At the Moment When a Great War Knocks on Our Door, We Must Politically Think This World
The Third Exhibition by the Domino Association as Part of the Exhibition Cycle on Croatian Feminist Performance
Too Late to Give Up
Museum of Contemporary Art
March 4 – March 22, 2025
Opening: March 4, 2025, at 7 PM
In the month dedicated to women, Zagreb’s Museum of Contemporary Art is hosting the third exhibition segment of the cycle titled At the Moment When a Great War Knocks on Our Door, We Must Politically Think This World.
The urgency of the title is palpable in our present reality, where social, economic, and political structures are rapidly shifting toward increasing exclusivity and insecurity. This exhibition offers an overview of the universal need for a fairer and more democratic society—an impulse reflected in artistic works and actions over past decades, and one that remains deeply relevant today.
The exhibition narrative is structured around themes connected by the common thread of feminist artivism. The works of over forty female artists provide a cross-section of feminist performance, addressing topics such as women’s labor, personal relationships, dialogue, historical inequalities, and the fight for women’s rights. Our collective political reality has caught up with this retrospective, making it strikingly contemporary and relevant, regardless of when individual works were created.
The exhibition includes performance documentation from artists such as Ksenija Kordić, Vlatka Horvat, Neli Ružić, Nina Kurtela, Sandra Sterle, Nikolina Majdak, Arijana Lekić-Fridrih, Selma Banich, and many others, showcasing the continuity of artistic creation as a driver of social change. It is accompanied by a selection of documentation on significant events, conferences, and manifestations that have shaped feminist activism in this region.
The exhibition cycle Too Late to Give Up, produced by the Domino Association, presents an overview of feminist performance through selected representative works by artists who have shaped and continue to shape Croatia’s performance art scene. The cycle takes its name from the work of Neli Ružić, which illuminated Zagreb, Split, and Rijeka, concisely conveying the message of art’s role in contemporary society.
The exhibition cycle emerges from the thematic focus of the broader project by the Domino Association, The History of Political Performance, which builds on the rich legacy of artistic works that have boldly addressed social and political issues—sometimes perceived as radical or provocative.
Curators of this exhibition cycle, Suzana Marjanić, Maja Pavlinić, and Zvonimir Dobrović, have gathered over 60 female artists across four exhibitions taking place from December 2024 to April 2025, showcasing works spanning from the 1970s to the present.
Artists Exhibited at MSU Zagreb
Milijana Babić, Selma Banich, Iva Matija Bitanga, Tajči Čekada, Tanja Dabo, Vlasta Delimar, Iva Đorđević, Vlatka Horvat, Sanja Iveković, Ivana Ivković, Ana Janjatović-Zorica, Ana Katulić, Dunja Knebl, Andrea Knezović, Božena Končić-Badurina, Ksenija Kordić, Iva Kovač, Petra Kovačić, Nina Kurtela, Sonja Leboš, Arijana Lekić-Fridrih, Vesna Mačković, Nikolina Majdak, Lara Mandli, Kristina Marić, Kata Mijatović, Nadija Mustapić, Ana Mušćet, Irma Omerzo, Marina Petković Liker, Nikolina Pristaš, Dina Rončević, Nika Rukavina, Neli Ružić, Marijana Stanić, Sandra Sterle, Angela Stipić, Matea Šabić Sabljić, Neda Šimić Božinović, Marija Štrajh, Anica Tomić, Ksenija Turčić, Ivana Nataša Turković, Xena L. Županić, Lucija Žuti
Production & Design
- Production: Domino
- Design: Bruno Isaković
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to the Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, museum advisor Martina Munivrana, and director Vesna Meštrić for their support. We also extend our gratitude to:
- The Ethnographic Museum in Zagreb and senior curator Mareta Kurtin for loaning the Handmaid’s Costume
- The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Rijeka, documentarian Diana Zrilić, and director Branka Benčić for loaning photo documentation of Neda Šimić Božinović’s performance
- Ankica Čakardić, Aida Begić, Željka Jelavić, Rafaela Dražić, and Marko Strpić for providing publications and documentary materials
- The Museum of Arts and Crafts and the Cultural Information Center (KIC) for loaning equipment
A heartfelt thank you to all the artists for their collaboration and contributions to the project.
Funding & Support
This program is co-financed by Solidarna Foundation, the Ministry of Culture and Media, and the City Office for Culture and Civil Society of Zagreb. The work of Domino is supported by Kultura Nova Foundation and the National Foundation for Civil Society Development.
