Bridgewater Review

Volume 21 | Issue 1 Article 6

Jun-2002 International Artist Exchanges in Former Yugoslavia Margaret Tittemore Bridgewater State College

Recommended Citation Tittemore, Margaret (2002). International Artist Exchanges in Former Yugoslavia. Bridgewater Review, 21(1), 8-9. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/br_rev/vol21/iss1/6

This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. INTERNATIONAL ARTIST EXCHANGES IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA MARGARET TITTEMORE to select an ancient 5th century remnantofa to selectanancient5thcentury available tousbytheDirectorofArcheology. Iwasable exhibiting workinPula werethesitesthatmade One ofthemostamazingaspectsmakingand stall intothefinishedpiece. ofthetiledwallcoalminers’shower ed arubbing Slobodno Disanje out TITOstillloomedontheroof. In metallettersspelling the Communistregime.Large coalmineunder artscenterthathadbeenaformer rary inacontempo- IdidapieceatLabin and performing. Rovinj, Porec andNovigrad,with thegroupexhibiting once Italy!Ourhoststookusupthecoastlineto the otherinItalian,asaleftoverfromwhenthiswas there. Allthestreetshadtwosigns,oneinCroatianand Romancoliseumeacheveningtoget thousand-year-old intact,two Hungarian stylehotelandwalked byavery history. We stayedasguestsofthecityinanAustro- would occurinBoston.Pula hasarich,multicultural which datesbacktotheRomanempire,andsecond and artisticexchange withartistsinthetownofPula, would havetwoparts.Thefirsthalfbeacultural Our project,entitled in dance,theatreandmusic,aswellthevisualarts. Grants areawardedforcreativeartisticcollaborations direct, professionalinteractionplaysamajorrole. and CentralEurope,theTrust fundsprojectsinwhich SovietUnionandothercountriesinEastern the former cooperation betweenthepeopleofUnitedStates, funding fortheproject.Dedicatedtopromotingcloser thropic organizationinNewYork, providedmajor The Trust forMutualUnderstanding,aprivatephilan- for experimental workinallmedia. inBoston an artsorganizationwitha25yearhistory an ArtslinkfellowatMobiustheyearbefore.is contact withCroatianartistSilvoSaric,whohadbeen region ofCroatia.Theprojectdevelopedfromaninitial Artists GroupinBoston,wasinvitedtogotheIstrian In thefallof1999,I,withothermembersMobius , a performance/drawing, Iincorporat- , aperformance/drawing, in Former Yugoslavia Taking Liberty/UsvajanjeSlobode Artist Exchanges Free toBreathe/ International International by MargaretTittemore , side theancientchapel.Ourworkwascoveredin flagsplacedinalongrowout- er of900orangewarning it droptotheground.Thenbothofustrampledabarri- pleted, Iliftedaveilofwhitetullefrommyheadandlet wascom- Eachtimeastory part oftheperformance. became morethanjustatranslatorofthestoriesbut to collaboratewithaCroatianartist,RobertSosic,who and/or classwouldresonateinCroatia.Iwasfortunate ofrace,religion about peoplewhohadcrossedabarrier Ifeltthesestories consequences ofa“mixed” marriage. from Americanfriendswhohadexperience withthe Icollectedpersonalanecdotes tion andstorytelling. Over/Prekoracaj formysecondpiece, Benedictine monastery , whichwasacombinationofinstalla- Crossing Over, Part I Crossing daily local press, and a color picture from Crossing Over In Zadar, I chose the paved channel as my site and appeared on the front page of the national newspaper. made a series of drawings, entitled Channel Markings/ Oznacavanje kanala, in blue chalk directly on the road. The following spring, the Croatian artists came to I drew Neolithic marks that symbolize “water,” imitat- Boston for the second half of the exchange. We hosted ing those I found on pottery shards in the Archeological them in our homes and had a series of group dinners. Museum of Zadar. I collaborated with Croatian artist The group chose sites that included traditional gallery Maya Semic, who acted as “trouble-shooter” for me as spaces as well as alternative art locations in the Fort I drew in the street. She gave me Croatian language Point area to exhibit the work. I chose the Old Northern lessons and taught me Croatian poetry. I also made a Avenue Bridge for a performance without words, series of drawings incorporating “found” marks such Crossing Over, Part Two/Prekoracaj, Drugi Dio. I was able as graphiti with Neolithic ones. to collaborate with Robert Sosic again as well as with Ljiljana Vlacic for this piece. This time, the many layers The exchange in Zadar was much more complex than of veils stayed on for my trip across the pedestrian pas- the previous one, and I am still processing it. Perhaps sage way and were slowly dropped on the return. I am the fact that Zadar was heavily damaged from 1991 indebted to the Croatians for getting me across! This is to 1995 and is still in recovery is part of the complexity. what I wrote for the catalog description: Zadar was “on the front line,” and Pula was not. Many of the artists we met had lived in basement shelters for Like a clouded lens, the veils build up, slowly over four years. I felt a palpable sadness in the city even time, blinding her. She cannot see the way. Friends though the tourist season was at its peak. One powerful come. One in front, one behind, leading her across. insight after we returned and following the attacks of High above the surface of the water, the veils begin to September 11 was that now we knew how the drop. One by one, they fall to the ground. Facing the Croatians felt about being victims of war. For the sec- truth, she returns. ond half of this exchange, the Croatian artists arrived in During the summer of 2001, I was a participant in a Boston in May of this year and presented a series of second exchange between artists in Croatia and the installations and performances focusing on the Fort Mobius Artists Group, this time in the Dalmatian Point Channel. Our work was displayed on the region south of Pula. The project, Digging the Congress Street and Summer Street bridges as well as Channel/Prokopavanje Kanala, had as its focus the on a barge in the Channel. exploration of the similarities and differences between —Margaret Tittemore is Visiting Lecturer in Art Zadar and Boston. Primarily Roman in its history and design, the “old city” of Zadar is con- nected by a bridge to the more modern mainland. During World War ll, a channel that used to encircle the old city was filled in with debris from Allied bombing and paved over. Recently, the city of Zadar announced an intention to restore the channel for historical and ecological reasons. In Boston, the Fort Point Channel divides the central financial district from the artists’ community, which is being threatened by development. This channel has become a boundary between art, public works and public life and will be the metaphor for the Boston phase.

Crossing Over, Part 2

BRIDGEWATER REVIEW JUNE 2002 9