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It's Okay to Cry / exhibition opening
UGM, Strossmayerjeva 6
Friday, 27 October 2023, 19:00

artists: Christa Barlinn Korvald, Aurélie Bayad, Marin Håskjold, Mara Jenny, Matej Jurčević, Sara Pukanić, Jelisaveta Rapaić, Lucija Rosc, Sonja Vulpes, Nicole Maria Winkler and Karolina Wojtas

curators: Barbara Gregov, Lovro Japundžić, Lea Vene (Organ Vida)

You are invited to the opening of the international group exhibition It's Okay To Cry, which explores the social dimensions of emotions and presents artworks by eleven artists that address various manifestations of feelings and emotions in contemporary society and affirm new affective perspectives in the fields of photography and contemporary art.

The increasingly prevalent feelings of frustration, anxiety, or dissatisfaction today are the result of the social and political uncertainty and insecurity that characterize the times we live in. We are all, in some way, trying to specify, verbalise, structure, fit into familiar frameworks, connect with previous experiences, or completely rethink this "affective disorientation," as theorist Sianne Ngai describes it. We invent mechanisms and tactics to cope with frustration and trauma, design tools and discourses to organize our free time, exercise, love life, or daily life in general. Some nostalgically idealize childhood or times that seem, from today's perspective, simpler and more authentic. Others escape into nature, explore spirituality or utopias, while others seek meaning in the metaverse.

The exhibition expands on the conceptual frameworks of the 12th edition of the Organ Vida festival entitled No Tears Left to Cry which took place in summer of 2022 in Zagreb, Croatia and marks a second iteration of a successful collaboration between UGM and Organ Vida.