The exhibition “Naturales Quaestiones,” curated by Alessandra Klimciuk and Snježana Pintarić, presents sixteen works by Katarina Ivanišin Kardum, one of the most interesting artists on the contemporary Croatian scene, in two prestigious Milanese institutional venues – Fondazione Stelline and Museum of Natural History.
At Fondazione Stelline eleven monumental works – oil on canvas and charcoal on paper – become a tribute to the natural contemporary landscape, the result of research into the geological formations of the Dinaric and Prokletije regions, which the artist deepens after the experience of the 5.5-magnitude earthquake that caused enormous damage in Croatia and Zagreb itself on March 22, 2020 and whose epicenter was detected nine kilometers deepdown the earth. The mineral world, to which the mountains belong, is called inanimate, but only if one looks at it on the surface, because in the bowels of the earth the elements experience powerful and unpredictable dynamism. Idyllic nature is not the center of her interest in these works; rather, they become the occasion for a reflection of environmental politics and social and cultural research, a reflection of personal or collective histories and traumas. Its majestic landscapes are also a reflection of contemporary man’s vital need for peace and deep meditation. On view at the Museum of Natural History are five charcoal drawings on paper from the study De materia avium, a kind of naturalist notebook made when the Croatian artist worked in the educational section of the Dubrovnik Museum of Natural History. Two sections united by an important reflection on the metaphor of inanimate nature, which starts from a careful observation of Katarina Ivanišin Kardum, who has always passionately collected natural elements, some of which are displayed in the cases in the exhibition. In her vision, man and nature are two elements in constant, inseparable and inevitable synchronicity; nature is the driving force of our thinking and most directly connected to our imagination, but also witness to creation itself.
On Saturday, July 1, 4:30 p.m. is planned an educational workshop, organised by PlayArt – the educational area of Fondazione Stelline, in order to support the storytelling of exhibition, and a Talk with the artist at the Museum of Natural History on Tuesday, July 4, at 5:30 p.m.
The project is organized and promoted by the Stelline Foundation and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, on the occasion of the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the entry of the Republic of Croatia into the European Union, in collaboration with the Museum of Natural History in Milan and the Municipality of Milan, with the contribution of the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Croatian Ministry of Culture, the Croatian Consulate, the City of Dubrovnik, and the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Lombardy Region.
Katarina Ivanišin Kardum (Dubrovnik, 1975) is one of the most interesting artists on the Croatian scene. She graduated in Painting from the City & Guilds Art School in London in 1998, where she then completed her education with a two-year Master’s degree and a Postgraduate Course. From 2000 to 2008 she worked as a freelance artist and university lecturer at the City & Guilds Art School in London. n 2009 she returned to Croatia and worked as a museum educator at the Dubrovnik Museum of Natural Sciences until 2014, continuing to refine her painting practice. Today she is in charge of the Education Department and the Apiarium at the Nikola Tesla Technical Museum in Zagreb. In 2001 he participated with some of his works in the creation of the set design for the film “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.” In 2015 he won the T-HT Award, first prize at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, for the work “Still Landscape Series III”. In 2017 Art Workshop Lazareti of Dubrovnik in Artists’ Books edition published his book “De Materia Avium” (ed. Srđana Cvijetić). Numerous are his participations in group exhibitions in Croatia and abroad. His works have been acquired in the public collections of: Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb; Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Split; Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Dubrovnik, City of Dubrovnik; British Government Art Collection, DFEE, London; City of London Institute; St. George’s Hospital, London. Lives and works in Dubrovnik, Zagreb and Drače.
KATARINA IVANIŠIN KARDUM. NATURALES QUAESTIONES
curated by Alessandra Klimciuk e Snježana Pintarić
June 6 – July 23, 2023
Fondazione Stelline, c.so Magenta 61, Milan
Tuesday – Sunday, h. 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. 10.00-20.00
Free admission
Info: mostre@stelline.it | stelline.it
Museum of Natural History, c.so Venezia 55, Milan
Tuesday – Sunday, h. 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. 9.00-17:30
Admission with ticket to visit the museum (full price: 5 euros; reduced: 3 euros)
Info: museodistorianaturalemilano.it