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The stage setting serves as a meeting place for a newly constituted group of women from two diverse contexts. Engaging in exchange and dialogue here during the duration of the exhibition is a group of cultural workers and scientists working at the nuclear research facility Hot Cell and the EUSECTRA (European Nuclear Security Training Centre) of the Joint Research Center in Karlsruhe. The participants engaged in a set of actions, and readings, looking at the biographies of historically important scientists such as Marie Curie (1867-1934), examples from Cold War espionage such as Ursula Richter (1933–2002), and developing performances and scripts for film work. The stage and rehearsals were open for public use.
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Throw Like a Girl offers a setting and stage for a new project in which a group of collaborators, female soldiers and cultural workers delve into the relationship between art, feminism, and conflict. The starting point is the life story of Jeanne Merkus, a Dutch philanthropist and activist who decided to take up arms and join the Herzegovina uprising against the Ottoman occupation in 1875, leading soldiers in battle. TENT was used as a hybrid space for intimate and public gatherings, conversations, exercises, and rehearsals, and we worked collaboratively towards performance which eventually resulted in a film work.
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‘Throw Like a Girl’ is een samenwerkingsproject tussen vrouwen uit twee werelden: de kunst en het leger. Kunstenaar Maja Bekan bracht hen samen via een open call, en vroeg hen te reflecteren op het werk en de rollen van vrouwen.
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Throw Like a Girl with space intervention including light, paint, carpet, objects, costumes, text and rehearsals. Variable size, material and time. 2022/2023 With: Gabriela Dávalos Aray (artist and educator); Darly Benneker (artist, educator and project coordinator); Zosia Nowakowska (designer); Claudia Redout (Lieutenant Colonel at the Royal Netherlands Army, veteran); Amy Son (Royal Navy Operational Service communications Sailor 1, veteran); Rinke Wagenaar (Captain in the Royal Netherlands Army); Aletta van der Eijk (TENT marketing & communication coordinator) and various members of team Tent Throw like a Girl offers setting and stage for a new project in which Maja Bekan and a group of collaborators delve into the relationship between art, feminism and conflict. Their starting point is the life story of Jeanne Merkus, a Dutch philanthropist and activist who decided to take up arms and join the Herzegovina uprising against the Ottoman occupation in 1875, leading soldiers in battle. Over the years, the perception of this historical figure has shifted from heroine to outcast in Balkan public memory and from guerrilla soldier to housewife in popular culture. Bekan put an open call and convened a group of women from the two different worlds of the artist and the military. The reflected on the work and roles women perform and how times of conflict have paradoxically created space for emancipation and personal development. In doing so, the participants learned about one another’s professional fields, life choices and commitments. The group used TENT as a hybrid space for intimate and public gatherings, conversations, exercises, and rehearsals, and worked collaboratively towards performance which will eventually result in a film work.
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HD 5 min preview wtih Pon-Pon Yeh, Mandy Morrison, Juliana Cope, Susan Hapgood, Daniela Chapparo, and many others. In New York City, Maja Bekan embarked on a project with local residents when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. She had to reinvent the central aspects of her proposed working method – collaboration, gathering, jointly engaging in physical exercises and intimate conversations. For one year, a loose-knit group of women met in person when possible, but mainly online, under the title Hold it Together (We Have Each Other). Throughout this year, fortnightly zoom meetings formed an online platform to share urgent questions. What constitutes human connection in times of separation? How do we create collective intimacy without the possibility to move or breathe in the same space? What questions arise when society’s structures appear to break down? What friendships do we need in times of hardship? The women talked about female figures – historical and contemporary, from public and private spheres – whose strong goals and convictions made them stand out. Because of their actions and life choices, society also judged these women as ‘hard to love’. The group called them troublemakers both as a term of endearment and recognition. Eventually, the group could work towards a joint series of live performances in an exhibition that Bekan designed as a rehearsal space, performance stage and recording studio. Playfully exploring what it means to be a troublemaker, five collaborators adopted the identities of partisan, a spy, a politician, a (house)worker, and an artist/killjoy – societal roles based on actual biographies of women. In a poignant improvisation from an imagined afterlife, they imagine their characters’ hardships and the battles they fought, wondering what difference their existence may have made.
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Troublemakers (Hold it Together (We have each other)) (staged photo documentation) 2020/2021 HD video and Constructed situation with space intervention including light, paint, carpet, objects, costumes, text and performance. Variable size, material and time. With: Pon-Pon Yeh, Mandy Morrison, Juliana Cope, Daniela Chaparro, and Susan Hapgood. In New York City, Maja Bekan embarked on a project with local residents when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. She had to reinvent the central aspects of her proposed working method – collaboration, gathering, jointly engaging in physical exercises and intimate conversations. For one year, a loose-knit group of women met in person when possible, but mainly online, under the title Hold it Together (We Have Each Other). Throughout this year, fortnightly zoom meetings formed an online platform to share urgent questions. What constitutes human connection in times of separation? How do we create collective intimacy without the possibility to move or breathe in the same space? What questions arise when society’s structures appear to break down? What friendships do we need in times of hardship? The women talked about female figures – historical and contemporary, from public and private spheres – whose strong goals and convictions made them stand out. Because of their actions and life choices, society also judged these women as ‘hard to love’. The group called them troublemakers both as a term of endearment and recognition. Eventually, the group could work towards a joint series of live performances in an exhibition that Bekan designed as a rehearsal space, performance stage and recording studio. Playfully exploring what it means to be a troublemaker, five collaborators adopted the identities of partisan, a spy, a politician, a (house)worker, and an artist/killjoy – societal roles based on actual biographies of women. In a poignant improvisation from an imagined afterlife, they imagine their characters’ hardships and the battles they fought, wondering what difference their existence may have made.
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Delegated performance and research in action with Delfina Foundation Team: Gillean Dickie (Director of Operations), Hena Lee (Residency Manager), Helen Gale (Marketing and Communications Manager) and Poppy Litchfield (Administrative Coordinator)” The performance, (delegated to Delfina team), was happening unannounced in the form of gossip and storytelling. The work is based on the artist’s current research into WWI woman soldiers as a feminist strategy. Without a script, performers were creating the story around the friendship of two female fighters, one from Serbia fighting as a man during the war and the other nurse from UK becoming a first female soldier in Serbian army.
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Delegated performance and research in action with Delfina Foundation Team: Gillean Dickie (Director of Operations), Hena Lee (Residency Manager), Helen Gale (Marketing and Communications Manager) and Poppy Litchfield (Administrative Coordinator)” The performance, (delegated to Delfina team), was happening unannounced in the form of gossip and storytelling. The work is based on the artist’s current research into WWI woman soldiers as a feminist strategy. Without a script, performers were creating the story around the friendship of two female fighters, one from Serbia fighting as a man during the war and the other nurse from UK becoming a first female soldier in Serbian army.
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At Some Point We All Have To Dance 2018 HD video 57’00” In this collaborative project in Graz, Austria, Maja Bekan convened a group of women from two institutional contexts: the museum and the church. Three nuns from different Catholic orders met with four educators from the Joanneumart and science museum to learn about their respective fields and life choices. The group met at the convents and museum facilities during their collaboration. They looked at pictures of women from the museum's collection, discussed the importance of representation and its effects, and reflected on what it means to be a woman in society. In the film, we encounter them gathering in the museum's storage area - an abstract and dimly-lit space where the everyday world appears to be held at bay. The women reflect on independence, intellectual self-development, spirituality, and sisterhood. They uncover the differences and commonalities between the institutions to which they belong. Each, in its own way, involves a commitment to a higher cause. Produced by: Kunsthaus Graz Supported by: Stroom Den Haag, Universalmuseum Joanneum and Province of Styria
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In the film, I bring together women who represent two institutions and hold public speeches in two locations; the museum and the church. Three nuns from religious orders in Graz cross paths with four educators from the Joanneum Museum and learn about their respective institutions and fields of work mutually and reciprocally. In a joint conversation about charged places, artwork and representative images of women, it is possible to create a sensitively drawn picture of female self-image and sense of mission. with Sr. Laetitia Hermann, Barmherzige Schwestern, Graz; Sr. Anna Elvira Kurz, Director, Ursulinen, Graz; Sr. Ruth Lackner, Grazer Schulschwestern (Franziskanerinnen von der Unbefleckten Empfängnis); Juliane Nitsch, Educational Service, Schloss Eggenberg with state rooms, Alte Galerie, Münzkabinett and Archäologiemuseum, Universalmuseum Joanneum; Nathalie Pollauf, Educational Service, Schloss Eggenberg with state rooms, Alte Galerie, Münzkabinett and Archäologiemuseum, Universalmuseum Joanneum; Antonia Veitschegger, Educational Service, Art and Architecture, Neue Galerie, Kunsthaus Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum and Katrin Bucher Trantow, Chiefcurator and Deputy Head, Kunsthaus Graz. Produced by: Kunsthaus Graz Supported by: Stroom Den Haag, Universalmuseum Joanneum and Province of Styria
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Essential Environment No. 4: Social Room”, constructed situation/social room with CCA guards, text work, sitting arrangement, curtain and Kazik by Alfons Karny, courtesy of CCA Ujazdowski Castel ,photo: Bartosz Górka. Part of the exhibition 23 Assemblies
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An ongoing performance of seven artists working to contribute with a proposal of new artwork for the empty plinth at Oleandry Square. Contributors: Dana Chmielewska, Ryosuke Imamura, Aleksandra Klimczak, Aneta Spirydowicz, Gabriela Novak, Dominika Olchowik, Justyna Pianka. The site specific installation includes costumes and construction elements designed by the artists and executed by Magdalena Siemienowicz (architectural design), Kamil Gałecki (metal constructions) and Piotr Marciniak (wooden constructions).
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What if we started making less and reusing more? collaboration with Gunndís Ýr Finnbogadóttir ongoing collaboration since 2007 Mix media installation including text, painted space and performance, of variable size, material and time. This work is an ongoing archive of sorts, an appendix to my collaborative projects. Through a collection of presentation panels, I share some of the inspirational texts and production notes that inform my practice, both at a conceptual and prosaic level. These reflections and deliberations mainly stem from years of ongoing Skype and email conversations between fellow artist Gunndís Ýr Finnbogadóttir and me. It is a contemporary version of an exchange of artists' letters. We make collages of snippets from our exchange to accompany our exhibitions. In our selection, we include key references and artistic questions. We also reveal the moments of fussing, doubt and procrastination that are equally part of the creative process and the jokes and self-irony essential for maintaining a sense of lightness and pleasure in what one does. The audience is invited to share this spirit of lightness and pleasure and to become performer of this work. As in all of my projects, it’s an invitation to reflect, talk and engage in playful interactions (please look at the instructions)
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The work Reasons to Perform: Always, Always, Always: Look for the Answer is based upon ongoing research and investigations into notions of time, appropriation, authorship and productivity. For the exhibition in The Living Collection space, artists Gunndís Ýr Finnbogadóttir and Maja Bekan create a mix-media installation comprised of: site-specific space intervention, performance and text work with the aim of exploring and questioning the archive of the living art (museum) and documentation as a form of possibility. Minutes of measurements, disturbance, rhythm, movement will be introduced into Nýló’s archive collection and performed by the museum staff and visitors during the opening hours of the exhibition.
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in cooperation with Maria Puciata, Jan Rybczyński, Krystyna Cirko, Jerzy Kaczyński, Szymon Stępniak, and guests. As a part of inquiry into the missing sculpture with Stowarzyszenie Oleandry (self organized neighborhood group from Warsaw) I organized set of educational and performative actions for the participants which included: visit to Bialystok’s Karney Museum, visit to Królikarnia (National Sculpture Museum) and to the museum’s storage with Alicja Gzowska and Agnieszka Tarasiuk and lecture by Joanna Turowicz on Alfons Karny as an artist and as a social activist. ‘P for Performance: A series of unexpected incidents’ is a para- theatrical event involving seven ‘actors ’ from Stowarzyszenie Oleandry creating a plot around the disappeared sculpture and mediating encounters with my work and art they engaged in during this period. It was developed for a theater stage at CCA, Warsaw. The work includes space intervention, specifically designed objects and performance by Stowarzyszenie Oleandry.
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Wouldn’t it be nice to live like an art object…or thank you for taking (a)part is a conversation piece in the format of ‘the artist talk’, between the artist’s mother and her peers. This event is developed in two phases: as an attempt of exercise in becoming 'common', the artist’s mother will take intensive English lessons (a language she doesn't speak) that will hopefully enable her to engage with the discursive part of her daughter's art practice. In the second phase of the work, she will re/present the artist during the artist talk where she will act as a host and guide the audience through Bekan’s art practice and the work on display.
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Consisting of a space and color intervention, text and a temporary move of the residency program’s office and stuff to their brand new ‘art city hub’ showcasing the immaterial labour at work and various daily interactions that often take place behind closed doors and away from any public.
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Essay singing performance by Fenni (芬尼 ) for the workers at the Rundeli market, Beijing. Part of “Bodies at Work” a collaborative research project with Angela Serino, examining and voicing what kind(s) of “work” it is that art and cultural workers do.
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by Annette Krauss and Maja Bekan with Daniel Kemnitz & Frans Willem Kosten
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Part of “Bodies at Work” a collaborative research project with Angela Serino, examining and voicing what kind(s) of “work” it is that art and cultural workers do. A series of semi-public conversations and actions based on selected texts and artists’ contributions (videos, films) hosted together with local participants at the Institute for Provocation, Beijing, China
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The video Golden Party explores various manifestations of ‘amateurish’ multi level sales practices trough Tupperware –like parties, organized among social acquaintances. My focus group was my mother and group of her close friends who regularly meet, once a week, and who as a hobby, are freelancing for various multi level companies ranging from jewelry to health. Recent economical crisis introduced different variation of these so-called ‘parties’ and included ‘gold valuation’ and exchange. The gathering was re-staged and filmed in Belgrade, in the family apartment.
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The office space was part of the project “Secret Powers for Identity, Security and Self-Respect in Troubling Times vol. 2 “1 at Het Oog, Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, NL taking place from January till July 2011. The luxurious office, designed by Vitra, located in the space of The Eye offered a multifunctional business centre right in the heart of the Van Abbemuseum for the ideal mix of commercial, industrial and cultural interests. People in need of a working space could apply to use the office and the Museum’s facilities according to the Museum daily working hours. Advertisement was published on the museum website, Kammer van Koop and promoted via newsletters/email invitations.
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Maakt deel uit van Kunstenaarsinitiatief / Collectief / Broedplaats
co founder of ADA Rotterdam, Area for Debate and Art (2008-2018)
Curriculum vitae
Opleidingen
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2022 - --
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2006 - 2008beeldende kunst/ autonom Rotterdam, Piet Zwart Diploma behaald
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2003 - 2006beeldende kunst Den Haag, Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten Diploma behaald
tentoonstellingen
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2023P for Performance: All about Us Badischer Kunstverein Karlsruhe, Duitsland P for Performance: All about us P for Performance: All about us is the first comprehensive solo exhibition of the artist Maja Bekan (*1975, Trebinje) in Germany. The exhibition encompasses all of Bekan’s works to date, conceived since 2011 as a continuous series under the collective title P for Performance. The project is part of a series of exhibitions on diverse performative practices at the Kunstverein. www.badischer-kunstverein.de/index.php?Direction=Programme&list=Exhibitions&Detail=960 Solo
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2022P for Performance: Nothing is Accidental TENT Rotterdam, Nederland Vaak werkt Bekan met vrouwen—onder meer met haar moeder, studenten, gepensioneerden, nonnen, activisten, kunstenaars en anderen die hun plek proberen te vinden binnen soms moeizame omstandigheden. Een interesse in zelforganisatie en self-empowerment loopt als een rode draad door al haar projecten. Haar benadering is altijd humorvol en lichtvoetig. Dansen is haar metafoor voor een gemeenschap waarbinnen je je eigen ritme en positie kan kiezen. Maar daarachter schuilt een oprecht vertrouwen in het potentieel aan nieuwe kennis en sociale verandering dat door ontmoeting in gang kan worden gezet. Performance is een kernonderdeel van Bekans praktijk. Ze zet deze kunstvorm in als middel om tijd met elkaar door te brengen en je samen te engageren—om zonder vooropgezet doel te oefenen in samen optrekken. Haar projectdeelnemers nodigt ze uit om door middel van gezamenlijke activiteiten en exercities van en met elkaar te leren. Uiteindelijk betrekken zij op hun beurt het publiek door uit hun ontmoetingen en gesprekken scenario’s te destilleren en (na) te spelen. Bij TENT is Bekan een nieuw project gestart Throw Like a Girl, waarvoor ze de voorste zaal als ontmoetingsruimte en podium heeft ingericht. Nu te zien in de tentoonstellingsruimte is een retrospectief met de films en theatrale settings die uit eerdere projecten zijn voortgekomen. www.tentrotterdam.nl/en/tentoonstelling/maja-bekan-throw-like-a-girl/?ref=shows Solo
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2022Throw Like a Girl TENT Rotterdam, Nederland ‘Throw Like a Girl’ is een samenwerkingsproject tussen vrouwen uit twee werelden: de kunst en het leger. Kunstenaar Maja Bekan bracht hen samen via een open call, en vroeg hen te reflecteren op het werk en de rollen van vrouwen. Deze filminstallatie geeft een impressie van hun ontmoetingen. www.tentrotterdam.nl/tentoonstelling/throw-like-a-girl/?ref=home Solo
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2021If Time Is Still Alive Camera Austria Graz, Oostenrijk Curated by Urban Subjects (Sabine Bitter, Jeff Derksen, Helmut Weber) camera-austria.at Groep
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2019An exhibition of posters Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art Rotterdam, Nederland Inaugurating on 7 April 2019 at Witte de With’s ground-floor gallery space is An exhibition of posters by Maja Bekan, Kévin Bray, Chloë Delanghe, Baldvin Einarsson, Priscila Fernandes, Vera Gulikers, An Onghena, Kevin Osepa, Josie Perry, Rory Pilgrim, Tramaine de Senna and Edward Clydesdale Thomson. The twelve visual artists, who live in the Netherlands and the surrounding region, were commissioned these posters as part of Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art’s collective learning initiative, with a focus on community building. This initiative entails many activities, including a work/study program designed for Rotterdam youth. The program includes art history courses as well as business workshops, and engages the program participants in skill-building activities to gain skills that range from hospitality to creating collaborative partnerships. Curated by Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, Samuel Saelemakers www.wdw.nl/en/our_program/exhibitions/an_exhibition_of_posters Groep
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2018FAITH, LOVE, HOPE Kunsthaus Graz Graz, Oostenrijk Curated by: Katrin Bucher Trantow, Johannes Rauchenberger and Barbara Steiner www.museum-joanneum.at/en/kunsthaus-graz/exhibitions/exhibitions/events/event/6972/faith-love-hope Groep
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201723 Assemblies U-jazdowski Center for Contemporary Art Warsaw, Polen CCA Ujazdowski, Warsaw curator Anna Ptak Maja Bekan’s 23 Assemblies is a performative exhibition/live installation that sheds light on the ties between art and everyday life and politics. The point of departure is stories of small collectives: two collaborating artists, a neighborhood association, groups of women tied through family and running a small business. This is the artist’s first exhibition in Poland and the final stage of the work she began in Warsaw in 2014.During Maja Bekan’s exhibition 23 Assemblies five rooms will be put on show, constituting a remix of her works from over the space of ten years. These will be constructed situations shown through video documentation, live actions, or records of previous activities. They raise the issues of participation, intimacy, resourcefulness, or cohabitation. The protagonists of Maja Bekan’s work are often women: artists, activists, as well as students, retirees, and people seeking a place for themselves in difficult economic circumstances. u-jazdowski.pl/en/programme/wystawy/maja-bekan?tid=t_content Solo
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2017Working for the commons Casco Art Institute Utrecht, Nederland curated by Binna Choi Exhibiting institutes as artworks is not new—think Marcel Broodthaers’ Musée d’Art Moderne, Département des Aigles, Section XIXème Siècle (1968), Thomas Hirschhorn’s Musée Précaire Albinet (2004), and more recently Tania Bruguera’s Museum of Arte Útil (2013) among many others. As such, our exhibition looks to this history, but actualizes the institute as artwork by ultimately making it into Casco Art Institute. That’s also why we want to exhibit the aspects of institutes that are not usually exhibited—what we call the “body”—such as budget, relations, ethics, and so on. This effort requires close collaboration with many, who are in fact “commoning” Casco and generating the commons, besides us, including: Adelita Husni-Bey, Aimée Zito Lema, Annette Krauss, Bram van den Berg, Charlotte Rooijackers, Cooperativa Cráter Invertido, David Bennewith, Dora García, Fernando García-Dory (Inland), Faivovich & Goldberg, Gunndís Ýr Finnbogadóttir, Ingo Niermann, Jort van der Laan, Laura Pappa, Lily van der Stokker, Lotte Schröder, Maja Bekan, Marjolijn Dijkman, Merel Zwarts, Riet Wijnen, Ruth Buchanan, Southern Wave (Dutch Art Institute), Terra Critica (Utrecht University), and Wok the Rock. Some have developed long-term projects with us, here introduced from an “action” perspective, and others share their imaginings and methodologies for commoning. casco.art/ Groep
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2016Blue Box Foundation IZOLYATSIA Kyiv, Oekraïne curated by Nini Palavandishvili, Lena Prents, Valentina Kiselyova, Vladimir Us, Daniel Muzyczuk, Anna Ptak. This project is implemented in a collaboration of five organisations based in countries geographically and historically connected to the political history of the Eastern European socialist bloc, which, with the exemption of Russia, have been allied in another geopolitical concept: an Eastern Partnership. Topics and issues formulated by artists and curators in this project underline that the fate of the erstwhile universalist geopolitical divisions has been unfolded by contemporary challenges and disparate trajectories. izolyatsia.org/en/project/blue-box Groep
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2016P for Performance: A series of unexpected incidents CCA Ujazdowksi Castle Warsaw, Polen curated by Anna Ptak para - theatrical play/a social sculpture in cooperation with Maria Puciata, Jan Rybczyński, Krystyna Cirko, Jerzy Kaczyński, Szymon Stępniak, and guests. CCA, Ujazdowksi Castle produced by Magdalena Drągowska choreographer consultant Iza Szostak u-jazdowski.pl/en/programme Solo
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2016Reasons to Perform Nylo The Living Art Museum Reykjavík, IJsland The Living Art Museum – Living Collection presents Reasons to Perform: Always, Always, Always: Look for the Answer, 2016. an exhibition by artists Maja Bekan and Gunndís Ýr Finnbogadóttir. This new work that Finnbogadóttir and Bekan are developing is based upon ongoing research and investigations into notions of time, appropriation, authorship and productivity. For the exhibition in The Living Collection space, artists Gunndís Ýr Finnbogadóttir and Maja Bekan create a mix-media installation comprised of: site-specific space intervention, performance and text work with the aim of exploring and questioning the archive of the living art (museum) and documentation as a form of possibility. www.nylo.is/en/events/reasons-to-perform-always-always-always-look-for-the-answer-2016/ Duo
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2015Winterstudio Hanssplasen Kunstmuseet KUBE Alesund, Noorwegen with aritsts Bjørn Bjarre (NO), Per Inge Bjørlo (NO),Gunndis Ýr Finnbogadottir (IS), Elida Brenna Linge (NO), Camille Norment (NO/US), Cecilia Nygren (SE), Silke Otto-Knapp (DE), Stein Rønning (NO), Eirik Senje (NO), Andreas Siqueland (NO), Tove Storch (DK) currated by Benedikte Holen (Kunstmuseet KUBE), Tove Lande (Kunstmuseet KUBE), Andreas Siqueland and Elida Brenna Linge. www.winterstudio-hansplassen.com/ Groep
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2014Extravagant Bodies: Extravagant Age Contemporary Museum of Fine Arts Rijeka, Kroatië INSPIRING OLD AGE – body and mind on the fringes of social norms. Ivana Bago, Olga Majcen Linn, Sunčica Ostoić | KONTEJNER Partner curators Milica Pekić | Kiosk, Slaven Tolj | MMSU Bureau for Contemporary Art Praxis, Klovićevi dvori Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia Exhibition and performances Ana Alvarez-Errecalde (AR/SP), Maja Bekan (RS), Hrvoslava Brkušić (HR), Lada Cerar (SI), Boris Cvjetanović (HR), Tomislav Gotovac (HR), DB Indoš (HR), Sanja Iveković (HR), Marko Jeftić (RS), Siniša Labrović (HR), Suzanne Lacey (US), Ana Lendvaj & Ružica Mikulić (HR), Mirjana Miljković & Neven Sviben (HR), Andrea Palašti (RS), Stahl Stenslie (NO), Sandra Sterle (HR), Mladen Stilinović (HR), Sandy Stone (US), Ana Strelec & Tomislava Jukić (HR), Škart (RS), Pilvi Takala (FI/NL), Goran Trbuljak (HR), Silvio Vujičić (HR), Sonja Vuk (HR), Lois Weaver (UK) www.artandeducation.net/announcements/108285/extravagant-bodies-extravagant-age Groep
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2014Made in Commons SMBA Amsterdam, Nederland Made in Commons, with Irwan Ahmett & Tita Salina, Zhana Ivanova, Maja Bekan, Jatiwangi Art Factory, Maryanto, Papermoon Puppet Theater, Read-in, Dusan Rodic, Vincent Vulsma, Wok the Rock. Currators SMBA and KUNCI Cultural Studies Centre, Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam, Amsterdam www.smba.nl/ Groep
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2013If Mind Were All There Was Kunstverein Göttingen Göttingen , Duitsland with Steve Rushton, Lonnie van Brummelen & Siebren de Haan, Toon Koehorst & Jannetje in't Veld, Florian Göttke, Martine van Kampen, Stijn Verhoeff, Wendelien van Oldenborgh, ADA, Anna Okrasko, Katarina Zdjelar, and Maartje Fliervoet english.kunstvereingoettingen.de/ausstellungen/air-berlin-alexanderplatz/ Groep
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2012Secret Powers for Identity, Security and Self- Respect in Troubling Times vol.3 The Cultural Center of Belgrade Belgrade, Servië en Montenegro www.kcb.org.rs/programi/likovni-program/ Solo
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2011Secret Powers for Identity, Security and Self- Respect in Troubling Times VanAbbe Museum Eindhoven, Nederland The fourth artist to participate in the six-month programme for The Eye, is Maja Bekan (1975, Trebinje, Former Yugoslavia) who lives and works in Rotterdam. Her extensive project called Secret Powers for Identity, Security and Self-Respect in Troubling Times will be on display from January until July 2011. The programme’s activities consist of two different 'chapters'. One is the establishment of a fully furnished temporary office that can be potentially used by anyone who needs an urgent place to work. This luxurious office, located in the space of The Eye offers a multifunctional business centre right in the heart of the Van Abbemuseum for the ideal mix (depending on who participates) of commercial, industrial and cultural interests. vanabbemuseum.nl/en/programme/programme/maja-bekan-secret-powers-for-identity-security-and-self-respect-in-troubling-times/ Solo
projecten
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2024
VOL. 44, NO. 4: BETWEEN THE STANDING AND THE INCLINED: STRUCTURES SUPPORTING CHANGE Kunstlicht is an academic journal for art, visual culture, and architecture. Amsterdam, Nederland tijdschriftkunstlicht.nl/vol-44-no-4-between-the-standing-and-the-inclined-structures-supporting-change/ What is the inclined? Why support structures? And how can these help us speak about change—(because yes, we still want many things around us to be different)? Support is generally intended as something that holds up or serves as a foundation, provides a basis for the existence or subsistence of someone or something, keeps from yielding, and gives comfort. In this issue, we have used support to speak of all that sustains and thus shapes an art practice, what allows someone to stand as an artist and art professional today in the absence of or despite certain systems, in the cracks of objective material constraints, turning them into opportunities for collective actions and self-empowerment. Guest-editors of this issue: Maja Bekan and Angela Serino, with contributions by Manuela Zammit and Alina Lupu, Patricia H. McMeans, Eleonore Pano-Zavaroni and Kathrin Wolkowicz, Multiple Choice, Irena Borić, Mari Kalabegashvili, Gunndís Ýr Finnbogadóttir, Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodriguez, Toni Kritzer.
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2018
P for Performance: At some point we all have to dance Kunsthous Graz Graz, Oostenrijk P for Performance is an on going project and platform in which I invite others to collaborate with me and conceive a programme of the events: with Sr. Laetitia Hermann, Barmherzige Schwestern, Graz; Sr. Anna Elvira Kurz, Director, Ursulinen, Graz; Sr. Ruth Lackner, Grazer Schulschwestern (Franziskanerinnen von der Unbefleckten Empfängnis); Juliane Nitsch, Educational Service, Schloss Eggenberg with state rooms, Alte Galerie, Münzkabinett and Archäologiemuseum, Universalmuseum Joanneum; Nathalie Pollauf, Educational Service, Schloss Eggenberg with state rooms, Alte Galerie, Münzkabinett and Archäologiemuseum, Universalmuseum Joanneum; Antonia Veitschegger, Educational Service, Art and Architecture, Neue Galerie, Kunsthaus Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum and Katrin Bucher Trantow, Chiefcurator and Deputy Head, Kunsthaus Graz.
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2018
P for Performance Delfina Foundation London, Verenigd Koninkrijk www.delfinafoundation.com/platform/delfina-presents-maja-bekan/ in collaboration with Gillean Dickie (Director of Operations), Hena Lee (Residency Manager), Helen Gale (Marketing and Communications Manager) and Poppy Litchfield (Administrative Coordinator)”
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2017
Performance Class CCA Warsaw Warsaw, Polen I collaborated with a group of young artists and students in creating an educational space over the course of my solo exhibition “23 Assemblies” at CCA U-jazdowski (Warsaw, PL). A group of art students worked on a model for a new sculpture on Oleandry Square, at a open backyard of a Socialist Realist housing estate that is part of Warsaw’s MDM [Marszałkowska Residential District]. From 1969 to 1992 a sculpture “Nude Boy” by Alfons Karny, made in 1928, was exhibited here. The “Performance Class” was an open workshop that lasted for two months in the exhibition space and it was composed of a practical component and a discursive one. The studio space was created where they could work during the opening hours of the CCA. The daily practice was self-guided. They were expected to work on their own, conceptualize and gather information to create a model of art. This model was proposed as a new public work to the Oleandrów Association and its inhabitants. The participants were encouraged to reflect on and contribute to the whole process of work, which might be described as understanding the role of the artist, institution and community in the creative process of collaboration between all of the aforementioned components. The discursive elements of the workshop were focused on ideas such as: performance, agency, collectivity, authorship, appropriation, public art and copy. The process was supported by regular studio visits and conversations with me and the guests I invited such as: Anna Ptak, Zofia Cielątkowska, Joanna Rajkowska , Ewa Zarzycka , Annete Krauss, Maria Pask, Gunndis Yr Finnbogadotirr, Binna Choi, Annie Fletcher and my mom.
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2014
Bodies at Work IFP Beijing Beijing, China “Bodies at Work” is a collaborative research project by Maja Bekan and Angela Serino examining and voicing what kind(s) of “work” it is that art and cultural workers do. What is their relationship to time and space, how and for whom they work, how they balance their private, social and professional life, and what are the advantages and pitfalls of such circumstances. Involving various collaborations, “Bodies at Work” enfolds itself trough small-scale performances, lectures, conversations and printed materials. The project was launched in 2012 and was hosted by ADA; Institute for Provocation, Beijing,China 2013 Bar, Barcelona, Spain, Remont Gallery Belgrade 2017.
Internationale uitwisselingen / Artist-in-residencies
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2023Istanbul, Turkije Gate 27 is an international residency program established in 2019 to facilitate the research and production processes of different practices and to provide a platform for interdisciplinary interaction. Treating art as a research method, Gate 27 invites artists, researchers and academics to establish a dialogue around ecology, sustainability, accessibility and local creative networks. www.gate-27.com/en/residents/maja-bekan/
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2021Residency ISCP New York, Verenigde Staten The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) supports the creative development of artists and curators, and promotes exchange through residencies and public programs. Housed in a former factory in Brooklyn, with 35 light-filled work studios, two galleries, and a project space, ISCP is New York’s most comprehensive international visual arts residency program, founded in 1994. iscp-nyc.org/
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2020Residency ISCP New York, Verenigde Staten The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) supports the creative development of artists and curators, and promotes exchange through residencies and public programs. Housed in a former factory in Brooklyn, with 35 light-filled work studios, two galleries, and a project space, ISCP is New York’s most comprehensive international visual arts residency program, founded in 1994. iscp-nyc.org/
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2018Delfina Foundation, London (UK) London, Verenigd Koninkrijk Based in the heart of London, Delfina Foundation is an independent, non-profit foundation dedicated to facilitating artistic exchange and developing creative practice through residencies, partnerships and public programming. www.delfinafoundation.com/in-residence/maja-bekan/
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2018Q21 Vienna, Oostenrijk Q21 provides workspace for around 50 initiatives, organizations, agencies and editorial offices working in the cultural sector. This creative space is spread across over 7,000 sqm within the MuseumsQuartier Wien. In this way, Q21 brings the “creative” aspect into one of the world’s largest complexes for art and culture. Q21 tenants work across a wide variety of fields. Be it an international film or dance festival, indie game development, art book publishing or a fashion boutique, with their themes and forms of production, these initiatives complement the traditional museums and event spaces at the MuseumsQuartier Wien. www.mqw.at/en/institutions/q21/
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2016AIR laboratory CCA Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL Warsaw, Polen The residencies constitute an important branch of U–jazdowski’s programme. Since 2002, we have hosted in Warsaw over 250 art professionals, curators, artists, researchers, educators, organisers, individuals and collectives representing more than 50 countries from Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Africa. u-jazdowski.pl/en/programme/residencies
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2013Institute for Provocation, Beijing, China. Mondriaan Fonds Bejing, China Institute for Provocation (IFP) is a Beijing based independent art organization and project space founded in 2010. Combining the study of theory and artistic practice, IFP aims to combine cross-disciplinary knowledge and stimulate cultural exchange and production in a collective approach. IFP organizes and advocates various kinds of activities, including artist residency, research project, discussion, exhibition making, workshop, publication, etc. on the basis of considering the dynamics of the relationship of independent art space with the society. www.iprovoke.org/
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2012Residency Air Aleksanderplatz Berlin, Fonds BKVB Berlin, Duitsland Welcome to AIR Berlin Alexanderplatz (ABA), an artist-run initiative. Our mandate at ABA sets out to investigate how “artistic research” has become increasingly engaged with fields of knowledge that lie beyond what has traditionally been considered the “artistic sphere.” Conducting fieldwork, delving into archives, drawing parallels, testing hypotheses, creating photographic documentation and compiling new “findings” have all become integral parts of the contemporary term “artistic research” -defined by Mika Hannula as “methodological abundance” that sets itself apart from traditional scientific methodologies. The very idea of artistic research has prompted theorists such as Paul Feyerabend (Against Method) and Bruno Latour (Laboratory Life: The Social Construction of Scientific Facts) to call static notions of “method” and “fact” into question, giving particular relevance to subjective, interdisciplinary, and experimental approaches to research. airberlinalexanderplatz.de/
opdrachten
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2019An Exhibition of Posters Witte de With Contemporary Art Center Rotterdam, Nederland Poster commission as part of Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art’s collective learning initiative, with a focus on community building. Curated by Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, Samuel Saelemakers www.wdw.nl/en/our_program/exhibitions/an_exhibition_of_posters Uitgevoerd
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2018At some point we all have to dance Kunsthaus Graz Graz, Oostenrijk Commissioned film work. In the film, I bring together women who represent two institutions and hold public speeches in two locations; the museum and the church. Three nuns from religious orders in Graz cross paths with four educators from the Joanneum Museum and learn about their respective institutions and fields of work mutually and reciprocally. In a joint conversation about charged places, artwork and representative images of women, it is possible to create a sensitively drawn picture of female self-image and sense of mission. with Sr. Laetitia Hermann, Barmherzige Schwestern, Graz; Sr. Anna Elvira Kurz, Director, Ursulinen, Graz; Sr. Ruth Lackner, Grazer Schulschwestern (Franziskanerinnen von der Unbefleckten Empfängnis); Juliane Nitsch, Educational Service, Schloss Eggenberg with state rooms, Alte Galerie, Münzkabinett and Archäologiemuseum, Universalmuseum Joanneum; Nathalie Pollauf, Educational Service, Schloss Eggenberg with state rooms, Alte Galerie, Münzkabinett and Archäologiemuseum, Universalmuseum Joanneum; Antonia Veitschegger, Educational Service, Art and Architecture, Neue Galerie, Kunsthaus Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum and Katrin Bucher Trantow, Chiefcurator and Deputy Head, Kunsthaus Graz. Uitgevoerd
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2017What if we started making less and reusing more? Utrecht, Nederland Mix media installation including text, painted space and performance, of variable size, material and time. Uitgevoerd
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2017A series of unexpected incidents U-jazdowski CCA Warsaw, Polen commissioned film work: The video was made during the dress rehearsal. We see the ensemble making the P for Performance: A series of Unexpected Incidents theatrical event, another situation constructed by the artist. We see the group a group reconstructing the history of the search for a lost sculpture, a process which allows them to make this story their own, to make it an inalienable part of their biographies, as well as the square, that they inhabit and care for. Delving into what would appear to be a minor story at various points in the action, with various subjects speaking, is not representing the sphere of politics, but it does provide the space for a political act on a micro scale. Cast: Krystyna Cirko,Grażyna Cychowska,Alina Doroszkiewicz,Jerzy Kaczyński,Maria Puciata,Jan Rybczyński and Szymon Stępniak Produced by: Ujazdowski CCA Warsaw Supported by: Mondriaan Fonds, Stroom Den Haag and City of Warsaw Uitgevoerd
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2011Secret Powers for Identity, Security and Self - Respect in Troubling Times Het Oog, Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands Eindhoven, Nederland During six months, Secret Powers for Identity, Security and Self-Respect in Troubling Times activities consisted of two different 'chapters'. One was the establishment of a fully furnished temporary office that was used by anyone who needed an urgent place to work. The luxurious office, located in the space of The Eye offered a multifunctional business centre right in the heart of the Van Abbemuseum for the ideal mix (depending on who participates) of commercial, industrial and cultural interests. The second chapter consisted of a series of performance; P for Performance; coordinated by me in which I invite a variety of artists to collaborate and conceive a programme of events each month. These structures of events draw its inspiration from the informal domestic structure of home-sale Tupperware-like parties, which my mother frequently organises. ( in this power point, you can see selection of three events, among six that happened during this project) Uitgevoerd
publicaties
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2013Archive on The Run contribution with Gunndis Yr Finnbogadottir Nylo The Living Art Museum Reykjavík Iceland
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2012Our House in the middle of the Street Edited by Maja Bekan and Irene Kromhout Kunsthuis SYB
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2009Hotel New York kamer 104_ Hotel Kasina soba 701 Maja Bekan, Gunndis Yr Finnbogadottir and Mirajana Stojadinovic Belgrade 2009
Recensies
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2022Maja Bekan – Throw like a Girl. Gossip like a Girl! Magazine Kaylie Kist Amsterdam, Nederland metropolism.com/nl/feature/47476_maja_bekan_throw_like_a_girl_gossip_like_a_girl/ Maja Bekan’s richly layered research-based projects involve different levels of collaboration that focus on bringing together women of various backgrounds, generations, perspectives, and experiences. Kaylie Kist met up with Bekan to talk about her major retrospective exhibition P for Performance. Nothing is Accidental currently on show at TENT. More specifically they talk about the new and continuing project Throw Like a Girl in which Bekan works together with women from the military.
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2019Website Delfina Foundation London, Verenigd Koninkrijk www.delfinafoundation.com/platform/delfina-presents-maja-bekan/ interview
Prijzen en stipendia
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2020Awarded Residency at ISCP Mondriaan Fonds Amsterdam New York, Verenigde Staten The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) supports the creative development of artists and curators, and promotes exchange through residencies and public programs. Housed in a former factory in Brooklyn, with 35 light-filled work studios, two galleries, and a project space, ISCP is New York’s most comprehensive international visual arts residency program, founded in 1994.
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2019Stipendium for Established Artists Mondriaan Fonds (voorheen Fonds BKVB) Amsterdam, Nederland
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2018Residency at Delfina Foundation Mondriaan Fonds (voorheen Fonds BKVB) Amsterdam, Nederland
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2017Awarded Mondrian support for the exhibition “23 Assemblies”, at Ujazdowski, Warsaw Mondriaan Fonds (voorheen Fonds BKVB) Amsterdam, Nederland
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2016Awarded Residency AIR Warsaw Mondriaan Fonds (voorheen Fonds BKVB) Amsterdam, Nederland
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2014Awarded Stroom Pro Grant for the Resarach, Den Haag, NL PRO Invest, Stroom Den Haag Den Haag
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2013Residency IFP Beijing Mondriaan Fonds (voorheen Fonds BKVB) Amsterdam, Nederland
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2012Residency Air Aleksanderplatz Berlin, Fonds BKVB
artistieke nevenactiviteiten
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2019 - --Member of an editorial committee of Hotel Maria Kapel Loopt nog
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2018 - 2019guest teaching at Royal Academy The Hague
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2012 - --member of advisory board of Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam Loopt nog
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2009 - 2013member of ARTclub, Kunsthuis SYB, programming committee for residency in Beetsterswaag.
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2008 - --_Cofounder and member of independent artist association ADA _ area for debate and art ROTTERDAM < a self-organized, independent artists initiative formed in September 2008 Loopt nog
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2008 - --curator of performance program P for Performance within ADA Rotterdam Loopt nog
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2007 - 2008developing and curating projects Inquiry in Location, Hotel New York, Rotterdam and Revisiting Belgrade, Hotel Kasina, Belgrade with Gunndis Yr Finnbogadottir and Mirajana Stojadinovic