we are pleased to invite you to the opening of the exhibition
"Interzone : Nation"
on Wednesay, April 1st from 7.p.m. to 9 p.m. in Galzenica Gallery
artists: Hakan Akcura (TR), Saša Karalić (BiH, NL), Jasminka Končić(HR),
Ana Lozica (HR), Id Sarup (HR)
---
" (...) The concept of the nation is a complex one; to try and define
the notion means taking into account a wide rage of criteria such as
language, culture, dissent, history, religion, etc. Such so called
objective criteria can be found in many of contemporary definitions of
the notion of nation, such as the following: A nation is a relatively
self-sufficient and stabile national life community, stemming out of the
historical development of the associating of people into communities for
the purpose of survival and development, which is characterized by a
uniform state territory, common economical life, specific culture and
language, adequate religion, a developed collective and individual
awareness of national feeling. Another element is included in this
complex definition, which can be labelled as a voluntary definition of a
nation, the most famous of which is that of the French philosopher
Ernest Renan. In his 1882 lecture What is a nation? he concluded that
the nation is a daily plebiscite, which is based on the individual's
subjective criteria.
In the 21st century the problem of nation and its self-definition is not
less complex; in fact, it could be argued that the question is more
complicated than ever, especially when observed in the context of
globalization. Globalization has not treated kindly the nation as idea,
concept and social reality. The nation was associated with the backlash
against irresistible historical forces, doomed to obsolescence by global
postmodern culture, deprived of its institutional shell by the decline
of the state, and with a questionable reputation among social scientists
to boot, the nation appears to be rapidly fading into little more than a
historical phenomenon.
In the last couple of decades, central and south-east Europe found
itself caught up between two extremities: between East and West, between
capitalism and socialism, between globalization as a factor of unifying
and the tendency to create one's own identity. In the early nineties,
countries of this area found themselves in the paradoxical position in
which they were to denationalize their economies and nationalize their
culture at the same time. Today, the question arises - what does
globalization mean for this area, what changes will it bring, how does
it affect the projection of national identity? It is certain that in the
contemporary world, the problem of nation and national identity cannot
be examined separately from the process of globalization. This
exhibition therefore looks at the phenomenon of nation and national
identity within the globalization process, as well as the problems,
paradoxes and ironies arising from that correlation (...)" (Nina Pisk)
--
Pučko otvoreno učilište Velika Gorica
GALERIJA GALŽENICA
Trg Stjepana Radića 5
HR - 10410 Velika Gorica
tel:+385 1 6221 122 / fax: 6226 740
www.galerijagalzenica.info
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