10-14.09, streets and cafes of Gdansk
from 14.09 embroideries will be exhibited in the Old Town’s cafes

The artistic collective ŠKART (“scraps”) was established in 1990 by two (would-be) architecture graduates of the Belgrade Technical University – Dragan Protic and Djordje Balzamovic. They quickly became one of the most recognizable collectives dealing with  publicly engaged art that often relies on absurd humour.

One of the group's most famous projects is an alternative initiative called HORKEŠKART – a self-organised chorus functioning outside of any jurisdiction and governed by its own rules. The project attempts to make “the utopian idea of a new form of a collective” come true. From the very beginning, the chorus has been engaged in social actions, one of its aims beeing to strengthen the Balkan civic and political consciousness.

Apart from Dragan and Djordje, the line-up of the group varies – for certain projects  musicians, writers, designers, and even members of different social groups (e.g. single mothers association) are invited to cooperate. The artists believe that interaction, both with the audience and within the group, shows the true face of art and provides an opening and constructive factor which allows for exploration.

The success of ŠKART rests on immense creativity and honesty, but also on the modesty of its founders, the ability to create bonds with people, move their hearts and inspire their curiosity thus breaking invisible boundaries, which the collective also cracks down in their art.

At the Window onto the World Festival of World Cultures, for the first time in Poland, ŠKART will present one of their latest projects: Kuvarice (“embroideries”). The inhabitants of Tricity will have a unique opportunity to meet the Serbians and their workshop group in the streets and cafes of Gdańsk and to admire their works. They might even want to join their activities.

In the forgotten art of making embroideries, the ŠKART artists see not only a certain kind of charming beauty, but also a potential for expressing personal manifestos and touching  important issues. It's a chance to become calm and to focus on one's own thoughts through a meticulous effort of choosing the appropriately short phrases and illustrating with adequate images.
What really matters here is neither technique nor art skills, but genuine creativity and honesty. Until now,  the artists of  ŠKART have worked on this project with e.g.  women from refugee camps in Sarajevo or with former workers of Voivodina factories who had been made redundant due to the close-down.

The music performance of PROBA (12.09, Friday, Cafe Szafa) will also be a chance for the festival audience to admire the embroideries made by workshop participants from Serbia, Bosnia, Albania and Hungary.
The performative presentation of the Gdańsk workshops will take place on Saturday (13.09, Kobzdej Square, Festival village). In order to see the embroideries you can also visit one of the cafes in the Old and Main town of Gdańsk in the week preceeding the Festival.

THE LINE-UP OF ŠKART: DRAGAN PROTIĆ, DJORDJE BALZAMOVIĆ + FILIP ŽARIĆ a.k.a. Filip Toymaker