It is with great pleasure that we inform you that at the National Gallery, Čifte Amam, we will be opening and presenting to the Macedonian public the Macedonian Pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2024, i.e., the project Inter Spem et Metum by the artist Slavica Janešlieva.

As a reminder: the transmedial and transnarrative project INTER SPEM ET METUM by Slavica Janešlieva is a visually refined and conceptually conceived spatial installation that casts us into civilizational debris in a highly sensitive and fairy-tale-like manner. Through multidimensional media platforms and materials—such as feathers, LED-neon signs, projections, mirrors—Janešlieva immerses us in several conceptual-narrative matrices, confronting us with the feeling of being a stranger, one that exists everywhere: in me, in you, in them, in all of us.

More precisely, she challenges us with the acceptance or non-acceptance of labels that deviate from the ones held by the majority, regardless of whether the difference is based on gender, sexual orientation, appearance, demeanor, illness, nationality, religion, language, or political belief.

She also confronts us with feelings of self-stigmatization, self-censorship, and self-criticism, caused by imposed expectations.

Nevertheless, to be different carries the potential for transformation. Just like in natural selection, mutation increases the likelihood of either failure to adapt or the emergence of a new, superior variant. One could also interpret the transformative power of difference as something that stems from psychological pain and suffering—varied sources from which inspiration and motivation can be drawn to rise above the judgment and ostracism that difference from others often provokes.

The project will be on display at Čifte Hamam until July 31, and the curator of the project is Dr. Ana Frangovska