Continuing Dialogues

The aim of this book is to reflect upon the theories and approach pursued by Igor Zabel in his critical writings, curatorial practices and European exchange initiatives following the fall of the Berlin Wall. As a senior curator at the Moderna galerija in Ljubljana he was deeply engaged in reflecting and establishing links between “East” and “West” European art without loosing a critical perspective on the ongoing transformations. In this book it becomes clear that, despite his perception of all the apparently unbridgeable differences involved, continuing dialogues played a fundamental role in his practice as both theorist and a curator.

An introductory roundtable session focuses on the historical and local setting which formed the background for Igor Zabel’s engagement for an art historical as well as theoretical grounding of Slovenian art and for the internationalization of this scene. Participants were Zdenka Badovinac, Vadim Fishkin, Dušan Mandić, Bojana Piškur, Igor Španjol and Herwig G. Höller.

Further texts by Zdenka Badovinac, Francesco Bonami, Eda Čufer, Ješa Denegri, Charles Esche, Viktor Misiano, Kathrin Rhomberg and Maria Havajova, colleagues of Zabel’s, shed light on the various cultural aspects of his activity as a critical thinker, curator and writer. A closing chapter contains contributions by Zoran Erić, Suzana Milevska, Renata Salecl and Georg Schöllhammer, who attempt to demonstrate the continuing relevance of Igor Zabel’s (art-)political reflections by taking stock of the current cultural and political forms of dialogue in Europe.