at a special exhibition price
of ?5.00, and through Cornerhouse Publications (see p3) at ?7.50
www.cornerhouse.org/publications or tel: 0161 200 1502



Imaginary Balkans is a Site Gallery, Sheffield Touring Exhibition

Funded by The National Touring Programme through the Arts Council of England
and Visiting Arts