FOR THE FIRST TIME, SIMILAR TO OURSELVES

video installation – 3 video channels, stereo sound - 2023

exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Arts Belgrade in 2023.
curated by Miroslav Karić

“For the First Time, Similar to Ourselves” is a series of mutually intertwined works that use moving-image (Ivan Marković), spatial interventions (Natalija Vujošević), archival materials and texts. The exhibition forms a spatial choreography that revisits the vision of the future embodied in post-war architecture in the Non-Aligned countries.

The video installation portrays the headquarters of former Yugoslavian company Energoprojekt. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, across Non-Aligned countries in Africa, South America, the Middle East and south Asia, the distinctive modernist constructions built by Energoprojekt formed an independent post-colonial architectural identity, beyond the Eastern and Western Bloc polarities.

Inside the building, there are traces and links to distant countries where Energoprojekt had built. Walls are panneled with faded photos of the buildings, glass containers showcase traditional sculptures and artefacts received as gifts. Many different kinds of plants, brought from afar 50 years ago, still grow together under the glass roof.

With its repeating modular elements, the interior of “Energoprojekt” appears as an endless, ever-expanding space. In choreographed sequences, the space is revealed along with the people taking care of the plants, forming an inseparable sense of belonging.

Exhibition view:

sound designer: Katharina Hauke
producers: Jelena Radenković, Ivan Marković, Senka Radivojević camera assistant: Lav Ziukovski
performers: Srđan Ramadanović, Katharina Hauke, Lidija Andrić, Cosme Rafel Bras Mauricio, Lav Ziukovski, Gloria Kravos, Dragan Ignjatov, Milena Karanović