Dunja Blazevic, curator and art historian, curated program of the Gallery of Student's Cultural Center in Belgrade during the 1970ies and profiled it into a space open to artistic experiments, new media and critical perspectives, strong international cooperation and collaboration among the artists in the cities of the former Yugoslavia. In 1981 she became the editor-in-chief of contemporary art segment in the TV shows Friday at 10 p.m. and Other Art at the TV Belgrade station. These series grew into regular monthly show entitled TV Gallery, which was broadcasted on the Yugoslav TV network from 1984 to 1991. TV Gallery represents important document of interdisciplinary, socially engaged artistic and curatorial practice and it is unsurpassed example of a public TV concept and art's place within it.
Reasons for an exhibition about a TV show from the second half of the 1980s are multiple and concern the media itself (TV medium and medium of gallery exhibition) as much as the content (contemporary art in its broadened sense that emerged in the 1970s), as well as their interrelation in the context of culture, culture policy and culture practices of what is today called an era of "decadent Yugoslav socialism" of the 1980ies in the 20th century.
Phenomenon of TV Gallery in the medium of television in the Yugoslav context in a certain way was made possible by contemporary art of the 70s and 80s, characterized by the ideas of democratization, perception and production of contemporary art (such as activities of number of artists within the so called 'new art practice'), abandoning of traditional artistic spaces and traditional artistic media, tactical use of media, participation, collectivity and change of the artist's status. Television was understood as "natural" media surrounding for video art, and gallery presentation of video was considered a second-best solution. Today, that idea, or hope, is almost completely abolished and forgotten.
Dunja Blazevic’s TV shows dealt with broad understanding of contemporary art (from historical avant-garde to conceptual art and so called new artistic practice, video art, design, comics, and literature as well...), were not limited by "genre". Duration was not always the same, and the choice of music was obviously influenced by then still current "New Wave".
The exhibition presents a selection of Dunja Blazevic’s television production that presented art trends and movements, such as, New Art from the 20s - Zenitism, Dadaism, Constructivism, with appearance by Josip Seissel, August Cernigoj, Mihailo Petrov and other protagonists of these movements, New Art of '70s, with documentary art materials and interviews with related artists, critics and curators, or Five Artists and Gorgona, with apperence of Josip Vanista, Julije Knifer, Ivan Kozaric, Gjuro Seder, Marijan Jevsovar, Radoslav Putar, Bozo Bek and others. Exhibition also includes video art produced by TV Gallery such as videos by Breda Beban &Hrvoje Horvatic, Sanja Ivekovic, Dalibor Martinis, Marcel Odenbach, etc.
The TV Gallery exhibition is the first presentation of the program after Dunja Blazevic at the end of 1980 stopped working at TV Beograd.
The exhibition was part of the 2007 - 2008 project Political Practices of (post) Yugoslav Art, produced in collaboration of WHW (Zagreb), kuda.org (Novi Sad), Break (Belgrade) and SCCA / pro.ba (Sarajevo). The concept of TV Gallery exhibition is conceived and realized by kuda.org. (Novi Sad).
TV Gallery shows are recorded from the archives of Radio Television Belgrade.
