Curatorial Concept: What’s Next
As part of the Welcome to the Neighbourhood 11 – The Machine of New Narratives festival, Predrag Veljković’s artwork What’s Next confronts viewers with the duality of loss and renewal through an installation that merges a physical ruin with a technological hologram. This work creates a space for reflecting on the meaning and value of collective spaces, emphasising the fragility of shared memory and the responsibility for future choices.
The demolished gazebo, positioned as the central element of the installation, symbolises the disappearance of communal spaces and the loss of tradition and collective identity. The hologram, which brings its former life and function back to light, extends the narrative towards the potential for re-creation and preservation. The artwork raises a crucial question: How do we treat what we destroy, what parts of the past do we choose to remember, and how do those choices shape our future?
Veljković’s work operates across the temporal spectrum of past, present, and future. The ruined gazebo, marked by the “scars” of time, reminds us of all that is irretrievably lost in the processes of urbanisation and societal transformation. Simultaneously, the hologram serves as a contemporary medium that revives memory, making it accessible as an inspiration for introspection and a re-evaluation of one’s values.
What’s Next focuses on the issue of destruction, viewing it within the broader context of cyclicality: every act of demolition can carry the potential for creation, but only if we recognise the values that have been lost. The installation highlights the contradictions of contemporary society, where progress often comes at the cost of erasing emotional and cultural ties to the past. In doing so, the work critically examines both individual and collective relationships with space and memory.
Veljković’s artwork functions not only as a visual installation but also as a challenge to its viewers: it invites them to reflect on their own contributions to preserving shared values and the consequences of their decisions. The question “What’s next?” is posed in a universal sense – what will we build, destroy, preserve, or forget next? The work serves as a reminder of every individual’s responsibility in shaping a collective future, while simultaneously opening a space for reflection on the cyclicality of existence and continuous change.
The Installation as a Meeting Point
What’s Next is not just a piece to be observed; it is also a meeting point – between past and future, memory and imagination, tradition and innovation. Through this dynamic setup, Veljković brings the question of balance between preservation and progress to life, inviting viewers to actively contemplate how they shape their reality and identity in a constantly changing world.
This installation fosters a dialogue between community and art, collective identity and individual responsibility, illuminating the importance of the continuity of memory as a foundation for building the future.
Curatorial text by Marko Jozić