Exhibition "The rotten smell is you"

Artists:

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

Curator: Jelisaveta Rapaić

*At the exhibition opening, a pole dance lecture performance by Aja Janković will be performed starting at 7:30 PM

The second presentation of the exhibition The rotten smell is you, which was realized in collaboration with the Cultural Center of Belgrade, brings some changes compared to its first realization at Kunsthalle Bratislava (5.9-16.10.2023). The artistic positions have been carefully adapted to include additional geographies and histories in order to emphasize the vacuum that occurs within the local context. The new edition of the exhibition also emerges as a direct response and urgency to respond to the growing sympathies and uncertainties related to the rise of right-wing movements in 2024. By researching and uncovering internal disagreements and generational gaps within the feminist movement, this exhibition explores the essential issues of appropriation by the right and mirrored worlds*, post-truth and conspiracy theories. However, The rotten smell is you builds a unique narrative, connecting different experiences and perspectives to analyze the rift between third and fourth-wave feminists, most often noticed through discourse on transgender issues, sex work, and hyperfemininity.

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