GRZINIC: Sanja Ivekovic, Croatia - canceled from the participation at the Sao Paulo Biennale 2002

[anna balint]

   Performing the curator: against the curatorial methods of destroying
   artists


   I decided to write this statement being revolted by the case of what
   happened to Sanja Ivekovic, a Croat artist, first selected for the Sao
   Paulo Biennial 2002 by Leonida Kovac, the appointed curator, and than
   being by the same curator, so to speak overnight, after nearly half of
   year of Ivekovic preparation of the project, rejected, dismissed, kick in
   the but. Instead of Sanja Ivekovic, Leonida Kovac, decided to propose
   another artist!

   Firstly, I am not interested in the reasons, as here it is no one reason
   that counts. For me the question of reasons, the pro and contra arguments
   does not exist. No one reason, anyway, can be the one that legitimizes
   such a decision by the curator. Only the death of the artist can give a
   pertinent reason for substituting him ore her, after being selected and
   publicly declared to be the representative, or the artist decision by
   himself or herself to quite the project.


   The rule is very simple, the curator is given a huge privilege, this is,
   the absolute privilege of having free hands to select any artist, but soon
   afterward he or she is in the position of a subordinate link in the
   alliance of curator-artists, that means he or she transfers this privilege
   to the chosen artists. No positive reasons can be found for rejecting the
   selected artist, no instantiation can be taken into an account for a
   legitimization of such an act. The moment the curator wants to play
   further the pathetic figure of power, showing his or her “fragile” power,
   with an act of a rejection of the selected artist, he or she becomes just
   a clown and a bastard, surpassing the line of the disaster. A curator, not
   mater the name or gender, that rejects the firstly chosen, and publicly
   denoted artist, transforms himself or herself into misery.

   If it will be a court of honor and principle for the curators (as it is
   for journalists, as their both perform a public critical work), such a
   curator will have to be criticized by the institution, by the Biennial,
   and by the ones that hired him or her and gave him or her the mandate to
   perform his or her curatorial job. And any other artists that will be
   asked to take the place of Sanja Ivekovic or better of the rejected
   artists will have to say : NO! If such an activist solidarity and movement
   will be possible to arose, maybe, a different balance will be created
   between artists and curators.


   In the end, the artists has no other way than to react with all means, as
   it is no a possible single reason of legitimization of this manipulation
   with his or her concepts.

   Marina Grzinic, Ljubljana, January 11, 2002