FFST - Art History

Assistant Frane Prpa on a Research Stay in Venice

Frane Prpa — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 15:28:30 GMT

As part of the project "Mediterranean – Croatia – Identity: Historical and Cultural Intertwinings (MEDHRID)", Assistant Frane Prpa from the Department of Art History at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split, undertook a research stay in Venice from 19 February to 19 March 2026.

During his one-month stay in Venice, Assistant Frane Prpa conducted archival research at four institutions: Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Museo Correr, and Fondazione Querini Stampalia.

Guest Lecture – Małgorzata Kaźmierczak

Frane Prpa — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 15:25:12 GMT

On 31 March 2026, a guest lecture by Małgorzata Kaźmierczak, current President of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) and Assistant Professor in the Art and Design Programme in Kraków, was held at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split.

The lecture focused on the theory of preservation and documentation of performance art and was delivered as part of the course Theory of Visual Arts, taught by Silva Kalčić.

Małgorzata Kaźmierczak (The Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Art and Design of the Pedagogical University of Krakow, Poland): The theory of the preservation and documentation of performance art

The lecture considers the contingency of performance art documentation:
how an accidentally acquired image or deliberately created documentation
influence our memory of performance art events and create a fictional
action which exists only in our imagination. The problem will be
illustrated with examples of widely known iconic performances are used,
as well as primary sources, such as interviews with artists and
documentalists. It also analyzes whether technological improvements
change the contingent and fictional nature of documentation. It analyzes
the problem from the perspective of a researcher, as well as a person
who has documented hundreds of performance art pieces.

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Małgorzata Kaźmierczak Ph.D. A historian, curator, and researcher of
contemporary art. Her interests focus on performance art and its social
and political contexts, particularly the relationship between artistic
practice and freedom of expression. She explores mechanisms of
censorship, strategies of artistic resistance, and the role of art
criticism in shaping public discourse.

An important area of her research is South American performance art,
analyzed through the lens of memory, corporeality, violence, and
democratization processes. She is also interested in the transformations
of the art field after 1989 in Central and Eastern Europe and the
functioning of transnational artistic and institutional networks.

Her research is closely linked to her curatorial practice and experience
as a director. She carries out exhibition projects and international
collaborations, combining theoretical reflection with institutional
action. As president of the International Association of Art Critics
(AICA International), she is committed to developing global initiatives
promoting artistic freedom of expression, the ethics of criticism, and
intercultural dialogue.

Students Anđela Prodan and Anja Jenjić at the 12th International Congress of Historic Towns in Solin

Frane Prpa — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 15:20:58 GMT

Art History students Anđela Prodan and Anja Jenjić will participate in the 12th International Congress of Historic Towns, which will take place from 24 to 27 March 2026 at Hotel President in Solin.

As part of the congress programme, which includes lectures, panel discussions, and presentations dedicated to cultural tourism and heritage interpretation, a presentation of the best student innovative idea for the interpretation of a cultural heritage site will also be held. Within this programme, the students presented their interpretation project entitled: “Diocletian’s Palace After Sunset: The Lives of Communal Marginalised Groups.”

The project focuses on portraying the everyday lives of marginalised social groups during the medieval communal period, with the aim of offering a different perspective on the interpretation of the city's history and enriching the contemporary cultural and tourism offer of Split’s historic centre.

Silva Kalčić – Želimir Koščević’s Exhibition Cartographies / Critical Apparatus, Exhibition and Curatorial Narratives

Frane Prpa — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 15:19:01 GMT

Želimir Koščević’s Exhibition Cartographies is an attempt to historicise curatorial practice in contemporary art in Croatia through the example of the work of curator emeritus Želimir Koščević. He worked progressively as the director and curator of the Student Centre Gallery in Zagreb (originally built as the Pavilion of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes at the Zagreb Fair in 1928–1929, designed by Ivan Zemljak, a member of the Zemlja group), and later as a curator at the Gallery/Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb (as well as the Lang Photo Gallery in Samobor).

It is important to emphasise that the history of curatorial practices remains a relatively under-researched field within the Croatian art-historical context, while internationally it has become an increasingly prominent area of inquiry. While the history of exhibitions, in the modern sense of the universal right to public visibility, can be traced back to the revolutionary upheavals of the late eighteenth century, the history of contemporary curatorial exhibitions is being written in the present. This opens up possibilities for questioning existing models of institutional policy, conceptual frameworks, and modes of presentation.

Following the Rijeka Salon ’54, which introduced the powerful and authoritative figure of the curator as selector of exhibited works (as discussed by Zlatko Galić in his introductory text), the emergence of neo-avant-garde practices and institutional theory and critique in the 1950s and 1960s destabilised established meanings and institutional positions associated with the artist, the artwork, the curator, and the audience. This led to a more active role for curators in mediating new artistic expressions—from the authorship of thematic exhibitions and exhibition-statements to the radical questioning and eventual abolition of the curatorial position itself. Examples include Koščević’s exhibitions Imaginary Museum I–III (1966–1968), Exhibitions of Women and Men (1971), Mail Art (1972), and culminating in the major international exhibition Cartographers: Geo-Gnostic Projections for the 21st Century (1997).

When curators of Koščević’s generation (he was born in Zagreb in 1939) emerged on the scene, they redefined their own professional position and effectively assumed the role of meta-artists. This phenomenon became known as the curatorial turn. Rather than relying on linear museological narratives, Koščević employed artistic methods within his curatorial practice, using exhibition displays and museum artefacts as creative material, experimenting with modes of viewing, and conceiving exhibitions as holistic experiences.

Koščević transformed the Student Centre Gallery into an experimental and open workshop of deprofessionalised art and subsequently introduced art into the public space of the city, thereby de-institutionalising it. Alongside experimental, critical, and interactive exhibitions, he organised public talks and discussions and actively mobilised and educated audiences through the pedagogical programmes of the Student Centre Gallery and later the Gallery of Contemporary Art.

Successful Completion of the First Incoming Mobility of International Researchers at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Split within the CIRCE Project

Frane Prpa — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 15:17:38 GMT

During February 2026, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Split successfully completed the first month of incoming mobility for international researchers within the framework of the CIRCE project. The Faculty hosted researchers from Italy and Spain who carried out an intensive and multidisciplinary programme in Split and Istria dedicated to the mapping and interpretation of contested cultural heritage.

The researchers’ stay in Split was coordinated by Associate Professor Ivana Čapeta Rakić, PhD, leader of one of the project’s work packages. The activities were implemented in cooperation with the Croatian Association of Visual Artists Split (HULU Split).

The mobility programme included extensive field research in numerous locations across Istria (Lovran, Oprtalj, Vižinada, Pula, Beram, Lindar, Pazin, Rovinj, Svetvinčenat, and Hum), as well as in Split and its surroundings (Klis and Trogir). Researchers mapped examples of potentially contested heritage, analysed different narratives and contexts, and collected data for the development of a shared cataloguing methodology. Fieldwork included visits to museums and galleries, as well as collaboration with local experts and representatives of religious communities.

Particular emphasis was placed on participatory research methods. Focus groups, meetings with representatives of the Jewish and Islamic communities, and participatory mapping activities were organised, ultimately leading to the implementation of the Decolonial Walk—an event aimed at fostering critical reflection on cultural heritage and its multilayered history.

The mobility programme also included a series of professional meetings and presentations, notably the presentation of the project at the Centre for Iconographic Studies of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka, as well as a meeting with the head of the House of Frescoes in Draguć, a department of the Historical and Maritime Museum of Istria in Pula dedicated to the preservation and presentation of Istrian mural painting.

In addition to the research component, the mobility included numerous project meetings, networking activities, and participation in cultural events, further strengthening international cooperation among project partners and enhancing the visibility of the project.