Plenary lecture: Dr Bojan Jović, director of the Institute for Literature and Arts in Belgrade

THE ARTIST’S BOOK OF MODERN TIMES: INDIVIDUAL VS. COLLECTIVE; MODERNISM VS. AVANT-GARDE

The author examines the phenomenon of the Artists’ Books of modern times embodied in the approaches to the book as an object of art reproduced in a limited edition (original work or a small number of copies of books) produced by a special technique / techniques. Analyses of the relevant ideas and achievements of W. Blake, W. Whitman, S. Mallarmé, W. Kandinsky and the related avant-garde experiments in the interwar period (B. Cendrars, V. Hlebnikov, Y. Gol, R. Petrović…) provide an overview of the basic characteristics, similarities and differences of starting points and outcomes in the creation of art books. Single authorship or joint work of two authors are compared to the collectivist achievements (“Blue Rider” almanac of F. Mark and W. Kandinsky; program for the “Grand bal des artistes travesti transmental” of Association of Russian artists, avant-garde programmatic/manifest collection of works) within the modernist/avant-garde aspirations of achieving the total work of art.

The lecture is the part of the opening ceremony and it will be in the Serbian language. Simultaneous interpreting into English will be provided.