CURATORIAL SCHOOL 2025

APPLICATIONS by October 26, 2025, at 23:59 – short bio to mavena@mavena.hr

The Curatorial School is free of charge for all participants.
The program runs from Monday, October 27, to Thursday, October 30, for a few hours each day.
After the first meeting, the schedule will be determined together with the participants.

No prior experience is required.
Working languages: Croatian and English.

LECTURERS 2025

Miha Horvat, Aphra Tesla, Petja Golec Horvat, Anton Lederer, Margarethe Makovec, Katarina Stegnar, Lucija Šerbedžija, Anita Wach

CONCEPT — The Poetic Archive as a Living Practice

The Curatorial School is an extra-institutional educational program organized by the Mavena Association since 2016, aimed at empowering young art historians, artists, and cultural workers to create innovative curatorial projects. Each year, an international team of experts opens new perspectives on curatorial practices, introduces specific working methods, and encourages the development of international cultural cooperation.

“Jaz, ti, on. Midva, vidva, onadva. Mi, vi, oni. Skupaj.”

Curatorial School 2025, in collaboration with the Transnational Guerrilla Art School, presents Lesson 4 / 2025 within the context of the exhibition “She Named Them Poetical Archives S25/E4 (2000–2025)”.

The focus is on how to make art, write about art, think art, organize, archive, teach, and live art — together.

How I exist with art; how I relate to my art, his art, our art.
Me — the artist, curator, theorist, art historian, educator, producer — together.
How we exist together in space, on stage, in the studio, in theory and practice, side by side on the “production line.”
We critique, co-create, co-play, co-conceptualize, co-author.
A shared life, love and work relationships, family.
Work, home, people. Together.

Through presentations, conversations, poetic archiving, and the creation of shared archives, we become persons, personal, personalities — together.

WORKING SCHEDULE

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHIES

Katarina Stegnar, Slovenian actress and singer, born in 1976 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Graduated from the Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana. Member of the collective Beton Ltd. v odstopu and employed at the Slovenian Youth Theatre.

Petja Golec Horvat, born in 2004 in Maribor, Slovenia, is a young creator in the fields of theatre, dance, and performance art. Completed her first year (Performance Department, Carole Derting Studio) at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, and is currently studying acting at the Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana.

Anita Wach, dancer, choreographer, performer, and author. Since 2010, a member of the international collective Via Negativa (Slovenia). Mentor in the international residency program Performing Art. Research Ljubljana. As a choreographer, she has collaborated with the Polish City Theater and the National Theater in Warsaw.

Margarethe Makovec was born in Vienna, and Anton Lederer in Graz. In 1994, they began presenting contemporary art in their own home, open to the public. Five years later, they founded < rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art (http://www.rotor.mur.at), based in Graz. Their program focuses on socially and politically relevant art productions, maintaining a dense network of connections with organizations and artists across Europe, with particularly strong links to Southeastern Europe.

Lucija Šerbedžija, born in 1973, is a Croatian theatre and film actress and model, daughter of actor Rade Šerbedžija and sister of film director Danilo Šerbedžija.

M.A. Aphra Tesla is known for Huxtrl’s re-categorization of the legal definition of intermediality. She is the author of the longitudinal project Aphra Tesla Operating System (since 2011) and the first living Slovenian artist after whom the White Aphrodite Award for intermedia achievement is named.

Miha Horvat (1976, Slovenia) holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts (University of Applied Arts Vienna) and is a PhD candidate in Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology (Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana). Since 2009, he has been the legal representative of the Sonda Foundation and, since 2013, head of the Interdisciplinary Laboratory GT22. His artistic and research interests include space, light, creative communities, and intermedia interventions.

ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS AND PARTNERS

MAVENA – 36 of her miracles is an association founded in 2007 in Split, active in the field of contemporary art and culture, focusing on hybrid artistic practices, extra-institutional education, and international collaboration. Since 2016, it has successfully organized the Curatorial School, strengthening the local cultural scene.

< rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art, Graz, founded in 1999, is dedicated to artistic practices addressing social, political, and ecological issues. It has developed a strong network of collaborators across Southeastern Europe and is recognized for its work in public space, publishing, and residency programs.

GT22, Maribor is an interdisciplinary laboratory and a dynamic hub of independent culture in Maribor. The space brings together numerous artists, collectives, and initiatives, including the Sonda Foundation and Transnational Guerrilla Art School. Through programs such as the Open Archives series, GT22 directly engages with themes relevant to the Curatorial School.

IMPRESSUM 2025

Concept 2025: Miha Horvat, Natasha Kadin
Program Advisor: Aphra Tesla
Design: Mladen Luketić
Proofreading and Translation: Katarina Duplančić Dugopoljac
Documentation: Vanessa Barač
Production: MAVENA – 36 of her miracles
Co-production: Multimedia Cultural Centre Split, Youth Centre Platform, Coalition of Youth Associations, < rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art (Graz), GT22 (Maribor), Sonda Foundation (Maribor)
Donors: City of Split, Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, Kultura nova Foundation