In an attempt to make a brief overview of Andreja Kulunčić's work poetics, in addition to exceptional sensitivity towards events from the socio-political reality, the focus would not be, as one might expect, on loud activist practices, but rather on silent strategies for activation. Simpler and less overbearing methods - "traps" that we easily consent to, since they appear harmless and familiar in everyday media - invite us to redirect our attention from a view on the surrounding environment backwards, towards ourselves, but in a changed perspective perhaps, one that will join the questioning of our relationship with other to a sense of responsibility.

In one of her most famous works, Distributive Justice, which has so far travelled to many world destinations, questions such as "Is it possible to fairly allocate goods?" "What is a fair society and how can it exist in the first place?" "Why do we sometimes perceive our own position as unfair?" creating a complex project in association with professionals from a variety of disciplines (sociologists, philosophers, web designers, programmers), are being asked through simple questionnaires and online games, which at first are not perceived as participation in the creation of an artwork.
Distributive Justice, envisaged as work-in-progress, took different shapes at every new location, developed in a dynamic process of discussions, lectures, forums... But still, its most significant part is always the individual it speaks to, the person it is meant to activate and reconsider social (in)justice, thanks to which it is easier to establish further diagnoses - by summarising individual answers into a broader image, measurable on a local, as well as international scale.

Two-channel video work Reconstruction (of An Unimportant Day in Our History and An Important Day in Our History) is somewhat different from participative strategies the artist most willingly applies. It is her first documentary film, realised in a manner quite unexpected considering the issue it concerns - the artist's position as a voyeur and narration of a so-called small person, the long-time warden of Tikveš Castle. Answering the artist's questions as if it were a police investigation, the warden tries in great detail and with endless patience to call to mind, in the limited course of one hour (that is how long they were allowed to be there), two presidents' everyday life in completely different historical circumstances. The first part of the story reminds a bit of royal customs, dedicated to deer hunt and leisure time of the authoritative president Tito, while the second part also reconstructs insignificant details to recall the legendary meeting of Franjo Tuđman and Slobodan Milošević, taking place on the very same location, but motivated by completely different causes, at the very beginning of war, which would determine its future development. One might say it is in fact a so-called invisible film, since the beginning of war is not mentioned anywhere. However, the impression is more than present while the warden reveals the details of the protocol and unimportant fragments of presidential everyday stay. It oppresses the weight of the dreary, derelict and devastated interior of the once lavish Habsburg castle, which used to be a nature break and relaxation destination, and would soon be turned into the mainstay of Serbian paramilitary forces.

In her project index.donne, Kulunčić once again reminds of the mission of the artist, who created social sculpture in a certain context and in synergy with the community. However, the times of messianic artists like Beuys is well behind us and, instead of shamanic practices, communication forms are camouflaged into the new/old vestments of well-known mass-media strategies. The artist performed the project index.donne in association with the local community, in this case female inhabitants of Naples, having renewed the project from several years ago, executed in another Mediterranean city - Split (February 2007). An inquisitive and friendly look of the girl from the poster is asking a very simple question: How do you feel? Women are invited to think for a moment, to raise self-awareness and define their place in a familiar and broader social context, where rules and criteria are quite often created by others - partners, bosses, employers... The work redesigned for a new context of the recently deceased "berlusconisation" - in which a woman's role was frequently gossiped about - is trying to bring about new knowledge and provoke discussions which would hopefully result in genuine answers of women this work was dedicated to.

In the current crisis, which permeates even those place where we least expect it like invisible gas, the question raised in the title of this exhibition might, after participating in the process implied in Andreja's works, have a somewhat less rhetorical echo. None of the displayed works promises a solution or offers a better perspective; the answers are expected from us, just as our common future depends on us alone.

So, are you optimistic about the future?

Radmila Iva Jankovic