The title of this exhibition refers to the E70 motorway, the so-called ‘Brotherhood and Unity Highway’, an artery of cultural and ideological communication in the former Yugoslavia. The exhibition combines elements of sculpture, sound and video to explore how we locate ourselves, spatially, politically and culturally.

The exhibition is bookended by two videos of abstracted light patterns - based on 1980's aerobics dance and exercise culture. One of the videos sits above a carpeted platform at the far end of the gallery. On the podium sit three rustic wooden stools, which vibrate haptically with the residue of speeches from three political figures from different eras. The elements of sound in the space are delivered by an unconventional speaker system, that equally functions as part of the visual experience.

Other objects that transmit sound in the space include: a minimalist array of brass piezo speakers embedded in a square concrete panel, projecting the sounds of insects and synthesizers down the length of the gallery; a printed electrostatic speaker and parabolic reflector bouncing mysterious radio signals directionally across the gallery; a slender, suspended steel rod transmitting the haptic vibrations of distant dance music. Near the entry a set of 'silent', blue industrial signs engraved with words in Cyrillic explore the onomatopoeic sounds of technology, war and cartoons. The unlikely components in 'A conversation along the Highway of Brotherhood and Unity' combine to form a visual-sound-system that engages the viewer with a visual and sensory experience in an immersive and conceptual way.

Sean Dower first visited to Belgrade in 1990 with the Bow Gamelan Ensemble to make a large-scale performance with sound and pyrotechnics in a derelict Belgrade power station. See also 'Power and Light', a super-8 film study of the building and performance set made in 1990. Recent trips to Belgrade by the artist have cemented an engagement in cultural dialogue as an ongoing mode of practice.

This exhibition was made possible with the generous support of Dom Omladine Belgrade and the Franklin Foundation.

Link to PDF of individual works in exhibition and press release, with a text by Jo Melvin.

More information about: Dom Omladine