Summer Session AIR: Toni Mijač – by Metamedia
We are happy to announce that Toni Mijač will join us in Hallein in September for his Summer Sessions.
His residency is sponsored by Metamedia Association.
Toni Mijač is a film and new media artist born in 1988 in Split. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Academy of Arts in Split, majoring in Film and Video, and his graduate studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, majoring in New Media. He has participated in a number of art residencies, workshops, festivals and happenings, with six years of active leadership of film schools for children in the area of Split and Zagreb. He has exhibited independently and in group exhibitions, also participating in various international projects that have hosted his work in Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Romania and the UK. In his practice, he mainly refers to the impulses of everyday life in different areas of life, habits and tendencies that he interrogates using the language and means of expression of various media such as film, video, text, installations, photography and social practice. Previous recognitions include the Audience Award at the HT Award for Contemporary Art 2018 in Zagreb and the 2nd Jury Award at GRISIAyouth 2018 in Rovinj for the work ‘Connection Is (Not) Possible’. In 2021, he was selected as an artist in the residency of the MagiC Carpets / Meta Cultural Foundation / LAB 852 program. In 2021, he was a finalist for the Golden Watermelon Award for Young Artists 5.0.
The focus of the concept for Catharsis is a specific aspect of psychoanalysis: introspection of men. In this project, men of various ages are invited to collaborate by immersing in contemplation of one experienced event woven into the archive of their memory. While the individual is evoking this chosen event and reliving this experience in their stream of thought, the author photographs this session as a portrait of this starting point. Later on, inspired by these re-awakened emotions, the individual performs a practical procedure of expressing his thoughts through self-chosen medium(s) and format(s), in this way channeling his relationship towards the memory and its impact on him. In this way the participants become co-authors of the project whose works remain as documents of a single intimate moment and expression. On an individual level, this catalyses a release and opens up a possibility for the reinterpretation of the lived experience. Moreover, the final goal of this collaboration between the author and the participant is hidden precisely in the materialization of their introspection: a cyclical establishment of relationships – with themselves, with the author of the concept and, finally, with the audience.
The international talent development network Summer Sessions offers residencies to early-stage artists and a productive atmosphere, quality production and expert feedback to launch or develop a professional art project. Artists admitted to the residency program will have the opportunity to present their work publicly in the Member State of the network in which they are guests.