Tumult (Metež), 2022
video recording of a performance
40′
The performance was given as a part of the 59th October Salon, during the days of the event’s opening in October 2022, at the foot of the mountain of Rudnik. During the performance, the Family of Clear Streams, with their bodies and the sentences they uttered, demonstrated their positions on visual arts. The performance was composed of a repetitive choreography and a couple of verbal utterances in Serbian and English out of which one might be singled out as crucial: The art that appears as art is not art. With the four actors and four chairs, a rhythm was being developed on a grass lawn, in a natural environment, as a proposal and suggestion of a new aesthetics.
© Cultural Centre of Belgrade, October Salon Collection and the Artist
Mining agreement: III-30-177/27.09.2023.
Inventory No: 184
Photo: Vladimir Opsenica
White Rectangle, 2019
cow dung, wood, lime
60 x 40 cm
This work was inspired by the supremacist philosophy, where white and brown in themselves cause a perception of contrast. Since the piece was made of natural material, it is in itself an evidence of its authentic visual-art quality.
© Cultural Centre of Belgrade, October Salon and the Artist Collection
Mining agreement: III-30-177/27.09.2023.
Inventory No: 185
Photo: Nemanja Knežević, the installation view of the 59th October Salon
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
In the spring of 1977, Božidar Mandić (1952, Novi Sad), in the village of Brezovica, the mountain of Rudnik, founded the first ecological commune in Serbia, named the Family of Clear Streams. Its field of activity has included: ecology, modest economy, philosophy of soil and art. The commune belongs to the pioneering European back-to-nature movements. With his wife and three children, Božidar made a home, which, for 40 years now, has remained a paradigm and proof that one can live in an alternative and autochthonous way. The fundamental philosophy of this commune is fighting for individual and the planet. This home has by now been visited by more than 40,000 people. For 23 years, the Family of Clear Streams has been giving their own award to intellectuals who fight for the environment and the planet. The award comprises a litre of spring water, a kilo of dark bread, a plaque made on wooden board and 10 dinars. Božidar Mandić has published 23 books, and realised 28 shows and exhibitions dedicated to nature. He has made more than 1000 radio, and 300 TV shows, as well as more than 200 engaged roundtable discussions. Also, he is a columnist of the “Politika” daily and a member of the children’s programme editorial office of the Radio Belgrade. Božidar Mandić has received a number of awards and accolades, including the “Zmajev štap” Award for children’s poetry, “Stražilovo” Award for life achievement and the “Srpski Krivak” Award for the most Serbian Serb.