The relation of art to truth/reality is an often investigated topic that has occupied the minds of artists and art lovers for a long time. In this relationship, regardless of the historical period, art was used as a tool of comprehension, self-awareness, and understanding — a mirror that reflects its physical dimension.
The exhibition Fact & Fiction, as part of this year’s Art Zagreb Festival, brings together works of art that in different ways question the nature of reality, the credibility of our perception, and the potential of art to offer interpretation and understanding of the complexities of everyday life. The exhibition aims to raise awareness of the difficulty of navigating a large amount of news and information, fake news, opinions, factoids, and facts found daily on different platforms, both advantages and disadvantages of which is that all participants have an equal opportunity to spread information. In such a manner of communication and consumption of content that interprets life events sensationalism and the speaker’s charisma may win at the expense of truth. Can we, in such a world, actually distinguish fiction from fact, lie from truth?
The artists gathered at this exhibition also explore new ways of human perception, especially relating to technological constructs of reality — social media, online and virtual world. They examine how realistic our experiences and our images actually are. If it is even possible, should we limit ourselves to only one level of reality, and is it absolute and objective, or does it still depend on our subjective perception? Of course, the process of learning the truth raises the question of the very role of art and whether it is of a purely mimetic nature, or does it penetrate into a realm above mere imitation and simulation of what is visible to the eye?
Fikcija & Fakcija (DPUH)
Many of the works in the exhibition invite viewers to actively participate in the discussions and the sensations they provide. At the moment of maximum saturation with all kinds of (mis)information, we can be in danger of becoming numb to basic feelings, which is why it is necessary to turn to art as a medicine that will restore our humanity, empathy, understanding, and humor — and force us to think. In accordance with the manipulations we encounter in public discourses on a daily basis, the artists seen in this exhibition often use manipulation as a strategy in their artistic practice. The difference lies in the conscious and purposeful exposure of these manipulations, through which we learn the truth.
At the exhibition, you can find works in various artistic mediums, approaches, and generations of artists. From installations and sculptures to painting, photography, and digital art, the authors offer a creative diversity ideal for analyzing such a complex question and for stimulating the imagination of each viewer.
Exhibition authors: Brigita Siništaj, Danijela Pavlinović, Dorian Ruljančić, Karla Despot, Klara Macolić, Laura Kujundžić, Marija Generalić, Marina Šafarić, Nikola Zmijarević, Sanja Pažur, Tamara Majcen, Tia Pošta.
