Greetings from Yugoslavia
Greetings from Yugoslavia takes as its point of departure a set of 24 postcards drawn from two long-term bodies of work: Strange Bedfellows (Jugolaboratorija) (2003–2014) and [un]familiar[ities] (2011–ongoing). Material from both series is woven into a single constellation, focusing on scenes and environments where historical transitions have quietly shaped the emotional texture of the place.
The postcard set is expanded into a spatial installation integrating postcards with material photographic works and video sequences. These elements unfold across different scales and temporalities, forming a new configuration that allows for a more immersive and spatial encounter.
The images originate from regions marked by the gradual transformations following the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Rather than depicting events or individuals, the works trace subtler imprints of change: atmospheres of hesitation, residual structures, and the quiet adjustments through which societies reorient themselves. The project attends to how history embeds itself in the everyday, accumulating indirectly through space and mood.
Guided by an interest in the unstable boundary between recognition and estrangement, and informed by Boris Groys’s reflections on the exchange between the familiar and the foreign, the work explores moments where perception shifts and the ordinary becomes subtly displaced. Across its iterations, Greetings from Yugoslavia reflects an ongoing practice of observing how the past continues to resonate within the present.
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Website: alengrudix.dk