staff

assoc. prof. Željko Hrs

contextual studies:
history of theatre

Diploma AGRFT, member of the ensemble of the Slovene theatre ‘Mladinsko gledališče’ in Ljubljana since 1981. From 1992 to 1996 participation in the theatres Koreodrama, Stockholm’s Intercult, Cankarjev dom, Reon Bologne. As stage manager he cooperates with Mr.Matjaž Pograjc in the theaters Mladinsko gledališče, Lutkovno gledališče and Betontanc since 2000. He acted in films and television dramas. Since 2008 he is a tutor to the postgraduate students at the University Goldsmith in London. He lives and works in Ljubljana.

assoc. prof. Eda Čufar

contextual studies:
critical approaches to contemporary art

Eda Čufer is a dramaturg, curator and doctor of performing arts. In the 1980s, she was a co-founder and active member of the theater group GSSN and the art collective NSK. In the 1990s, she collaborated with the dance group En-Knap, the art group Irwin and the multimedia artist Marko Peljhan. Between 2002 and 2004, she was co-curator of the exhibitions In Search of Balkania (Neue Galerie, Graz) and Call me Istanbul (ZKM, Karlsruhe). Between 2003 and 2019, she lived in the USA, where she taught the theory of contemporary art at the Maine College of Art, as well as individual research and critical work, in which she mainly focuses on the investigation of relationships, interactions and transgressions between the systems of art, politics and science and technology. . Her essays have been published in magazines such as Maska, Amfiteater, Likovne besde, Dialogi, ArtForum, Springerin and Flesh Art, as well as in publications by publishers such as Emanat, Koda, MOMA, Tate Modern, MIT Press, Revolver, Afterall Books, Sternberg Press, Whitechapel Gallery and others.

Matija Jakin

cgi technician

assoc. prof. dr. Sebastjan Leban

contextual studies:
art history
radical critical analysis

Sebastjan Leban received his MA at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana and is currently a PhD candidate at the Institute of Philosophy at Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, where he is preparing his doctoral dissertation. His artistic practice involves the collaboration with Staš Kleindienst, the Trie group as well as the group Reartikulacija. He is one of the editors-in-chief and cofounders, and regularly contributors of the journal Reartikulacija. He has published in many Slovenian and international publications such as E-flux journal (USA), Identities: Journal for Politics, Gender and Culture (Macedonia), Imago (Slovachia), Zarez (Croatia), Malmo (Austria), etc. He has participated at symposiums, conferences and workshops including: Art and Sustainability (Hungary), Rearticulations of Scenarios of Environmental Catastrophes (Transmediale 09, Berlin), Politics of Contemporary Art (Kosovo), Principles and Methodologies of Auto-Education in Tanzquartir (Vienna), Trade Union Movement Opens Up New Views to the Contemporary Situation in Dom sindikatov (Ljubljana) and Art, Ideology and Politics in Moderna galerija (Ljubljana).

www.leban-kleindienst.org
www.reartikulacija.org

assistent Luka Savić

creative practice

Luka Savić is an artist and philosopher, born in 1990 in Ljubljana. He graduated at AVA-Academy of Visual Arts in Ljubljana, and then continued his studies at the Faculty of Arts in the same city. In 2022 he completed his master’s studies at the University of Applied Arts (Die Angewandte) in Vienna at the Department of Transdisciplinary Art (Transarts). His work has been exhibited throughout Europe, most recently at: Mahler & LeWitt Studios, Spoleto, Italy (where he was artist-in-residence); Arte Fiera Polis, Bologna, Italy; 31st Graphic Biennale, Ljubljana, SI; DLUL Gallery, Ljubljana, and ŠKUC Gallery, Ljubljana; Vienna Contemporary, Vienna, Austria; Light Night Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom; A Shop is a Shop is a Shop, Kunsthalle Vienna, Austria. Between 2011 and 2017, he was an assistant to Miran Mohar, who is part of the IRWIN group. Since 2017, he has been a collaborator of David Gothard’s Studio Archive, which operates between Ljubljana, London and Gorica. As a guest lecturer, he lectured at various institutions in Europe, most recently in Kosovo, at the ŠKUC Gallery in Ljubljana; at the AVA Academy of Visual Arts in Ljubljana; and in the GHMP (City Gallery) in Prague. Most of his lectures concern the connection between art and philosophy. He has published several articles and interviews on art, most recently with Mladen Dolar, Aleksandra Vajd, Laurent Fievet and Sharon Sliwinski. He currently researches the art group OHO as an independent researcher for the Kontakt collection and is the co-founder/curator of the platform called Why Knot.

Veronika Potočnik

Librarian

assoc. prof. Miran Mohar

creative practice
program leader:
fine arts - conceptualisation of space

Artist, graphic designer, scene-painter. He is a member of the Group Irwin (1983) and co-founder of the Neue Slowenische Kunst (1984), co-founder of the theater Gledališče sester Scipinon Nasice (1983–86 ), co-author and scene-painter of Krst pod Triglavom (1986) and co-founder of the design group Novi kolektivizem (1984). As member of Irwin, who bases on the principle collective work and retro avant-garde he is co-author of a series of paintings (installations) ‘Was ist Kunst’, ‘Retroavantgarda’ …– He was awarded with the national awards of ‘Prešernov sklad’ 1992 and the ‘Jakopičeva nagrada’ 2004. As representative of the Group Irwin he is a member of the non-governmental European Cultural Parliament (ECP).

assoc. prof. Andrej Savski

creative practice
objective drawing

Andrej Savski (1961, Ljubljana), works in the field of contemporary art, painting, design, web design, illustrations, occasionally as a translator and editor; He is co-founder and member of the Irwin Group (1983) and co-founder and member of the Neue Slowenische Kunst (1984). The basic concepts and methods of the Irwin Group work are a collective work and a retro principle (Was ist Kunst, Retroavantgarda, Icons, Retroprincip). Their projects are characterized by the relationship between art, politics and ideology. In the last decade, a number of conceptual projects have been developed, focusing on the East-West Dialogue and the issue of Eastern European Identity and Art History (Kapital, 1990; NSK Embassy Moscow, 1992; Transnacionala 1996, East Art Map, 2000-06; NSK Venice, 2017). In 2004 Irwin received the Jakopič Prize, and in 2005 the TREND Award for Visual Creativity. Their works are in the collections of the Moderna galerija Ljubljana, MOMA New York, MUMOK Vienna, Ludwig Museum Budapest, Ludwig Museum Aachen, Van Abbemusum Eindhoven, Ujazd Wars Castle, Fonds National des Arts Plastiques Paris etc.

assoc. prof. Pepi Peter Sekulich

creative practice
program leader:
conceptualisation of space - fine arts

Pepi Peter Sekulich is a founder and the initiator of the Institute A.V.A. – Academy for Visual Arts and it’s programme. He graduated in London / 1992 / – Wimbledon College of Art (University of the Arts London) As a Theatre designer- scenographer participated in more than 30 theatre and dance performances in several theaters and companies such as: SNG Drama Ljubljana, Theatre Mladinsko, PDG, Nova Gorica, Ljubljana City Theatre, Theatre Ptuj, Koper Theatre, Fundacao Serralves Porto, Le ballet Gent, En Knap …Production designer of 12 feature length films and numerous mid metrage and short films as: Outsider 1995, Stereotype 1996, Ita Rina, 1997, Web 1998, Ljubljana 1999, Head noise 2000, Guardian of the Frontier 2000, Desperado Tonic 2001, New World 2002, The Clairvoyant 2003, Reality 2006, State of Shock 2010 …He recieved Three Awards for best Production design. Directed the feature length documentary-drama: A Rehearsal for Death 2007 (National TV) Author of numerous Exhibitions and Artistic Actions. Tought Fine Art and Design for stage and screen at several HE and Art Institutions.

assoc. prof. Aleksandra Vajd

creative practice:
photography theory and practice

Aleksandra Vajd holds a BA and an MA in photography from FAMU in Prague as well as a degree from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Ljubljana, Slovenia. From 2004 to 2006, she received a Fulbright Scholarship to study photography at SUNY, New Paltz, NY. Her work has appeared in numerous exhibitions in Europe (Futura and Josef Sudek Atelier in Prague; Modern Gallery, City Museum and City Gallery in Ljubljana) and the United States (Bard College, Samuel Dorsky Museum in New Paltz; Czech Center in NYC; and Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago). She received numerous grants and awards, among them: the 2000 Golden Bird; the 2002 Vordemberge-Gildewart Swiss Foundation – Grant for the young talents; the 2005 Working Scholarship of the Ministry of Culture of Republic of Slovenia; the 2005 First Prize of the Frame005 Award, Brno, Czech Repubic; the 2006 Nomination for Deutsche Borse Photographic Award, London, Great Britain; and the 2006 Finalist of the OHO Group Award, Ljubljana, Slovenia. She is one of the founders of the association Format1 and a co-editor of the magazine Fotograf in Prague. She has taught at the Academy of Arts in Ljubljana and at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague where she teaches today.

www.manwomanunfinished.com
www.format1.org
www.fotografnet.cz
www.vsup.cz

Sanja Vatić

project and events production
coordinating manager for extra-curricular activities and contacts with external partners

registrar
administration

lecturer Nace Zavrl

contextual studies:
theory of motion picture

Nace Zavrl is a researcher, curator, and doctoral candidate in the Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies at Harvard University, USA. His work concentrates on nonfiction film, globalisation, and historiography; at the moment, he is writing his dissertation on political documentary in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Nace has published in academic journals and magazines (Afterimage, Ekran, NECSUS, The Moving Image Review and Art Journal), curated programmes at the Harvard Film Archive and the City Museum of Ljubljana, and edited the 2019 book The Resistance-Image: Militant Documentary on the Battlefields of May ’68 for the Slovenian Cinematheque. Since 2023, he is the Managing Editor at Senses of Cinema. At AVA-Academy of Visual Arts, he teaches film and moving image theory in the spring trimester.