Artist collectives and works from the 90s

NEDA KOVINIĆ x The Sadness, ŠKART, 1992–1993
workshop 15–16.10.2022, 10:00-14:00 + 17.10.2022, 17:00-20:00
Lapsus, Timișoara

The ŠKART (“scraps”) Group appeared at the exhibition “Private – Public,” which marked the entry of critical artistic practices into the public space of Serbia during the nineties. ŠKART Group (consisting of Dragan Protić and Đorđe Balmazović, and their collaborator at the time, photographer Vesna Pavlović) started in 1992 with the action “The Sadness” within which they had been present in different locations sharing to passers-by poems printed on cardboard plates. Songs, that were always halfway between precise observation and witty pathos, marked the attitude of active resignation in relation to relapses of nationalist euphoria and in relation to the rejection to formulate a critical attitude in a numb and closed society through the forgotten feelings of empathy and solidarity. For example, the poem “Sadness of a Potential Traveller” was distributed at the train station, “Sadness of a Potential Vegetable” at the market, and “Sadness of a Potential Return” was sent by mail to acquaintances who were among hundreds of thousands of those who left Serbia since the beginning of the war. The mission of the group was to draw attention towards what people would otherwise not notice. ŠKART’s work is cross-disciplinary, ranging from multi-media, literary publications, and performance, including street actions. Their work sometimes expresses personal feelings (theirs or others) which can reflect a story of the larger society. This is exemplified in “The Sadness Project” which was ŠKART’s public declaration of personal sadness during the winter of 1992–1993.

The workshop given by artist Neda Kovinić proposes: an introduction into the social-political context of former Yugoslavia during the period in which “The Sadness” artwork set down its roots, connected to the Romanian situation of that time, while also introducing ŠKART’s art practice together with the artist own practice and interest in their work in contemporary context; body movement and writing practice sessions; exploring interactions with passers-by in various public spaces around “The Sadness” poems.

Questions raised: What would be a public space for socio-political art actions nowadays? If the 1990s made out a step towards the public and outside the established art institutions by going out into the street, market, stations, what would be a contemporary gesture of going out into public? If ŠKART recognised sadness as a key emotion or affect, what emotion would we single out today as a symptom? Would we rather talk about stress, anxiety, depression, narcissism, alienation?

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