Digitizing Ideas: Archives of Conceptual and Neo-Avantgarde Art Practices is a joint project initiated by the Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, which involves the Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts from Vojvodina, Modern Gallery in Ljubljana, and Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw.
The core of the project is an internet database, which comprises and presents digitized materials from the collections, archives, and libraries of museums-partners, as well as from various private archives. These materials largely consist of unconventional artworks and publications, which at the time of their creation, in the period from 1960s-1980s, evaded being enclosed in museum collections and glass cases. Today their rarity and fragility demands special protection, which is mostly contrary to the principles that had originally triggered their creation.
Digitized units presently include the archival materials of Gorgona Group, Working Collective of Artists Podroom, New Artistic Practice, and the Gallery of Extended Media, as well as a number of artist albums and art magazines from the documentation, collections, and library of MSU Zagreb, the archive of OHO Group from Modern Gallery in Ljubljana, the collection of conceptual art at the Museum of Contemporary Visual Arts in Vojvodina, and the photography opus of Eustachy Kossakowski, related to the events around Foksal Gallery.
By using high-quality reproductions, with an interface adapted to the content and format of the original artworks and their documentation, we sought not only to awaken the interest of the general public in the periods of neo-avantgarde and conceptualism, which are at first glance associated with elitism and hermeticism, but also to offer credible and accessible information that will encourage further research. Besides essays and lectures, Digitizing Ideas includes an interactive section that primarily addresses younger audiences. Our intention was to lay emphasis on the somewhat neglected element of play, which in a digital context can add freshness to the process of discovering various stories in the archives.
Muzej suvremene umjetnosti, Zagreb
Muzej moderne umjetnosti, Varšava
Muzej savremene likovne umetnosti, Novi sad
Moderna galerija, Ljubljana
Culture Programme 2007-2013 of European union
ERSTE Stiftung
Artmentor Foundation Lucerne
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Visual identity and design: Rafaela Dražić
Programming: Proximity Zagreb