News

Cease, the new work of Šejla Kamerić, will be on public display during the inaugural month of the Biennale, with the public opening congregation taking place at noon of April 18th, in Campo Santo Stefano in Venice.

Cease
Šejla Kamerić
April 18th – April 24th 2024
Campo Santo Stefano
30124
Venice

“Kamerić’s gesture commands attention by dominating the central space of the square, drawing not only visitors attending the Biennale but also passersby. Its monumental aesthetic is encapsulated in a minimalist arrangement of a monument: pedestal, a red pole, and a white flag. Furthermore, the gesture and positioning of the white flag occasionally fluttering in the blue sky, but at half-mast, incites our imagination to ask whether the time has finally come to pay respects and mourn the victims and the oppressed of all current wars”. Does the customary gesture of lowering a flag to half-mast, a gesture traditionally employed by sovereigns to signify profound national mourning, prompt a sense of accountability? Can European governments – historically engaged not merely as bystanders but as participants in wars, the arms trade, in the normalization of warfare, occupation, and new Cold War geopolitics – be compelled to recognize their responsibility?”

-Gal Kirn

Cease is an independent project, commissioned and produced by the artist and Jan Eugster, the Ars Aevi Museum of Contemporary Art – Sarajevo and its director Senka Ibrišimbegović as well as the Ministry for Culture and Sports Canton Sarajevo, supported by UNESCO, City of Sarajevo, UNA / UNLESS, Eugster || Belgrade, Galerie Tanja Wagner – Berlin, NOMAD Platform. Curated by Giulia Foscari, The UNA / UNLESS Exhibition Production Team includes: Giulia Foscari, Federica Zambeletti, Francesca Benetti Genolini.

For all press enquiries please contact Ars Aevi:
Hana Ćurak: press@arsaevi.ba / T +49 (0)157 3131 3712

Image: Branislav Nadeždić