When Architecture Becomes Reminiscence (of a Long-Forgotten Experience)

Katharina Swoboda: Tecton Housing/ Highpoint, video, 2017

A review of the artistic production of the Motel Trogir project 2014-2017

Artists: Gildo Bavčević, Igor Juran, Gaja Mežnarić Osole & Nuša Jelenec, Neli Ružić, Lana Stojićević, Katharina Swoboda, Nikolas Ventourakis, Ana Zubak

Concept: Nataša Bodrožić with the support of the Motel Trogir team (Saša Šimpraga & Lidija Butković Mićin)

Gallery VN, Zagreb

November 14- December 2, 2017 // Opening November 14th at 7pm

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When asked about how we see art production within the MOTEL TROGIR project, we responded that every time we try to articulate some form of community: Art production is part of MOTEL TROGIR civic campaign for critical re-evaluation and preservation of the mid 20th century architectural modernism, but NOT necessarily its illustration. Here we come to a complex territory where it is very important to clarify what we actually produce, how, and which are our starting points and (political) views. So the initial input is pretty clear, but further on, let’s say, we have no control. When artists start to work on a particular idea, the MOTEL TROGIR project team serves them only as a support, both conceptually and organisationally. We do try to influence the outcome of artistic research in terms of encouraging dialogue, but at the end of the day the artists themselves shape their work, assume responsibility for it, and we treat them as part of the Motel Trogir community.

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The works presented on this occasion are just a segment of the art production within the MT project from 2014 to 2017 – from the first interventions in the public space of Trogir, when artist Neli Ružić realized her light installation “Stolen Future”, through working with international artists at intensive summer residences and study tours (projects “Alice does not live here anymore”, 2015 and “The East is West of the West”, 2016), presenting them at two editions of the Biennial of Young Artists of Europe and the Mediterranean (Milan and Tirana), up to the recent dealing with the Koteks-Gripe complex in Split through the project “Rethinking the Void”. As a kind of excursion, a practice unrelated to the production of the Motel Trogir, we included the work by the artist Lana Stojićević. She is presenting a case study of the architect Ivan Vitić motel (bungalow)  in Biograd, which is actually ‘redone’ (painted yellow and green) and enlarged with the wedding hall, while the artist ‘upgraded’ another floor and added a roof.

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From the text by Nataša Bodrožić in the exhibition catalog

The catalog text in Croatian language, please find here: katalog- tekst_hr

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Photo documentation by Katerina Duda, 2017

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Katerina Duda, Marijana Stanić, Andrija Mićin, WHW, HDLU- Martina Miholić, Goran Škofić, KONTEJNER- bureau of contemporary art praxis, GMK- Ana Kovačić, Ivana Meštrov, Gallery VN staff, BJCEM- Association Biennale des Jeunes Createurs del’Europe et de la Mediterranee, all the artists presented at the exhibition.

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The Motel Trogir project in 2017 has been supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia and Kultura nova Foundation.

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