Dragana Zarevska & Gjorgji Despodov: Queen of Something, Skopje (NMK)
The exhibition by Dragana Zarevska & Gjorgji Despodov at PrivatePrint studio
Opening: Friday, March 17, 2023, 7 p.m.
Location: PrivatePrint studio \\ Partizanski Оdredi Blvd. 62/1-4, Karposh-Skopje
The exhibition “Queen of Something” explores the idea of identity and belonging at the end of the world, as the narrative follows a queen who observes a dirty post-human landscape and cries. The concept of “queen” has become widely popularized on social media in recent years; anybody can, and should be a queen if they want to - unapologetically and for free. 
This installation, based on the name-sake poem by Zarevska, reflects on the loneliness of existing in a world where humanity has been extinguished, and the queen is left to ponder her own existence. Throughout the poem, the queen is confronted with various objects and creatures that represent different aspects of her identity, but also her professional appearance as she happens to be a CEO of a poetry production company at the end of the world. Despodov is building the infrastructure that defines and limits the Queen of Something by surrounding her with the objects that compromise her being, making it paradoxical and desperate, but lovely and full of hope at the same time. The production of this work and its display is supported by FaVU VUT.
More info about artists:
Dragana Zarevska (b. 1985 in Kratovo) works with various media with poetry as central; from there she takes off to building general narrational consistencies of concepts and imagining future scenarios for stuff. Diving in philosophy of technology, the future of work, archaeology of the future, folklore of the future, think-tanks of the new normal etc.In the past, researcher and/or artist-in-residence at SITE (Stockholm), AIR Krems (Krems), Ausland (Berlin), Workshop Foundation (Budapest), ITD (Zagreb), BUDA (Kortrijk), Workspace (Brussels), Les Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers (Paris), WELD (Stockholm), RISE (Stockholm), Turkish Cultural Centre (Sarajevo), Summerhall (Edinburgh), etc. Twice nominated for the young visual artist award DENES (N. Macedonia), one of the eight residency-awarded artists at BJCEM 2009. Currently engaged in research and teaching at the University of Technology in Brno.
Gjorgji Despodov (b. 1996, in Prilep) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice is focused on design and experiments with 3D visuals and illustration. He holds a BA from the National Academy of Arts in Sofija, Bulgaria. For his designs, he uses everyday objects and places them in an unexpected environment and layout, he animates them and creates new narratives. He is interested in exploring different styles and techniques. At the moment he is also experimenting with his 3D avatar and exploring the possibilities in the interactions between physical and digital environments. His interests, therefore, include virtual and augmented reality concepts, and the use of different digital media: illustration, video, photography and installation.
Venue:
PrivatePrint is an independent publishing house and a studio for interdisciplinary research and practices in contemporary art and graphic design from Skopje, North Macedonia. Their central mission is to disseminate art ideas and to make them easily available, as well as to provide space and platform for better visibility and interaction of emerging artists and artistic practices. Both artists have previously collaborated with PrivatePrint on separate projects; PrivatePrint was the publisher of their artist books “The Curatables” by Zarevska (co-authors with Jasna Dimitrovska) in 2018, and SKIP AD by Despodov in 2021.
Web: https://privateprint.mk/mk
FB event: https://www.facebook.com/more info
| Author | Mgr. Barbora Šedivá, Ph.D. |
|---|---|
| Published | |
| Short URL | https://www.favu.vut.cz/en/students/news-and-calls/f26745/d238845 |
Responsibility: Hana Křížová