1978 Zagreb Exhibition Surveyed Yugoslav Conceptual Art Movement

The Gallery of Contemporary Art in Zagreb presented the inaugural survey of conceptual and performance art from Yugoslavia in September 1978. Titled The New Art Practice, 1966–78, this exhibition documented a movement that emerged between 1965 and 1971. While the movement is often associated with internationally recognized figures like Marina Abramović, Sanja Iveković, and Mladen Stilinović, scholarly analysis has frequently overlooked its foundational political and economic conditions. The New Art Practice developed within a framework of institutional and economic factors that remain underexplored. This article from ARTMargins Volume 8 Issue 1, published in 2019, argues the movement was both a product of and a reaction to a complex socio-political environment. The phenomenon continues to draw significant academic and curatorial interest four decades after its first major exhibition. The piece specifically examines the period from 1965 to 1971, a formative era for the movement. It contends that a deeper understanding requires engagement with the specific context of Yugoslav self-management.