Milovan Markovic -Prototype Tokyo-

Installation >>

milovannichido contemporary art is pleased to inform that we are going to present "Prototype Tokyo" a new installation by Milovan Markovic as an educational program of 'German Year in Japan'.
Simultaneously, we will present "Voices of the Shoah", in a sound installation consisting of over 180 interviews of the Holocaust survivors and witnesses recorded between 1988 and 1998. This audio documentary was produced by David Notowitz of Notowitz Productions. The aim of this project is to deepen the cultural exchange between Japan and Germany by examining the problems common to any modern society in the world and questioning the nature of human existence.
Milovan Markovic, who lives in Berlin, has been lately focusing on the problems of nationality, race and gender as well as on minority people such as homeless and refugees who are left behind by the society. His paintings, photographic and installation works have been shown at several international art biennales and many museum exhibitions.
Milovan Markovic was born in former Yugoslavia. During his art education he has also studied Byzantine and Serbian icons and fresco painting in Serbian monasteries. In 1983, earned MA in painting at the University of Arts in Belgrade. Had many solo exhibitions abroad and in his country, moved to West Berlin in 1986. Afterwards, held various public projects in major cities in the world. In 1991, exhibited "Prototype New York" at PS1 Museum, New York, his "Prototype"- series has also been shown in many European art museums. His works were exhibited at the Venice Biennial (1986), Istanbul Biennial (1996) and the Cetinje Biennial (2004). In 2002, visited Japan as he was invited to show in "Attitude 2002", the opening exhibition of Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto. Presented "Homeless Project" in Belgrade (2003) and Berlin (2005).

* This exhibition is
Supported by: Deutsche Botschaft Tokyo/Goethe-Institut Tokyo
Sponsored by: Tokyo Roki Co., Ltd. http://www.roki.co.jp
Cooperation: Notowitz Video Productions/Rhino Entertainment
http://www.markovic.org
http://www.notowitz.com
============================

Milovan Markovic
"Prototype Tokyo"

As 60 years have passed since the end of the World War II, our memory of the Holocaust, the massacre led by Nazi German during the war, is gradually fading away.
This year, Japan commemorates "the German Year in Japan 2005/2006", and we, nichido contemporary art will present a new art installation by Milovan Markovic, who lives in Berlin aiming to question the true nature of human existence. The approach we will take is not the one-sided academic approach that scholars would take nor documentaries which includes only the gathered information.
Born in former Yugoslavia, Markovic has been focusing on the problems of nationality, race and minority people such as homeless and refugees who are left behind from social systems and ideology, and his works have been exhibited at various national projects of major European cities.
Markovic has grasped the hidden voices of war victims whose lives were torn apart by the civil wars in former Yugoslavia and his works have been featured in Venice Biennale (1995), Istanbul Biennale (1995) and at exhibitions in Europe, Asia and the United states. In 2003 under the project "Homeless Belgrade 2003", he interviewed 12 Belgrade homeless males and made portraits with the language and alphabets used by them and with the colors of their nationalities. One of the portraits was placed on the wall of a building in central Belgrade.
Together with the installation by Markovic, we will present "Voices of the Shoah" which is an audio documentary regarding the voices of people who had survived the Holocaust produced by David Notowitz of Notowitz Productions. This documentary is made from over 180 interviews of the survivors and witnesses and they are presented as an undeniable fact to the modern society where too much information are consumed up and the past is being buried in our history.
Through Markovic's art installation and the voices which appeal to human hearts, we try to indicate that the frictions, which we still have in today's world and are brought by the power-balance of the societies, will never bring peace and that we should reconsider the relationship between Japan, Asia and the western world. In line with the projects of "German Year in Japan", we aim to grasp the past being buried and the reality of present time and to convey social messages through art.

Hitoshi TAKEADA
nca director