20 Nov 2009

Katarina Zdjelar at the Centro de Artes Visuais in Coimbra, Portugal

KATARINA ZDJELAR
Pronounciations

Curated by Miguel Amado

The Centro de Artes Visuais of Coimbra, Portugal is presenting 'Pronounciations', by Katarina Zdjelar. This exhibition opens on November 20 at 10pm and is part of the Project Room programme curated by Miguel Amado. 'Pronounciations' brings together works that address language as a cognitive and emotional device as embodied in the individuals' physical and psychological dispositions.

The Visual Arts Centre of Coimbra, Portugal is presenting 'Pronounciations', an exhibition by Rotterdam-based Serbian artist Katarina Zdjelar. This exhibition opens on November 20 at 10pm and is part of the Project Room programme curated by Miguel Amado. The Project Room programme accompanies the exhibitions in the main gallery in the Visual Arts Centre. Its aim is to present in Portugal recent trends of emerging international art, as well the most significant Portuguese young artists.

'Pronounciations' brings together works that address language as a cognitive and emotional device as embodied in the individuals' physical and psychological dispositions. Four videos examine the dynamics of symbolic systems translation, both through the use of music and speech. For example, in Shoum (2009) she documents the labour of a man who firstly writes out the lyrics of the song Shout, by Tears for Fears, then learns it – despite not being fluent in English – and then sings it, adapting the respective phonetics to his native language, Serbian. In his voice, the tune takes on a different sound, and consequently a different meaning – as can be seen by the title, a manipulation of the word 'shout'. The tradition of the spoken word characterises Zdjelar's output; however, the political aspect with which she deals with this legacy grants a radical nature to her production that makes it stand out on the contemporary art scene.

Katarina Zdjelar was born in 1979 in Belgrade. She lives and works in Rotterdam. She studied at the Belgrade University of the Arts and at the Piet Zwart Institute, Willem de Kooning Academie Hogeschool Rotterdam. She has held solo shows at Hedah (Maastricht, 2006); CASCO (Utrecht, 2007); and VIVID (Birmingham, 2008). She has participated in several group shows, including 'If I Can't dance, I Don't Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution' (M HKA, Antwerp, 2008); 'Soft Manipulation: Who Is Afraid of the New Now' (Casino Luxembourg, 2008); and 'Morality – Act II: From Love to Legal' (Witte de With, Rotterdam). In 2009, she co-represented Serbia at the 53rd Venice Biennial and will open a solo show at TENT in Rotterdam in the upcoming December.

The Centro de Artes Visuais is a contemporary art institution based in Coimbra, Portugal. It is located in a refurbished historical building in the downtown of the city and presents a series of temporary exhibitions in the main gallery and the Project Room programme. Past projects include solo shows by Michaël Borremans, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Jorge Molder, Gabriel Orozco, Julião Sarmento, Malick Sidibé and Jemima Stheli.

The Project Room programme is curated by Miguel Amado. In 2009, the Project Room programme has included solo shows by Portuguese, Lisbon-based artist Rodrigo Oliveira and Italian, New York-based artist Rä di Martino. The Project Room programme is funded by the Directorate-General for Arts of the Portuguese Ministry of Culture.