I will attend “Interzone/Nation” co-exhibition at Gallery Galženica, Zagreb, Croatia, between April 1- May 15, 2009
“Interzone: nation” is the second exhibition this year dedicated to the phenomenon of globalization. The topic of the exhibition deals with the impact of globalization processes on the projection of national identities. For instance, during the nineties, the countries of Middle and South-East Europe – which were looking for their place on the redrawn map of Europe – found themselves in a paradoxical position in which they had to denationalize their economy and nationalize their culture at the same time. The more a form of cultural practice seemed traditional and more particular, the more it was presented as a model by which other newly formed states were to follow in the process of self-identification. The following artists will point to this paradoxical position of projecting national identities: In his video work, Hakan Akçura (TR, S) will show the problems non-EU immigrants face in EU countries. A young artist from Dubrovnik working in Zagreb, who works under the art name of Id Sarup, will present himself with a video work in which he uses the television programme of the Croatian National Television (HRT) to bitterly and amusingly comment on the social state of affairs in Croatia. Meanwhile, Ana Lozica and Jasminka Končić will use their photographs, digital montages and animated films to point to the role of sport in forming (not only) the Croatian national identity. A video work from Saša Karalić (NL, BiH) under the title “Schwabo” will deal with the hybridism of every identity, including the national one, as well as its paradoxes and contradictories.
” (…) 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. [2]
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 communism, 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)
Curators:
Ivana Hanaček, Klaudio Štefančić
Assistant curators: Sanja Horvatinčić, Nina Pisk
Interzone / Nation, exhibition April 1 – May 10, 2009.
Saša Karalić (NL, B i H) Id Sarup (HR) Hakan Akçura (TR, S) Jasminka Končić (HR) Ana Lozica (HR)
My works at the exhibition:
1. Open Letter to Sweden Migration Board (Öppet Brev till Migrationsverket / İsveç Göçmen Bürosu’na Açık Mektup) Videoperformance (51 min.) 2006 2. Good morning (Godmorgon / Günaydın) 
Videoperformance with two parts
hakan akçura 