Gulag Institute for Contemporary Arts and Cultures

The Gulag Institute is a private non-profit, organisation founded by Zoran Srdić Janežić, Petja Grafenauer, Jana Putrle Srdić, and Gorazd Krnc in 2006. The Gulag Institute focuses on the development, research and production of contemporary art and culture. Its main activity is the co-production of visual art exhibitions of its members and other collaborating artists. Gulag's members work not only in the field of sculpture, but they also create performances, conceive and organise public events and round table discussions, and publish catalogues and artist's books.

Projects

In collaboration with MKC Maribor Youth Culture Centre and Maribor, European Capital of Culture 2012 Gulag co-produced the innovative street performance Intellectual Whores by Zoran Srdić Janežič and Jana Putrle Srdić in Maribor from 25 May to 31 August 2012 in the context of Performa Festival. The performance aimed to "invent new employment for the 'useless' social science intellectuals". The project engaged 17 educated thinkers who "whored" their knowledge on the streets of Maribor by discussing with their "tricks" poetry, sculpture, art films, psychoanalysis and other topics.

The contemporary sculpture project Public Sculpture: Slovene Square, Kranj took place in Kranj in autumn 2011. The project aimed to search for new possibilities of sculpture in public space and discussed the role of the public monument in terms of memories. The public actions by Jernej Mali, Andrej Štular, and Zoran Srdić Janežič established a dialogue on the public sculptures by Lojze Dolinar on Slovenski trg (Slovene Square) in Kranj. Several local experts and sculptors including Dušan Tršar, Marko Arnež, and Nika Leben participated in the public discussions at the Municipality of Kranj.

Projects by Zoran Srdić Janežič

The Gulag Institute has produced or coproduced many projects by Zoran Srdić Janežič, such as the exhibition and performance Corpus Indeterminata, presented in December 2011 in the gallery of the Sculpture Association and in Alkatraz Gallery where visitors could see a sculpture cast of the artist's body with a pig head, made from lard and cracklings.

Zoran Srdić Janežič: Proteus anguinus Carnium by Zoks on Vimeo

Gulag also produced Zoran Srdić Janežič's art project Proteus anguinus Carnium (2010), which included sculpture, graphic folders, an artist's book and a performance by Boštjan Gorenc Pižama and the project How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood in Hest 35 Gallery in 2009. The same year Gulag co-produced a painting exhibition by Gorazd Krnc in Nova Gorica City Gallery.

Contemporary Art Tea Parties

These "parties" were organised from 2006 to 2009. They were prepared by Petja Grafenauer, Jadranka Ljubičič, and Zoran Srdić Janežič in co-production with KUD Mreža Arts and Culture Association and Alkatraz Gallery. The monthly meetings aimed to promote discussion and constructive dialogue about contemporary art and took place in Alkatraz Gallery. There were round tables about various topics such as contemporary art events, writing about art, activism, comic books, street art, presentations of young artists etc. In 2009 the Contemporary Art Tea Party accompanied the Biennial of Graphic Arts.

Publications

Gulag Institute publishes catalogues and artist's books which are usually part of an art project that includes different media such as Proteus anguinus Carnium which was presented at the exhibition Prints and Impressions (April 2012) at International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana. Gulag also published Sculpture Project: Public Sculpture – Slovenian Square, Kranj [Kiparski projekt: Javno kiparstvo – Slovenski trg, Kranj] and an artist's book of 40 drawings of cat-like creatures (2008) by Zoran Srdić Janežič titled Tomislav Vrečar: I'm watching a friend in the morning, how he is playing with a cat after a poem by Tomislav Vrečar.

Collaboration with theatres

An independent part of Gulag Institute is its workshop for the planning and realisation of scenic design, the painting stage scenery, the construction of various mechanisms, three-dimensional objects, prototypes, and other facilities. It manufactures puppets, masks, mascots, props, scenic and costume elements for various theatres: SNG Drama Ljubljana (Scenes from an Execution), SNG Maribor (7 Stories), SNG Nova Gorica (Skurt), SLG Celje (The Flags), Mladinsko Theatre (King Lear), and other smaller theatres.

External links