Community Art
CoCo Art
Contemporary Community Art
Community Art was an NGO active from 2000 to 2014, initiated by Aleksandar Battista Ilić and Ivana Keser. The organization fostered research, education, and projects focused on consciousness, attitudes, contemporary art, the natural environment, and collaboration within contemporary communities, as well as cooperation between different communities and groups.
A special emphasis was placed on initiating and supporting ongoing processes of exploring diverse modes of perception, challenging imposed patterns and doctrines in fields such as urbanism, art, economics, social organization, ecology, and the media.
A critical focus of Community Art’s mission was the understanding of art as a powerful agent of personal, institutional, and community transformation.
Over more than a decade of research and project development, the organization hosted theorists and artists, cultivated collaborative practices, created community-based artworks and performances, promoted dialogue and discussion, encouraged collective work and participation, and facilitated the exchange of experiences both within and between communities.
Its activities included The School of Missing Studies, Permanent Education, artistic and community projects, performances, newspaper production, lectures, billboards, interactive exhibitions and public programs, urban interventions, networking initiatives, internet-based projects, web broadcasting, public media activities, research projects, nature-based projects, slide and video projections, film and radio broadcasting, postcards, and various printed publications.
COCO ART
One of the earliest practices in the spirit of Community Art as a permanent public forum can be traced to the EgoEast exhibition and accompanying round-table discussions held in 1992. In a strong and highly visible, yet not particularly united, artistic scene in Zagreb, five young artists took the initiative to open a dialogue among artists and cultural actors.
Ivica Franić, Aleksandar Battista Ilić, Željko Božičević, Davor Pavelić, and Ivana Keser organized a large-scale exhibition entitled EgoEast (Ego from the East). The idea was first to strengthen and connect the local art scene and then to establish links with artists and art communities throughout Eastern Europe.
For the EgoEast exhibition catalogue, Ivana Keser wrote one of the first comprehensive texts to address and connect the various currents of the contemporary art scene at that moment, encompassing three generations of artists. The following text was published in the catalogue:
The EgoEast exhibition (1992), held at the Art Pavilion in Zagreb, brought together 45 artists. As part of the project, the initiating artists organized two round-table discussions at the KIC Gallery in Zagreb, focusing on key issues and debates shaping the contemporary art scene at the time.
