Together with artists, art collectives and organisations which influenced Kiosk’s work during the past 20 years, we started creating a video archive of statements, testimonies and thoughts on art work and practices which include collaboration, participation and collective work, through self-reflection of those who create and initiate this work.

The choice of interlocutors within the first phase of the work on the Archive is limited to Kiosk’s collaborators, people we directly or indirectly collaborated with, but the idea is to keep building the archive with other key collectives and artists. The region, as referenced in the title of the project, suggests the Yugoslavian character of the practices discussed which developed in parallel in each country of the region. Unfortunately, in this phase we couldn’t invite more than two of our dear colleagues from outside of Serbia to take part, but we do hope that the number of artists from the region (and wider area) taking part in the discussion will grow.

Collaborators and contributors in the process of creating the archive in this phase are: Maja Bekan, Branka Cvjetičanin, Mladen Miljanović, Hop.La! collective (Irena Ristić and Anđelka Nikolić), Rena Redle and Vladan Jeremić, Škart collective (Dragan Protić and Đorđe Balmazović), Vahida Ramujkić, Nebojša Milikić (Rex), Ana Miljanić (CZKD), ad-hoc collective of Ostavinske gallery (Probate gallery) (Jelena Mijić, Luka Knežević Strika, Ana Dimitrijević and Marko Dimitrijević), as well as Independent Art Association Remont (Darka Radosavljević, Jelena Mijić, Marija Radoš, Mila Stojanović).

By contributing essays, our colleagues Ana Sladojević, Vesna Madžoski, Simona Ognjanović and Milica Ivić, and Dušica Parezanović, shared their thoughts on the topics inspired by the Archive in progress project. Simona Ognjanović and Milica Ivić discussed the work of the Matrijaršija collective which is developing a series of specific formats of togetherness and unique aesthetic on the contemporary arts scene. Dušica Parezanović generously shared her personal experience of 15 years of work in the Cultural Centre REX, one of the key spaces in Belgrade whose programme enabled, contributed, supported and empowered collaborative forms of artwork.  Vesna Madžoski reflected on the nature of the archive as a place of ideological tension and control both over the past and the future, offering clues for reading the archive as a phantom. Ana Sladojević explored the relationship between institutions, as bearers of norms of social relations, and art practices discussed by our interlocutors within the video archive, pointing us toward alternatives created by artists and art collectives.