Pleasures – They practiced contemporary art for seven years in the city, in the renovated building of the former barracks in Užice, and now they have moved to the countryside, in the premises of the former village school in Gorjani. We are talking about the young gallery “Reflektor” distinguished by a series of quality programs, which, among other things, was shortlisted for the “Politikina” award in early 2022 thanks to the exhibition Uroš Đurić “State of Affairs”.
Now, about this move to the countryside, which has just been completed, the “Reflektor” announced this: “Last year, the gallery closed its doors in the area of the former barracks and stopped working at that location.” During 2023, a new space was found and ‘Reflektor’ moved to a new location in the village of Gorjani, not far from Sevojno, where it continues to work in the former village elementary school. As the first rural contemporary art gallery within the new Cultural (de)center ‘Reflektor’. Our new-old gallery is a precedent in our environment that completely changes the existing paradigm and brings art from urban areas to the countryside.
They announce that many activities of KDC “Reflektor” are planned here: from exhibitions of local and foreign artists, to workshops with children, lectures by art connoisseurs, screenings of films and video works, talks with artists. The new space consists of an exhibition area where programs will take place, a small bookstore (library), as well as a residential area for artists.
“The first village gallery of contemporary art would thus continue the pioneering work that the Association of Visual Artists of Užice started in Užice, when it turned an abandoned building into a mini cultural center that became an important and recognizable place on the local and regional art map.”
The official opening of that gallery space in Gorjani was celebrated on the 23rd of this month with a pop-up exhibition by Aleksandar Dimitrijević and students called “Storage of Memories” (with a reminder of what has been done so far and exhibited in “Reflektor”). And KDC “Reflektor” opens its first solo exhibition here on Saturday, April 27: it is an exhibition by a young artist from Belgrade, Aleksandar Rakezić, called “Elephant in the Room”. As stated in her announcement, there are many events in the social, cultural and political sphere that could be described as “elephant in the room” cases.
“However, through this exhibition, we are touching on the ‘elephant’ that is connected to the cultural public and elitist value systems.” The metaphor of the elephant represents the animosity of the academic community and the cultural public towards the aesthetics and taste of the working class, as well as towards the images that they create/consume,'” KDC “Reflektor” announced, noting that the exhibition will be open here until May 10.
