Igor Zabel Association for Culture and Theory

15/06/2026

Announcing the 2026 Igor Zabel Award recipients!
Heartfelt congratulations to the laureate 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐢𝐚 𝐈𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚, curator, educator, and founding director of the Yermilov Centre in Kharkiv (Ukraine), and to the 2026 grant recipients: 𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐡, 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐮, and 𝐀𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐚 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢.

The jury honours 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐢𝐚 𝐈𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚 for her outstanding work as curator, educator, and founding director of the YermilovCentre. Under her leadership, the Yermilov Centre has strengthened its role as a cultural institution and a space of care, and has become a remarkable example of how art institutions can fulfil their social mission.

➠ 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬

𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐡 (Minsk / Giessen) — for her contributions to contemporary art, performance, and avant-garde studies in Belarus and among the Belarusian diaspora.

𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐮 (Beirut / Tokyo) — for his art historical, curatorial, and pedagogical work connecting post-socialist Eastern Europe and the postcolonial Middle East.

𝐀𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐚 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐚 (Ukraine) — for developing sustainable support structures for contemporary art beyond metropolitan centres, transforming wartime initiatives into long-term regional strategies.

➠ Named after the Slovenian curator and art historian 𝐈𝐠𝐨𝐫 𝐙𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥 (1958–2005), the award is the highest distinction for cultural activities related to Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It has been conferred biennially since 2008 by the ERSTE Foundation and the Igor Zabel Association.

📣 Congratulations to all recipients! Join us in Ljubljana on 𝟐𝟔–𝟐𝟕 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 for the Award Ceremony.

More ➠ https://award.igorzabel.org/
Find us on e-flux ➠ https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/6785872/nataliia-ivanova-receives-2026-igor-zabel-award-for-culture-and-theory

01/06/2026

[Na današnji dan / On this day]

Konec maja, pred tridesetimi leti, je v Moderni galeriji potekal mednarodni simpozij Živeti z genocidom. Politična teorija, umetnost in vojna v Bosni, pri snovanju in izvedbi katerega je sodeloval tudi Igor Zabel. Organizatorja dogodka Moderna galerija in ZRC SAZU sta k sodelovanju povabila politične teoretike, umetnike in umetnostne zgodovinarje ter omogočila takrat nujno potrebno temeljito razumevanje vojne in genocida v Bosni in premislek stališča, ki ga pri tem zavzema umetnik in umetnostne institucije. Simpozij je reflektiral dolgoročen projekt, ki se je začel leta 1994 in ga je inicirala skupina slovenskih in bosanskih umetnikov, katere cilj je bil ustanoviti Muzej sodobne umetnosti v Sarajevu. Na simpoziju so med drugim sodelovali: Marina Abramović, Dunja Blažević, Da Elliott, Jürgen Harten, Tarik Haverić, IRWIN, Tonči Kuzmanić, Tomaž Mastnak, Viktor Misiano, Žarko Puhovski, Igor Zabel in Peter Weibel.

/ ENG /

At the end of May, thirty years ago, the Museum of Modern Art hosted an international symposium titled Living with Genocide. Political Theory, Art and War in Bosnia, which Igor Zabel helped to conceptualize and organize. The event organizers, the Museum of Modern Art and ZRC SAZU, invited political theorists, artists, and art historians to participate, thereby facilitating a thorough understanding of the war and genocide in Bosnia – which was urgently needed at the time – and encouraging reflection on the stance taken by artists and art art institutions in this context. The symposium reflected on a long-term project that began in 1994 and was initiated by a group of Slovenian and Bosnian artists whose goal was to establish a Museum of Contemporary Art in Sarajevo. Participants in the symposium included, among others: Marina Abramović, Dunja Blažević, Da Elliott, Jürgen Harten, Tarik Haverić, IRWIN, Tonči Kuzmanić, Tomaž Mastnak, Viktor Misiano, Žarko Puhovski, Igor Zabel, and Peter Weibel.

Fotografije / Photos: Lado Mlekuž, Edvard Gregorič, Božidar Dolenc. Z dovoljenjem Moderne galerije, Ljubljana / Courtesy of Moderna galerija, Ljubljana.
Z/With Moderna galerija

30/05/2026

Berlin people - watch out: OHO Film will be screened at the Doxumentale festival in Berlin on June 1st and 2nd. The screenings will be followed by a discussion with David Nez. You are warmly invited!
***
OHO Film bo 1. in 2. junija gostoval na festivalu Doxumentale v Berlinu. Po projekcijah bo sledil pogovor z Davidom Nezom. Vabljeni!

🔗 https://www.doxumentale.de/film/oho-film

Vertigo Ljubljana

One of Eastern Europe’s most vital avant-garde movements has been brought back to life.

28/05/2026

Vabljeni v Slovenska kinoteka v torek, 2. 6., ob 19.00 na pogovor Matica Drakulića in Saše Škulj o ustvarjalnem procesu nastajanja dokumentarnih filmov OHO Film in Ali je bilo kaj avantgardnega?. Ker oba segata v zgodovino eksperimentalnega filma, v katerem montaža ni zgolj tehnični postopek, temveč osrednje izrazno sredstvo filmske pripovedi, se bo pogovor posvetil tudi vprašanju, kako montaža oblikuje filmski jezik, ritem in izkušnjo gledanja.

Pogovor bo vodila Varja Močnik.

Brezplačne vstopnice bodo na voljo uro pred začetkom pogovora.
Po pogovoru bo sledila projekcija OHO Filma (20.00) in Ali je bilo kaj avantgardnega? (22.00).

🔗 https://fadein.dppu.org/dogodek01.html
🔗 https://kinoteka.si/projekcija/oho-film-10/

25/05/2026

[Results of the open call]

Together with our partners ERSTE Foundation, tranzit.org and Kontakt Collection, in collaboration with WHW Akademija, we have the pleasure to provide fellowships for this year's International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg to the following artists and curators:
Maria Jančová (CZ) / Anna Chrtková (CZ) / Violetta Vigh (HU) / Lilla Bényi (HU) / Sorina Tomulețiu (RO) / Ileana Stanciu Scripcariu (RO) / Karla Šavrtková (SK) / Dami Demovič (SK) / Žiga Kelenc (SI) / Tina Gerlec (SI) / Karlo Štefanek (HR) / Sabina Oroshi (HR) / Iryna Loskot (UA) / Stefaniia Bodnia (UA)

Congratulations to all!

Fellowships for Curators and Artists at International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg 2026 /
ERSTE Foundation, tranzit.org, Igor Zabel Association for Culture and Theory and Kontakt Collection in collaboration with WHW Akademija have the pleasure to provide fellowships to the following artists and curators:

Maria Jančová (CZ) / Anna Chrtková (CZ) / Violetta Vigh (HU) / Lilla Bényi (HU) / Sorina Tomulețiu (RO) / Ileana Stanciu Scripcariu (RO) / Karla Šavrtková (SK) / Dami Demovič (SK) / Žiga Kelenc (SI) / Tina Gerlec (SI) / Karlo Štefanek (HR) / Sabina Oroshi (HR) / Iryna Loskot (UA) / Stefaniia Bodnia (UA)

A special thanks to Office Ukraine.

https://tranzit.org/en/grants/summer+academy+salzburg/fellowship-for-curators-and-artists-at-salzburg-summer-academy-2026
Image: Matylda Krzykowski: Strategic Improvisation © Sommerakademie, photo: Mira Turba

14/05/2026

Read the interview with the philosopher and Forest Encounters co-editor Mateja Kurir on the book, the forest as a key contemporary site where aesthetic experience is negotiated, its political dimensions, and much more. https://landezine.com/forest-encounters-negotiating-aesthetic-experience/
🌳🌲🪾
📖 You can purchase the book via this link: https://www.archivebooks.org/forest_encounters/ or download it for free here:https://forest-encounters.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Forest-Encounters-TOTAL-PDF.pdf

The forest has recently become a site of renewed interest — not only in philosophy and the humanities, but also in art and aesthetic theory. Many reasons lie behind this return, all closely tied to the tensions of our present moment. We speak with philosopher and co-editor of Forest Encounters, Ma...

13/05/2026

👂 Vabljeni k poslušanju pogovora o monografiji Želje in protislovja: Likovno in arhitekturno razstavljanje v Sloveniji 1947–1979, ki se posveča izbranim primerom likovnega in arhitekturnega razstavljanja v luči političnih in družbenih razmer tedanje Jugoslavije ter njenega položaja v svetu.
O raziskovalnem projektu in knjigi, ki ga zaokroža, so se z Urško Savič pogovarjali pisci in uredniki knjige: Gregor Dražil, Nika Grabar, Vladimir Vidmar in Beti Žerovc.
📖 Več o knjigi, ki je v tiskani obliki na voljo v prodaji, brezplačno pa v slovenskem in angleškem jeziku dostopna tudi na spletu: https://igorzabel.org/sl/publikacije/%C5%BDelje-in-protislovja

Monografija Želje in protislovja. Likovno in arhitekturno razstavljanje v Sloveniji 1947–1979 predstavlja večletno raziskovalno delo in znanstvene izsledke desetih raziskovalk in raziskovalcev. Raziskave se osredotočajo na geografsko območje Slovenije, ki je bilo v obravnavanem časovnem okvir...