17 Apr 2009

Psychogeographical Research - Raedle & Jeremić at Centre culturel de Serbie, Paris

Raedle & Jeremić call their artistic practice 'OUT-Praxa' or 'Psychogeographical Research', with the latter being a clear reference to the situationist neologism of psychogeography. It suits perfectly that their exhibition in Paris takes place at the very place where Guy Debord and his friends strolled around, before part of the quarter was torn down and the area gentrificated in the late 50ies. In the Belgrade of today the cleansing of the so-called 'unhygienic' settlements of thousands of Roma families is the declared strategy for urban development.

A documentary video 'Belleville' (2009) about the recent tearing down of Roma houses by the Belgrade authorities and the following protests in front of the city hall is one part of the exhibitions' section about work with the Roma community in Serbia.

'Under the Bridge Beograd' is a complex research project about the city space of Belgrade (2004), which makes use of the potential of different perspectives and social relations within the city, involving a bigger number of participants: Alexander Nikolic, Rena Raedle, Ricarda Wallhaeuser, Maja Ciric, Karin Laansoo, Hanno Soans, Sinisa Cvetkovic, Dragan Ignjatov, Zorica Jovanovic, Stephan Kurr, Vladan Jeremic, Predrag Miladinovic, Tanja Ostojic, Dr Agan Papic, Ivana Rankovic, David Rych, Milica Lapcevic, Minna L. Henriksson, Peter Jap Lim, Sezgin Boynik, Matthias Roth, Thomas Crane and Anna Balint. One of the numerous walks or interventions was meeting under the bridge of the motorway that connects the old and the new part of Belgrade. The gathering turned into a big happening that should last eight hours, when the inhabitants of the slum, Roma and refugees, invited all present to light a fire in their neighborhood.

Six photographs from the 'Monument Series - Unforgettable Moments in the Life of New Belgrade Workers' (2007) tell a story about people's destiny in times of harsh economic transition. According to their typical approach, Raedle and Jeremić take over the role of workers in the given situation. Avoiding the phenomenological distance of the camera, they open space for personal experience and fictional dimensions of reality.

The opening starts with the assembling of 'SENDI' (2003), which establishes a channel for communication in non-standardized languages. Guest artist and sound contributor at the opening is various euro from Berlin http://www.various-euro.com

Rena Raedle and Vladan Jeremić work together since 2002, detecting, researching and commenting societal conditions and changes in Belgrade and elsewhere. They use art as one possible format for radical criticism and take an active public position in different fields of social activism. Further information are available on the artists website: http://raedle-jeremic.modukit.com

The event is kindly supported by The Ministry of Culture of Republic of Serbia and top e.V. Berlin http://www.top-ev.de/