Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) is an artists’ collective founded in 1984 in Slovenia from existing groups that formed earlier that decade–the industrial band Laibach, The Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre, and the visual art collaborative IRWIN. As a loose organization of like-minded creatives active during the last decade of communist Yugoslavia before Slovenia became an independent country in 1991, they mimicked the language and format of authoritarian regimes and bureaucracy. In doing so, NSK drew attention to the absurdities of power structures through their manifestos, repetitive diagrams and symbols, and pastiche of historical iconography, allusions, and references.
While the collective is still active today, Neue Slowenische Kunst | Monumental Spectacular is a focused exhibition of 11 prints that are part of a portfolio from our collection and select multimedia elements primarily from the 1980s that meld the group’s many facets of music, art, theater, and graphic design. Together, their work reexamines the complexities around Slovenian, Eastern European, and global history, culture, language, politics, and violence to unearth art’s entanglement with power at a time when Slovenia was held between nationalist, capitalist, and communist ideologies. Highlighting the epic and heroic graphic style of these prints, this exhibition illuminates the purpose, according to IRWIN, “to reassert Slovenian culture in a monumental and spectacular way.”
Curatorial and Exhibition Interns on Project: Keira January, Clara Kennedy
Laibach, Die Freiheit Führt das Volk – Gerhilda (Liberty Leading the People), 1985, screenprint on paper, Bates Museum of Art purchase with Elizabeth Gregory MD ’38 Fund, Dorothy Stiles Blankfort Fund, and Robert and Minna Johnson Art Acquisition. 2015.20.9 Laibach, Vsi Mrtvi Večno Sanjajo Resnico (All the Dead Eternally Dream About Truth), 1985, screenprint on paper, Bates College Museum of Art purchase with Elizabeth Gregory MD ’38 Fund, Dorothy Stiles Blankfort Fund, and Dr. Robert A. and Minna F. Johnson ’36 Art Acquisition Fund, 2015.20.10Neue Slowenische Kunst (Novi kolektivizem and Laibach), Krst Pod Triglavom (Baptism under Triglav),1986, Cankajarev Dom Cultural and Congress Center, Ljubljana, screenprint on paper, Bates College Museum of Art purchase with Elizabeth Gregory MD ’38 Fund, Dorothy Stiles Blankfort Fund, and Dr. Robert A. and Minna F. Johnson ’36 Art Acquisition Fund, 2015.20.11Laibach, Die erste Bombardierung! (The First Bombing over Germany!), 1983, screenprint on paper, Bates College Museum of Art purchase with Elizabeth Gregory MD ’38 Fund, Dorothy Stiles Blankfort Fund, and Dr. Robert A. and Minna F. Johnson ’36 Art Acquisition Fund, 2015.20.8 Laibach, Resurr Exit, 1985, screenprint on paper, Bates College Museum of Art purchase with Elizabeth Gregory MD ’38 Fund, Dorothy Stiles Blankfort Fund, and Dr. Robert A. and Minna F. Johnson ’36 Art Acquisition Fund, 2015.20.7Laibach, La Liberté Guidant le Peuple (Liberty Leading the People), 1985, screenprint on paper, Bates College Museum of Art purchase with Elizabeth Gregory MD ’38 Fund, Dorothy Stiles Blankfort Fund, and Dr. Robert A. and Minna F. Johnson ’36 Art Acquisition Fund, 2015.20.4Laibach, Politizacija žena (The Politicization of Women), 1982, screenprint on paper, Bates College Museum of Art purchase with Elizabeth Gregory MD ’38 Fund, Dorothy Stiles Blankfort Fund, and Dr. Robert A. and Minna F. Johnson ’36 Art Acquisition Fund, 2015.20.6Laibach, Blut Und Eisen (Blood And Iron), 1985, screenprint on paper, Bates College Museum of Art purchase with Elizabeth Gregory MD ’38 Fund, Dorothy Stiles Blankfort Fund, and Dr. Robert A. and Minna F. Johnson ’36 Art Acquisition Fund, 2015.20.5Neue Slowenische Kunst (Builders and Laibach), TALNI NAČRT KOLONIZACIJE SLOVENSKE ZEMLJE V NSK zavodu izdelali Graditelji (GROUND PLAN OF COLONIZATION OF SLOVENIAN LANDS Created by the Builders at the NSK Institute),1986, screenprint on paper, Bates Museum of Art purchase with Elizabeth Gregory MD ’38 Fund, Dorothy Stiles Blankfort Fund, and Dr. Robert A. and Minna F. Johnson ’36 Art Acquisition Fund, 2015.20.1 Neue Slowenische Kunst (Novi kolektivizem), Der NSK Koffer Für Geistigen Gebrauch (The NSK Suitcase for Spiritual Use), 1986, screenprint on paper, Bates Museum of Art, purchase with Elizabeth Gregory MD ’38 Fund, Dorothy Stiles Blankfort Fund, and Robert and Minna Johnson Art Acquisition. 2015.20.3
Core Texts:
East Art Map: Contemporary Art and Eastern Europe, edited by IRWIN, 2006
Ethnic Nationalism: The Tragic Death of Yugoslavia, Revised Edition, Bogdan Denitch, 1996
Interrogation Machine: Laibach and NSK, Alexei Monroe, 2005
Neue Slowenische Kunst, Neue Slowenische Kunst and New Collectivism, Irwin, NSK, Laibach et al., 1991
NSK from Kapital to Capital: Neue Slowenische Kunst—an Event of the Final Decade of Yugoslavia, edited by Zdenka Badovinac, Eda Čufer, and Anthony Gardner, 2015
NSK from Kapital to Capital: Neue Slowenische Kunst—an Event of the Final Decade of Yugoslavia, exhibition guide, 11 May – 16 August 2015, Moderna galerija, Ljubljana, Curator: Zdenka Badovinac
Post-Yugoslavia: New Cultural and Political Perspectives, Edited by Dino Abazovic and Mitja Velokonja, 2014
