Triangle

In the spring of 1979, amid the grand parade celebrating the aging Yugoslav authoritarian president Josip Broz Tito through the streets of Zagreb, the city stood frozen. Flanked by Brutalist housing blocks with stark concrete facades, Tito’s political spectacle unfolded. On the rooftop of one of these residential towers, a discreet sniper surveilled the surroundings, ensuring the smooth progression of Tito’s limousine through the carefully orchestrated event. Meanwhile, on the streets below, police officers enforced strict regulations, clearing residents from balconies as the procession passed. In this controlled atmosphere, artist Sanja Iveković seized the moment to clandestinely stage the performance Trokut (Triangle). Positioned on her balcony on Savska Street, Iveković caught the attention of the secret sniper by simulating acts of masturbation. Clad in a T-shirt adorned with the US flag and surrounded by whiskey and cigarettes, she delved into T. B. Bottomore’s 1964 book Elites and Society. Within minutes, the police knocked on Iveković’s door, ending the performance with a stern order to remove “persons and objects” from the balcony.

The four photographs, each capturing a pivotal moment in Iveković’s performance, are accompanied by an explanatory text detailing the triangulation between the male politician, the female body, and the surveilling state apparatus that sought to maintain a visually controlled environment even within private spaces. At a time when abstract male modernism dominated the official art scene in Yugoslavia, IIveković was among the pioneers who approached politics from a feminist standpoint, courageously tackling issues such as gender inequality and women’s rights in her work, using her creative platform to shed light on the experiences and challenges faced by women.

(Text written by TBA21 and used as wall label in the exhibition "The Ecologies of Peace", C3A, Córdoba, 2024)