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