Photo: OM produkcija
2 – 24 October 2025
P74 Gallery
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OM produkcija’s fiftieth anniversary might be expected to feature a retrospective exhibition. But one of the collective’s core characteristics is constant floating in a kind of bad infinity, in a metaphorical snake-biting-its-own-tail loop. It is precisely in this constant repetition that Groys, referring to the German term Zeitgenosse, has recognised contemporaneity, a certain comradeship in time. OM produkcija, in all its emanations, in which each artistic move and each film is signed by a different artist whose names are permutations of names and surnames found in obituaries, now arrives as a collective, explaining this appearance as follows:
Gallery presentation of the recycled novelty by the Drvarnica [Woodshed] group
Why Drvarnica? To challenge the idea that once an artist becomes a star, they can sell anything they touch. Drvarnica’s anonymous collectivism points to a collective persona that unites different identities into a new collective body. This is a result of their enculturation and labour. It is an active, even activist persona that understands the world is changing and therefore invents its own games (which become the art piece) and their rules. For half a century now, Drvarnica’s work has been responding to current socio-political and cultural issues. Their artistic research offers ambivalent but insightful visual metaphors of the spirit of the times. Drvarnica’s artwork generally defies definition, as the creators offer many ways to read and interpret their diverse creative opus. The Drvarnica team does not research or experiment but establishes and presents. Drvarnica does not see differences; rather, they gaze differently. This makes visible what would otherwise remain unseen.
The collective’s exceptional audiovisual opus works on a subconscious level, be it their early production, such as Premature Works, or the latest series, titled The Reality of Reality. Their novelty comes from their application of parallel media. However, if it were possible to describe Drvarnica’s work, there would be no need for the group’s existence.
The fluidity of identities in the conglomerate of OM produkcija tears us out of the causal relationship of »who produces what« and instead relies on complete dependence on the viewer/listener. It offers a loop without meaning outside the meaning of the loop itself, from which we can only escape with a simple, Gordian knot-like solution.
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Starting in the late 1970s, Slobodan Valentinčič has participated in numerous notable international manifestations of contemporary visual and experimental art, including the IV. recontre d’art contemporain, Les arbres sont points de contacts, Nancy (1979), Slovenian Fine Art 1945 – 1978, Museum of Modern Art Ljubljana (1979), 11th Biennale for Young Artists, Paris (1980), International Biennale of Graphic Arts, International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana (1981), Chasing on Mammoth, Škuc Gallery, Ljubljana (1983), The Other New Music, Belgrade (1984), Interactions for Projectors and a Dancer, KPGT, Belgrade (1984), Culturama ’87, Klagenfurt (1987), Eurokaz – New Europe Theatre, Zagreb (1987), Videozonija – 30 Years Later, Jakopič Gallery, Ljubljana (2009), SALT Galata, Istanbul (2014), OM produkcija. 40 Years, Bežigrad Gallery 2, Ljubljana (2015), and the 45th International Film Festival Rotterdam (2016).
Slobodan Valentinčič is the recipient of numerous international awards, including the MAFAF Award, Pula (1979), MAFAF, 1st Jury Award, Pula (1980), MAFAF, Birth of a Bird – Only for Eyes, 3rd Jury Award, Pula (1980), Aura, Award for the Best Camera, Niš (1982), 11th OSFAF, Award for Experimental Film, Skopje (1983), MAFAF, 3rd Award, Pula (1985), Maitreya, Special Recognition of the Critics, Titograd (1986), Parliament of Alternative Film: Kumbum (1975 – 1987), Special Diploma of the Jury, Split (1987).