SouthWest–NorthEast: Arts academy in Split exchange exhibition

University of Arts Helsinki's Academy of Fine Arts has invited the students from the University of Split – Academy of Arts to showcase their works in Kuva/Tila gallery.

Exhibition is the second part of a master’s exchange exhibition project between the two academies. The first part took place at the Gallery of the Multimedia Cultural Centre Split, Croatia in 2019, where the students of The Academy of Fine Arts of Uniarts Helsinki presented an exhibition entitled Can't Leave Home Without It. Due to Covid-19 pandemic the exchange exhibition of Split students in Helsinki was postponed for two years.

The works selected for this exhibition reveal a range of personal interests and artistic approaches cultivated and produced by students or recent graduates in Painting and in Film and Video/Film and Media Art at the Arts Academy, University of Split, Croatia.

Though diverse in terms of themes and media, the works communicate universal matters and those important and frequently discussed in the discourse of modern and contemporary art, therefore transcending local narratives and geographies.

Exhibiting artists deal with the questions such as following: a critique of anti-humanist consumer capitalism; possibilities of subversive and alternative uses of social media; status of an individual within the power-based social and political hierarchy; human condition today; self-reflection and contemplation in the rapidly changing and challenging world; body and identity; personal and family archives; individual and collective memory; confessions; interventions in public spaces and institutional critique. Finally, many works are autoreferential or based on the exploration of media, i.e., transcending the boundaries of two-dimensional media or experimenting with structure and narrative in film.

Participating artists

The works of undergraduate students of the Department of Film and Video will be presented at the exhibition: Vanessa Barač, Lora Cukrov, Gabrijela Kajdiž, Jure Knezović, Ivan Trpimir Lozić, Josip Maleš, Marija Mratinić, Jadran Parunov, Luna J. Stamenković; works of graduate students of the Department of Film and Video: Lucija Bosančić, Luka Eterović, Luka Jukić, Klarisa Stanisavljević, Lucija Vrkić; works of graduate students of the Department of Painting: Marija Bebić, Tihana Felić, Mihael Frančić, Đana Lončar, Zvonimir Lukas, Anna Perlain, Marija Ana Rnjak; works of graduates of the Department of Painting: Davor Drčelić, Ana Heski, Mak Hubjer, Ivo Mateljak, Mia Minigo, Marija Petrović, Ivona Pupačić (currently a student at the Visual Culture and the Fine Arts Department), Matea Rančić, Palmina Roglić i Marieta Vulić.

Artwork selections and organizers

Artwork selections for the exhibition have been made by Ph.D. Vlado Zrnić, full professor from the Department of Film and Video, Viktor Popović, full professor tenure, and Neli Ružić, assistant professor both from the Department of Painting.

The organizers of the exhibition are the Fine Arts Department of the Academy of Arts in Split and the “Kazimir” association, represented by Ivan Perić, a graduate of sociology and a master of film art.

The exhibition is co-funded by the European Union.