Exhibition "The rotten smell is you"

Artists:

Kristina Bajilo, Nikola Balberčakova, Sofija Đovanoti, Đejmi Hadrović, Aja Janković, Work group Merlinka (Pavle Banović, Marija Iva Gocić, Lea Rivka Lapiover, Sara Pantović, Kloe Sasi), Milica Mijajlović Živković, Peni Kej, Džesika Stoja, Zuzana Svatik

Curator: Jelisaveta Rapaić

*At the opening of the exhibition, a pole dance performance lecture by Aja Janković will be performed, starting at 19:30

The second presentation of the exhibition The rotten smell is you, which was realized in collaboration with the Cultural Center of Belgrade, brings certain changes compared to its first realization in Kunsthalle Bratislava (5.9-16.10.2023). Artistic positions have been carefully adjusted to include additional geographies and histories, in order to emphasize the void that occurs within the local context. The new edition of the exhibition also emerges as a direct response and urgency to react to the growing sympathies and uncertainties related to the rise of right-wing movements in 2024. By investigating and exploring internal disagreements and generational divides within the feminist movement, this exhibition explores the fundamental issues of appropriation by the right and mirror worlds*, post-truth and conspiracy theories. Nevertheless, The rotten smell is you builds a unique narrative, bringing together different experiences and perspectives to analyze the schism between third and fourth wave feminists, most often observed through the discourse on transgender issues, sex work, and hyper-femininity.

*In her recent book Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, Naomi Klein defines under the term Mirror World describes our destabilized present full of doubles and confusion; where extreme right-wing movements express declarative solidarity with the working class; AI-generated content blurs the line between real and fake; New Age entrepreneurs, now turned anti-vaxxers, continue to break down our familiar political loyalties; while many of us project our carefully curated digital doubles in the realm of social media.