Forward to the Past

The Museum of Yugoslavia, in cooperation with dramaturge Ivana Momčilović and the Edition Yugoslavia, organizes a talk with photographer and art theorist François Hers from France, the founder of the international initiative “New Patrons”, which has been continuously active since 1991. The meeting will take place on Saturday, October 22 at 7.00 p.m. in the Cultural Centre of Belgrade Movie Theatre.

 As an established photographer and former head of cultural projects at one of the largest national foundations for the development of French society, “Fondation de France”, François Hers invented a model of art production in public spaces called “New Patrons”. This model aims to create works of art commissioned by the citizens themselves. Thus, the intention is to encourage the unification of demands for art and social integration, by enabling citizens-patrons to directly participate in the conceptualization of an artistic intervention.

This type of work allows that the exclusive position of the patron of artworks is temporarily shifted from the formal contemporary art  infrastructure to the interested citizens and local communities, thanks to a specially formed relationship and protocol of cooperation between three actors: citizens-patrons, a cultural mediator who interprets the patron’s need (museums are seen as one of the most important potential mediators in this context) and artists who are invited to deliver an artwork that corresponds to the expressed need. The patrons, artists and mediators together define the modes of use of the work in relation to the wider community. Regardless of the ownership of the place where the artwork is installed, the patron and sponsors must guarantee its public use, i.e. availability.

The discussion will attempt to familiarize the local community with the production model of the “New Patrons”, as well as to open a polyphonic dialogue about this model of work and action, contextualizing it within the framework of the Yugoslav singular experience and heritage of self-governing socialism, joint work and various forms of politics of care for the community.

In addition to François Hers and Ivana Momčilović, the following people will take part in the discussion: Dr Višnja Kukoč, M.Sc. Arch. (Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy in Split), Sonja Leboš, M.A. Anthropology (Association for Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Research from Zagreb), as well as Simona Ognjanović and Ana Panić, curators of the Museum of Yugoslavia.

The event is realized in cooperation with the Association for Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Research from Zagreb with the support of the “Kultura nova” Foundation, the French Institute in Belgrade, and the Cultural Centre of Belgrade.

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Cover photo: Installation of the Chapuisat Brothers in the Maison Gubler park, Nyon, 2021

Author: Michel Giesbrecht
Project realized by the Swiss Society of New Patrons. Mediator: Charlotte Laubard, co-founder and mediator of the Swiss Society of New Patrons