Curated by Hana Čeferin from Galerija Fotografija, Ljubljana
Preview
Thursday 2 March 2 – 9 pm
at 4 pm a guided tour with the artist and the curators
Vernissage
Friday 3 March 5 – 9 pm
free drinks and opening party
artist and curator will be present
Duration
2 Mar – 1 Apr 2023
Opening hours
4 Mar – 1 Apr 2023
Wed – Sun 2 – 7 pm
and by appointment at office@frontviews.de
Free entrance
Location
frontviews at HAUNT
Kluckstraße 23 A / yard
D - 10785 Berlin
The exhibition is organized and initiated by SKICA (Slovenian Culture Centre Berlin) as part of EMOP European Month of Photography Berlin 2023 in partnership with Galerija Fotografija and frontviews.
Programme
Preview
Thursday 2 March 2 – 9 pm
at 4 pm a guided tour with the artist and the curators
Vernissage
Friday 3 March 5 – 9 pm
free drinks and an opening party
artist and curator will be present
Women's Day Special
Wed 8 Mar 3 – 8 pm
with Artist Talk at 4 pm
between Vanja Bućan and Tanja Ostojić:
Vanja Bućan – Perspectives on Domestic Work - Women, Identity, and the Invisible Domestic Economy
moderation by Saša Šavel Burkart (Director of SKICA Berlin)
– organised by SKICA Berlin
Guided Tour with Vanja Bućan through her exhibition
Sat 25 Mar 3 – 4.30 pm
please reserve your attendance at
rsvp@fronviews.de
Finissage
Sat 1 Apr 5 – 9 pm
with Artist Talk at 6 pm
Vanja Bućan in conversation with Neža Peterle (photographer, curator & anthropologist) about the artistic work
please reserve your attendance at
rsvp@fronviews.de
Birds Of Paradise is a solo exhibition by Slovenian artist and photographer Vanja Bućan as part of the European Month of Photography (EMOP) Berlin 2023. The main organizer and initiator of the exhibition is SKICA Berlin (Slovenian Cultural Center Berlin) in close cooperation with Galerija Fotografija from Ljubljana and frontviews from Berlin. The exhibition takes place in the exhibition pavilion HAUNT of the art collective frontviews, a free-standing exhibition pavilion in Berlin Tiergarten Süd. The extensive selection of recent works was conceived by the artist and curators Hana Čeferin and Barbara Čeferin, is presented over 2 floors in the exhibition house and is embedded in an extensive accompanying program.
The series of photo collages Birds of Paradise was created during the pandemic, when the artist Vanja Bućan, suddenly entrapped inside her home, began to reconsider questions pertaining to social constructions of gender, the meaning of motherhood, and the role of women in a household. Bućan’s collages show floating women in fictional environments of urban nature and abstract moments at the dining table – a consequence of long-term limitations to the kitchen space, the routine of a home, and housework. At the same time, they are also a personal reflection of the role of a woman as a housekeeper and the primary carer of children.
In her work, Bućan often joins the human figure with fictional landscapes. In Birds of paradise, however, nature takes on a merely symbolic role, no longer in focus. She constructed her collages by first photographing and then rephotographing women in constructed natural environments, imaginary oases, and gardens, in which they seemingly float outside of space and time. Bućan interprets this as a first step towards freeing women from the captivity of domestic environments and establishing themselves in a space of utopian freedom. Yet the author soon realised that she had unintentionally merged two entities, both often the subject of idealisation and commodification – namely the female body and nature. Birds of paradise, much like the female form, have an identity prescribed to them, and are defined by connotations of beauty and exoticism, even though these markers are framed by an anthropocentric view of nature – birds of paradise certainly do not live in “paradise”. Nature, like women, is frequently subjected to attempts of domination inside the logic of the capital. For this reason, Bućan designed the series in two segments – the first with female bodies in natural environments, floating like birds of paradise, and the second, in which women are reduced to “working” hands at the dining table, the focal point of any household.
Bućan comments on the complex social situation with subtlety and humour, only hinting at the burdensome relationship between women and housework. Birds of paradise do not depict trauma or regret but reconsider mundane moments, such as preparing a meal or pausing briefly at the kitchen table. Bućan’s women are stripped of individuality, no longer autonomous subjects. Instead, they are presented as a group of working hands, their existence and labour reduced to the space of a domestic kitchen. Just as “birds of paradise” belong to a fictional “paradise”, women are forced into the context of domestic work arbitrarily. Through her photographs of bodies in natural environments and hands forming imaginary communities, the artist creates utopian scenarios of escaping the roles society assigns us.
Text written by the curator Hana Čeferin
Vanja Bućan ( b. 1973) is a Slovenian freelance photographer who lives and works in Berlin. Trained in social sciences and with a BA in Photography from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague, the Netherlands, Bučan, a former environmental activist, uses this medium to express her personal view of society in genre-specific artistic language. In her work, she questions the relationship between man and nature. Mostly her projects are centered on her own vision of nature and the way we humans interact with the constructed environment. Her works speak about identity and individuals ́ role in an anthropocentric society. She combines documentary and fine art practice, creating a fictional narratives, by rephotographing her own images. Rather than focusing on historical events she is interested in individuals' state of mind. Her career is pathed with international prizes, publications, and exhibitions throughout the world. The most recent include Foto Wien (AU),Thesalloniki Photo Biennale (GR), Choi Cloud House Beijing, Galerija Fotografija (SLO), Photo Basel (CH), Unseen Art Fair (NL), Photo London, and festivals such as Biel Photofestival (CH), Vento Solar Fortaleza (BR), Circulation(s) Paris (FR), Athens Photo Festival (GR), Lishui Photo Festival China, Month of Photography Los Angeles, Artget Gallery Belgrade, Kunsthaus Wien (AU), Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, Arendt House (Lux), etc..
She is currently represented by Galerija Fotografija.
Frontviews at HAUNT
Kluckstraße 23 A / yard
D - 10785 Berlin
Free Entrance
Public Transport
Bus Linie M48 or M85 from Potsdamer Platz/ Busstop
Lützowstr./Potsdamer Str. and a 4 minute walk // U-Bahn
Kurfürstenstraße Linie U1 and U3 and a 6 minute walk // M29 Busstop Gedenkstätte Dt. Widerstand and a 2 minute walk.
Web / Social Media
www.frontviews.de
www.hauntberlin.de
IG @frontviews_berlin, @haunt_berlin
related links
