Milenko Matanović Reflects on OHO Group's 1960s Experimental Art and Transition to Community Practice

In a 2011 interview with ARTMargins Online, artist Milenko Matanović detailed the formation and activities of the OHO Group, a late-1960s Ljubljana-based collective. The group included Matanović, David Nez, Marko Pogačnik, and Andraž Šalamun, with Tomaž Šalamun and Taja Brejc as close associates. Their experimental work involved site-specific installations, happenings, and improvisational collaborations using inexpensive materials. Key projects included installations in Zvezda Park, the "Passion" happening at BITEF, and the "Triglav" performance in Ljubljana. Matanović described how the group's dissolution in the early 1970s led him to pursue community-focused work, founding the Pomegranate Center in 1986. He recalled being monitored by police in 1969 and being denied official artist status in Yugoslavia despite international exhibitions. The interview covered specific works like "Object The Worm" (1968) and "The Snake" (1969), highlighting the group's playful, intuitive approach. Matanović's later career involved ecological design collaborations in the USA and work with organizations like Findhorn in Scotland.