M14 Exat 51 Group

Manifesto (1951)

Exat 51 – from Eksperimentalni ateljer (Experimental Studio) 1951 – was founded in Zagreb in 1951 by nine Croatian neo-avant-garde architects and painters who were early advocates of geometric abstraction. They were also inspired by De Stijl, Bauhaus and the Russian Constructivists, who had striven to create a new, more scientific basis for culture in post-revolutionary Russia. In December 1951 the group self-published a short manifesto that set out their optimistic vision for a new form of art that would contribute to the reconstruction of post-war Yugoslavia. They championed experimentation, and sought to break down the barriers between fine and applied arts, while also trying to integrate modern art into everyday life. The group struggled to find official support for their utopian ideas; their abstract aesthetics were in defiance of the Socialist Realism and the moderate form of Modernism promoted in the country at the time. However, their non-representational art became a symbol of enlightenment in Yugoslavia. The artists Ivan Picelj (1924–2011), Vlado Kristl (1923–2004) and Aleksandar Srnec (1924–2010) and the architect Vjenceslav Richter (1917–2002) went on to join New Tendencies (Nove Tendencije) in the 1960s, a Neo-Concretist and Neo-Constructivist movement that pioneered new technologies in art.

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• — see no connection between the actual framework of our artistic commitment on the one hand, and the space arising from a coordinated relationship between the productive and the social standard on the other;
• — see no difference between so-called pure and so-called applied art;
• — consider that work methods and principles within the sphere of non-figural or so-called abstract art are not the expression of decadent aspirations, but, rather, believe that the study of these methods and principles could develop and enrich the sphere of visual communication in our country;
• — the Group intended to operate in actual time and space, assuming plastic requirements and potentials as a tentative point of departure;
• — by understanding our reality as an aspiration for progress in all forms of human activity, the Group believe in the need for struggle against outdated ideas and activities on the synthesis of all fine arts, and, secondly, emphasize the experimental character of artistic activity, because any progress in a creative approach to the fine arts will not work without experiment;
• — consider the foundation and activity of the Group to be a positive outcome of the development of differences of opinion, a requisite for the promotion of artistic life in this country.

B. Bernardi, architect; Z. Bregovac, architect; I. Picelj, painter; Z. Radić, architect; B. Rašica, architect; V. Richter, architect; A. Srnec, painter; V. Zarahović, architect Zagreb, 1951