Avanti popolo

Avanti popolo is a sound installation which resonates patriotic songs from all over the world, as well as the anthems of various political regimes – including the famous Italian revolutionary song after which this installation acquires its title. Patriotic songs – which promote national identity, a spirit of collectivism, unity and sense of belonging – are at the same time a very convenient tool in the service of ideology; whether they are considered ‘positive’ or negative’ is always dependant on the historical context. In order to preserve their power, all ideologies manipulate the values, beliefs and the behavioural patterns of social groups, particularly so when an enemy or threat appears on the horizon. At any such juncture all such mechanisms are activated, and become increasingly aggressive, while the results are all too often tragic as well as absurd. Nationalism and false patriotism have given rise to – and continue to give rise to – much bloodshed, as has been repeatedly well documented by history. Maja Bajević refers to her installation as a sort of a ‘minefield of songs’, a global city whose infrastructure is constructed of various types of HI-FI – as diverse as the songs themselves. When visitors walk through the gallery, the songs turn on, one after another, until there is a cacophonic resonation of discordant music and incomprehensible words. The result is an absurd scenario that is a singular commentary on the concept of nationalism.

The artist, born in Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina), hails from an environment that used to be known for its ethnic, religious, national and cultural diversity, but became a tragic victim of the nationalism and religious intolerance. Bajević’s work is a clear and loud critique of the relationships between the private and the public, between the individual and the collective identity, as well as a conscious claim for their ‘re-investigation’. Mara Vujić

Exhibition: sound installation; video installation
Mala galerija: from 6th October to 20th October; Tue-Sun: 10 am - 6 pm

Organisation: City of Women
In collaboration with: Moderna galerija
Special thanks to: Borut Savski; and to all who have kindly lent us HI-FIs