SobaZaGosteMaribor I 2021

Danilo Milovanović

@dnlmlvnc

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SobaZaGosteMaribor  I 9. 5. 2021 

Intervenciji v javnem prostoru

Danilo Milovanović je umetnik mlajše generacije, ki ga poznamo predvsem po njegovih umetniških interakcijah z javnim prostorom. V času skoraj trimesečnega rezidenčnega bivanja v Mariboru je pripravil dve lokacijsko specifični intervenciji, skozi kateri se je odzval na proces transformacije mariborskega mestnega jedra zaznamovanega z gentrifikacijo.

Center Maribora se vidno spreminja, spremembe so med meščani zaželene in težko pričakovane, a smo v Mariboru v zadnjem obdobju žal priča tudi pogostemu spreminjanju namembnosti prostorov. Prostore, ki so bili do nedavnega namenjeni kulturi, umetnosti ali obrtem, bodo kmalu napolnile vsebine, ki so namenjene zasebnemu dobičku. Sledenje logiki kapitala v mesto tako prinaša zgolj nabor bolj ali manj generičnih barov, restavracij, hotelov in trgovin, ki so namenjeni predvsem turistom in premožnim prebivalcem. Hkrati se krči prostor za brezplačna druženja lokalnih prebivalcev, pa naj bodo to klopi na ulicah pod drevesi, parki, travniki, igrišča, sprehajalne poti, vsem dostopni skupnostni prostori ali prostori kulture, umetnosti in neformalnega izobraževanja.

Gostujoči se je na ta kontekst odzval z delom Solarni mural, ki je vidno iz Ulice Kneza Koclja, nasproti zgradbe Elektra Maribor. Sestavljeno je iz kovinske konstrukcije na katero je nameščenih 96 okroglih ogledal, ki sončne žarke preusmerjajo v napis “Naj se blešči”, ki se v popoldanskih urah izpiše na fasadi sosednje stavbe. Delo je nastajalo v pomladanskem času, ki bi sicer lahko prinašal optimizem in svež zagon, a letošnja pomlad prihaja po večmesečnem zaprtju javnega življenja, obdobju, ki ga je zaznamovala vrsta represivnih ukrepov, med drugim tudi omejitev gibanja. Sama gesta igre s svetlobo nosi humoren pridih, ki omogoča branje dela kot komentar nase nanašajoče se poteze – fizičen odblesk, ki spodbuja k bleščanju. Po besedah umetnika, lahko delo, kljub lahkotnosti svetlobnega efekta, razumemo v luči velikopoteznih prenov, ki v zadnjem desetletju izrazito zaznamujejo slovenski prostor. Umetnik na proces čiščenja in prenove javnih površin gleda s kritične distance, saj, kot rečeno, večina javnih prenov odpira možnost načrtnega večanja zasebnih profitov in špekulacij z javnim prostorom. Javne prenove pogosto pomenijo izrinjanje ekonomsko šibkih obrtnikov iz prenovljenih con in posledično vplivajo na sterilnost urbanih prostorov, namenjenih predvsem potrošništvu in turizmu.

Pri intervenciji na Koroški cesti si Milovanović likovne elemente na pročelju Galerije K18 izposoja iz gozdarske in gradbene panoge. Osnovna fluorescentno oranžna barva, ki služi kot nekakšna grundacija, je tako narejena z gozdarskim markirnim sprejem, ki se sicer uporablja za označevanje dreves za sečnjo. V letu 2012, času Evropske prestolnice kulture, je Mestna občina Maribor takrat najbolj degradirano ulico v ožjem centru mesta, namenila umetniško-kulturnim vsebinam. Na ulici je posledično vzcvetelo kar nekaj iniciativ, na primer Centralna postaja, EPEKA galerija in Gramofonoteka, ki so bogatile kulturno-umetniški prostor vse do lanskega leta, ko je bila namembnost prostorov iz kulture spremenjena v gospodarstvo, še zadnje nevladne organizacije pa so prostore zapustile zaradi visokih komercialnih najemnin. Tako “markirana” Galerija K18 je na Koroški ulici v tem trenutku edina nevladna galerija, ki bo po planih Mestne občine Maribor in javnega zavoda MKC prostore predala s koncem leta 2021. Bleščečo se osnovo fasade je Milovanović likovno nadgradil z vizualnim jezikom, ki ga sicer poznamo iz rekonstrukcijskih gradbenih kontekstov. Kompozicija deluje kot navodilo za poenotenje pročelja z estetiko sosednje stavbe in s tem dokončno očiščenje ulice, ki bo v prihodnosti kot nekakšna nova promenada nagovarjala ciljno skupino uporabnikov prostorov in storitev izključno pogojenih z dobičkom.

Obe intervenciji je mogoče brati tudi skozi pojem zaslepljenosti. Župan je v nedavnem intervjuju za lokalni medij dejal, da organizacije v javnem interesu seli iz prostorov zaradi občutka odgovornosti do javnega denarja. Odgovornost do javnega denarja nedvomno čutimo tudi nevladne, neprofitne organizacije - zelo neposredno. A nemogoče je plačevati komercialne najemnine, s tem posredno višati mestni proračun in istočasno ponujati brezplačne vsebine, ki temeljijo na participatornih ustvarjalnih procesih ter dejavnostih, ki komunicirajo s splošno publiko tudi v javnem prostoru in so skupnostno-tvorne.
Nujno bi bilo premisliti kakšne vsebine so dejansko mesto-tvorne, zakaj beremo besede “degradirana območja”, “kultura” in “umetnost” tako pogosto v istem stavku, in nenazadnje v kakšnem mestu si želimo živeti.


Za podporo pri izvedbi intervencije Solarni mural se zahvaljujemo družini Festič Britovšek in Borutu Wenzlu.

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GuestRoomMaribor I 9. 5. 2021

Interventions in public space

Danilo Milovanović is an artist of the younger generation, known mainly for his artistic interactions with public space. During his almost three-month residency in Maribor, he prepared two site-specific interventions, through which he responded to the process of transformation of the Maribor city center, marked by gentrification.

The center of Maribor is visibly changing, and the changes are desired and much-anticipated by the citizens. But unfortunately, we are recently also witnessing frequent changes in the spatial purpose of premises in Maribor. Spaces that, until recently, were dedicated to culture, arts or crafts, will soon be filled with content dedicated to private profit. Following the logic of capital in the city thus only brings a set of more or less generic bars, restaurants, hotels and shops, intended primarily for tourists and wealthy residents. At the same time, the space for free gatherings of local residents is shrinking, be it benches on the streets under trees, parks, meadows, playgrounds, walking paths, accessible community spaces or spaces of culture, art and non-formal education.



The guest artist responded to this context with the work Solar mural, which is visible from Kneza Koclja Street, opposite the Elektro Maribor building. It consists of metal construction on which 96 round mirrors are arranged. These mirrors redirect the rays of the sun into the inscription »Let it shine«, which is displayed on the facade of the neighboring building in the afternoon. The work was created in the spring, which could bring optimism and fresh momentum, but this spring comes after several months of closure of public life, a period marked by a series of repressive measures, including restrictions of movement. The gesture of playing with light has a humorous touch that allows you to read the work as a commentary on a self-referring move - a physical glare that encourages glare. According to the artist, the work, despite the lightness of the light effect, can be understood in the context of ambitious renovations that have marked Slovenian space in the last decade. The artist looks at the process of cleaning and renovating public spaces from a critical distance, as most public renovations open up the possibility of a planned increase in private profits and speculation with public space. Public renovations often mean that the economically weak artisans are pushed out of the renovated zones, and consequently affect the sterility of urban spaces, intended primarily for consumerism and tourism.


For his intervention on Koroška Street, on the facade of the K18 Gallery, Milovanović borrowed art elements from the forestry and construction industries. The basic fluorescent orange color, serving as a kind of a base, is made with a forestry marking spray, which is otherwise used to mark trees for felling. In 2012, when Maribor was the European Capital of Culture, the Municipality of Maribor decided the then most degraded street in the city center should be dedicated to artistic and cultural content. As a result, quite a few initiatives flourished on Koroška Street, such as the Centralna postaja Gallery, EPEKA Gallery, and Gramofonoteka, which enriched the cultural and artistic space until last year, when the spatial purpose of the premises was changed from culture to economy, and the last NGOs there had to leave their premises due to high commercial rents. The »marked« K18 Gallery on Koroška Street is currently the only non-governmental gallery there, but, according to the plans of the Municipality of Maribor and the public institution MKC (Maribor Youth Center), it will have to hand over their premises by the end of 2021. Milovanović artistically »upgraded« the shinny base of the facade with a visual language from reconstruction and construction contexts. The composition acts as an instruction for unifying the facade with the aesthetics of the adjacent building, thus finalizing the cleaning of the street, which is supposed to become a kind of new promenade in the future, addressing the target group of users of exclusively profit-oriented premises and services.



Both interventions can also be read through the notion of blindness. In a recent interview for the local media, the mayor said his decision to move public interest organizations out of the premises comes from his sense of responsibility for public money. Undoubtedly, non-governmental, non-profit organizations also feel a responsibility for public money - very directly. But it is impossible to pay commercial rents (thus indirectly increasing the city budget) and, at the same time, offer free content based on participatory creative processes and activities that communicate with the general public also in public space, and are community-forming.

It would be necessary to rethink what content is actually city-forming, why the words »degraded areas«, »culture« and »art« are so often found in the same sentence, and last but not least, what kind of a city we want to live in.

We thank the Festič Britovšek family and Borut Wenzel for their support in the implementation of the Solar Mural intervention.

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SobaZaGosteMaribor I 24. 4. 2021

Solar mural - making of:

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Spoznajte rezidenta 

Spletna predstavitev dela in prakse aktualnega rezidenta Danila Milovanovića.




Delo Danila Milovanovića zaznamuje družbeno-angažirano izražanje v javnem prostoru, pri čemer ideje, ki segajo od premišljevanja urbanega prostora do obravnavanja vsakdanjih socialnih dinamik, določajo medij in pristop. Pri posegih v javne prostore uporablja preprosta sredstva z namenom ustvarjanja novih pomenov in situacij. Minljive, tako poetično kot politično navdihnjene intervencije nato v predrugačeni obliki prenaša v materialna umetniška dela, ki v posprodukciji prevzemajo obliko video inštalacij, dokumentarnih filmov ter stenskih objektov in artefaktov.

Milovanović (1992, Banja Luka, BiH) živi in deluje v Ljubljani, kjer je na Akademiji za likovno umetnost in oblikovanje (ALUO) zaključil podiplomski študij slikarstva. Izobraževal se je tudi na Akademiji UMPRUM v Pragi. Leta 2020 je prejel Prešernovo nagrado UL ALUO za magistrsko delo z naslovom teoretičnega dela Artivizem – angažirana urbana umetnost v javnem prostoru in naslovom praktičnega dela Top parking. Leta 2018 in 2019 je bil nominiranec za nagrado OHO, leta 2019 pa je prejel rezidenčni atelje v ustvarjalnem centru Švicarija (MGLC) v Ljubljani. Njegovo delo je bilo predstavljeno in je prisotno tako na domačih kot tudi tujih razstaviščih in javnih prostorih, prav tako pa se je udeležil več umetniških rezidenc.

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Meet The Resident

Most of Milovanović's works are socially-engaged interventions in public spaces. Medium and approach are always defined by ideas, which are mostly related to the production of urban spaces and everyday social dynamics. Creating talkative situations and complex meanings in simple ways is a significant feature of his creativity. His temporary actions are often post-produced in a studio and presented in the shape of video installation, documentary movie, or a museum artifact.

Danilo Milovanović (1992, Banja Luka, B&H) is an artist based in Ljubljana. He got a master's degree education at Ljubljana's Academy of fine arts and design. In a meantime, he also studied at UMPRUM Academy in Prague. In 2020 he received the Prešeren Award of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Ljubljana (UL ALUO), for his master's thesis. In 2018 and 2019 Milovanović was a nominee for OHO - a central national award for young artists in Slovenia. In 2019 he got a residential studio in a creative center Swiss house in Ljubljana. He attended several art residency programs. Danilo's work is regularly presented in Slovenia and abroad.

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Na interesnem safariju smo se spominjali nekdanjega izgleda javnih prostorov mestnega jedra in jih primerjali s trenutnim. Pogovarjali smo se o vplivu ukrepov za zajezitev epidemije na razvoj mesta, saj so odlična priložnost, da se v fizični odsotnosti javnosti, mesta predrugačijo brez kritike in dialoga. Izmenjali smo izkušnje iz drugih mest in jih primerjali z lokalnim kontekstom.

Sprehod je vodil Simon Žlahtič, uni.dipl.um.zgod.

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InterestSafari: Crumbs

Last Friday, 23.4.2021 we had a guided tour led by Simon Žlahtič as part of the InterestSafari made for our current resident Danilo Milovanović. We searched for the last corners of authenticity that we knew not so long ago.

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