Location: Kvart Gallery (Put Trstenika 1)

Dates: February 13 – February 28, 2026, exhibition opening at 8 PM

At Kvart Gallery in Trstenik (Put Trstenika 1), the exhibition and performance Trstenik is Ours by sculptor Dino Bićanić opens on Friday, February 13th at 8 PM. This exhibition marks the beginning of a new exhibition cycle at Kvart. It is also the first anniversary event in the year when the Association for Contemporary Art KVART celebrates 20 years of contemporary art as well as social and civic actions in Trstenik.

Exhibition curator Ana Čukušić writes the following about the exhibition: "We are greatly fortunate for Dino’s peculiar proposal to take on the role of the neighborhood’s sculptor. Since every state that values its own integrity, self-promotion, and both international and domestic reputation has its own 'state sculptor,' we concluded that it was high time we symbolically placed ourselves among the great and powerful. We therefore accepted, with a sense of historical responsibility.

The most important duty of a state sculptor is to create the likeness of a national figure, president, or ruler. In this sense, Dino expertly convinced us—perhaps secretly motivated to embed his anonymous bones into history—that it was necessary to model a bust of our enlightened absolutist Boris Šitum, leaving him on the historical surface of Trstenik as its first human figure. Admittedly, only temporarily. Experience teaches us that collective attitudes are changeable, worldviews are fragile, and public sculpture is often met with fear or outright hostility.

Therefore, we decided to bring the story to an immediate close, saving a future perpetrator of vandalism time, sparing ourselves the anticipation of such an act, and destroying the bust ourselves without delay. This decision was further reinforced by economic reasoning, as the material had been borrowed from poor students—a tested and often-used model in the creation of 'state sculptures.' The conclusion was obvious: creating a monument to a ruler is a futile endeavor. It is a gesture that, at best, delights a handful of people, and in the most common scenario, frustrates the majority. Yet it is such a deeply rooted ceremonial custom that it would be absurd to refuse in our grand anniversary year."