Nevena Aleksovski

Solo exhibition

Drawing series presented at the exhibition titled Tišina (meaning silence in all ex – Yugoslavian languages) was created during the artist Nevena Aleksovski’s stay at Artist-in-residence programme in Vienna supported by the Ministry of Culture of Slovenia. Nevena was visiting various events taking part at echoraum in September 2024 and was creating spontaneous drawings, sketches, visual notes etc. inspired by the live acts, different experimental sound performances, screenings and discursive programmes at echoraum. Through this series of works the artist aimed to translate various impressions from the sound, experimental and theoretical field into her specific visual language and the medium of drawing. She thus created multi-layered, expressive and fragmented visual work which responded to the spectrum of emotional, mental and spiritual states triggered by rich experimental programme at echoraum.

Another aspect of this series of works is also the artist’s reflection of the phenomenon of silence as the integral and constitutional part of each sound and musical performance as well as the huge importance of it in our navigating the experience of sound in general. The artist was therefore interested in the possibilities of translating the experience of silence from the sound into the visual field. By titling the exhibition Tišina which is the word for silence in all of the ex – Yugoslavian languages, the artist is also referring to the existence of huge ex – Yugoslavian diaspora in Vienna as well as to various aspects of the questions of identity, integration and migration experiences. Through this series of work she therefore aimed to create visual narratives that are reflecting physical, emotional, symbolic and socio-political nature of silence.

Nevena Aleksovski (b. 1984) earned her degree in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Novi Sad (RS), in 2008, and furthered her academic journey with a Master’s degree in Cultural Studies from the University of Ljubljana (SI), in 2014. She works mainly in the media of painting, drawing, installation and found objects. She has showcased her work in numerous solo and group exhibitions, among others at ŠKUC (SI), RAVNIKAR (SI), Britta Rettberg (DE), MGLC (SI), Cukrarna (SI), P74 Gallery (SI), PrivatePrint (MK), NADA Villa Warsaw (PL) as well as at various international art fairs including viennacontemporary, Art Rotterdam, Berlin Art Week, and others. Her work deals mainly with issues of identity, migration, personal geographies and (non)belonging. She lives and works in Ljubljana.