Bálint Szombathy

Druga linija aka The Other Line is a product of many years of research of neo-avant-garde cultural and art scene in Novi Sad, Serbia (late 60s and 70s), which has been marginalized until today. This artistic movement was directly connected not only with important art centers of the former Yugoslavia, but also with existing flows of world art during its brief and productive activities (7e Biennale de Paris, 19th Berlinale). The cultural and artistic emancipation of that time had implied individual freedom of expression and strong reaction to established boundaries. This avant-garde movement had become threat to communist establishment, the authors' work were sabotaged, the films were sealed off, five artists were taken to trial, two were sent in prison. How is it that the retrograde mechanism of shutting down and removing the most creative and representative progressive impulses of our surrounding is still so current to this day?

What happens when 11 world-renowned avant-garde artists are invited to a luxurious resort in the Adriatic where they can do nothing but rest? Attila Csernik (Serbia), Radomir Damnjanović Damnjan (Serbia), Željko Kipke (Croatia), Ivan Kožarić (Croatia), Vlado Martek (Croatia), Era Milivojević (Serbia), Romelo Pervolovici (Romania), Pinczehely Sandor (Hungary), Balint Szombathy (Hungary), Janos Sugar (Hungary) and Ilija Šoškić (Montenegro) are still in full artistic sway.