Concept
The Deconstruction of the Image residency program in Leipzig, Germany encourages and thematizes contemporary art practice in the context of East Germany’s center of visual arts – Leipzig, which has transformed into a world art center with an emphasis on the painting scene.
The starting point of this project is individual and group artistic and research-artistic work in different media with an emphasis on redefining the meaning of the image as a cultural construct within the post-socialist and post-colonial society of East Germany (Saxony) and Croatia.
The goal of the residency program is to present contemporary Croatian artists in Germany and encourage their work in a European or international context.
Starting from the theories of the German art historian Hans Belting and the painting heritage of East Germany and Croatia, the residency program De/construction of the image poses the following problematic questions:
how do the media in which the image is formed correspond to the concepts of representation of different realities?
how much the idea of the image is still a cultural construct within different
dichotomy (West-East, industrial-post-industrial)?
what is individual in the picture and what is symbolic or general?
Author of the conception of the residential program: Ph.D. Josip Zanki
The importance and significance of the Leipzig scene
Known throughout history as a commercial and cultural center, at the beginning of the 20th century Leipzig became the main center of cotton production and processing in Europe. After the unification of Germany, production was shut down, and in the early 1990s, the premises of the former Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei factory were gradually moved in by smaller craftsmen and artists belonging to the New Leipzig School, a figurative painting movement that continues the artistic heritage of the GDR and is closely related to the Academy of graphics and artistic design of books in Leipzig (HGB).
In addition to its strong tradition of figurative painting, Leipzig has historically been known as the center of printing and publishing, which is still evident today in the fact that graphics, design and photography dominate artistic media. Among the representatives of the New Leipzig School, the painter Neo Rauch stands out, whose work represents a stylistic combination of socialist realism and surrealism and is interpreted as a reflection of the post-communist transition from a socialist to a consumerist capitalist society. The internationally recognized creativity of Neo Rauch has influenced the younger generations of the art scene, whose local base since the mid-2000s is the former Spinnerei industrial plant in the Plagwitz district. The former industrial complex covers 10 hectares and today it is almost completely renovated and forms the center of the local and international art scene with 12 galleries, the non-profit art center Halle 14 and about a hundred permanent artists.
Leipzig currently has 600,000 inhabitants and is considered the fastest growing city in Germany, and in the last few years the media has been declaring it a new cultural and urban center and the “new Berlin” due to its high standard of living and the strengthening of the local and international art scene.
Residents
2024
2023
Andrea Babić-Varošanec
Robert Fenrich
Lina Kovačević
Hrvoje Hiršl
Patricija Purgar
Emanuela Lekić
Mislav Lešić
Natalia Borčić Peuc
ALU students (Marta Bosnić, Mara Bajsić, Rogelio Medina, Ana Mrgeduš) under the mentorship of Josip Zanki
2022
Anđela Zanki
Mia Maraković
Melinda Šefčić
ALU students under the mentorship of Josip Zanki
Tea Jurišić
Hana Hanak
Irma Markulin
Ivana Vulić
2021
Andrej Beštak
Anja Leko
Ivan Oštarčević
Lana Đurđek
Nataša Vuković
Tara Beata Racz
Mara Nola (ALU)
Dorian Pacak
2020
Gorana Težak
Radovan Kunić
Ana Gezi
Mia Matijević
Anđela Zanki
Lucija Labas
Petra Grozaj
Katrin K. Radovani
2019
Nenad Jalšovec
Alma Trtovac
Ivan Prerad
Lav Paripović
Miran Blažek
Damir Sobota
Ana Ratković Sobota
Pavle Pavlović
Maja Rožman
Tara Beata Racz
Mia Matijević
Helena Janečić
Petra Grozaj
Marijan Richter
2018
Marija Koruga
Velibor Mačukatin
Marina Stoponja
Iva Višošević
Stjepan Šandrk
Martina Grlić
Space
Location
Hafenkombinat studio, studio no. 12
Plautstraße 27-29 04179 Leipzig, Germany
Space description
work room with windows, 50m2 (shared by two artists)
bedroom 1, 11 m2 (1 bed)
bedroom 2, 16m2 (2 beds)
shared bathroom
balcony
*The Hafenkombinat has a total of 20 studios where artists from all over the world stay (Mexico, USA, Australia, France, Denmark, Holland, Spain…)
HDLU uses studio number 12.
Open calls
The Open call is aimed at artists from the CreArt network who address the aforementioned questions and primarily start from redefining the ideas of an image, in the medium of painting, but also in photography and video. Two artists (one from Croatia and one from the CreArt network) share a workspace and a bathroom in one residency space simultaneously.
RESIDENCY DURATION: 5 weeks
News
Support
2024
Organizator/
Organizer
U suradnji s/
In cooperation with:
U sklopu projekta/
Within the project:
Uz potporu/
Supported by:
Uz preporuku/
With recommendation:
Co-funded by the European Union – CREA-CULT-2023-COOP. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for them. [Project number: 101128499]
Project is co-financed by the Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs. The views expressed in this announcement are the sole responsibility of HDLU and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs.
Since 2018, the Residency Program in Leipzig has been supported by several actors: HPB as the General Sponsor (2018/2019), Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb as a partner (2019-2022), the City of Zagreb has been providing support since 2023, and the Ministry of Culture and Media since the beginning of the Residency in 2018. From 2019, the program also has a recommendation from the city of Leipzig.
Organizer
The Croatian Society of Fine Artists is the largest artistic organization with an uninterrupted 155-year tradition of activity that gathers over 2,000 visual media artists from all over Croatia. HDLU’s headquarters is the House of Croatian Fine Artists / Meštrović’s Pavilion in Zagreb, while the association also manages the additional gallery space Karas, with about 10 art studios, 2 year-round residencies in Paris and Leipzig, and is the co-owner of the Castle of Artists – Oršić Jakovlje, for which he independently carries out multi-year constructive and complete renovation.
In addition to the above, HDLU organizes educational programs for the public and for the activities of visual artists on the market, awards numerous annual program awards, implements EU projects that improve the formal art education system, integrate people with fewer opportunities into society through work with artists, and encourage international artistic cooperation, conducts public tenders for artistic solutions in public space, etc.
HDLU’s work is financially supported by the Ministry of Culture, the City of Zagreb, the Office for Associations of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the Tourist Board of the City of Zagreb, the European Commission, the National Foundation for the Development of Civil Society, corporate sponsors, private donors and members of the association, in addition to independently generated income.
Contact us
Trg žrtava fašizma 16, Zagreb
T : 385(0)14611818
E-mail: hdlu@hdlu.hr
Web: www.hdlu.hr