oliver musovik

There is an initiative from certain “city planners” to convert the building of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje into a Presidential Palace/Residence (The President of the Republic of Macedonia, which is a state institution established after the independence in 1991, does not have an office, nor a residence of his own). On the other hand, the “city planners” do not offer any adequate solution for the location of the museum. The museum building (although somewhat deteriorated) is especially designed for museum purposes. This initiative provoked fierce reactions from the community.

My idea was to show the absurdity of this idea by enforcing it, and in the same time targeting the establishment itself in the same bullying style. I made a swap of identities, by exchanging the histories and the function of the museum building and the building of the national assembly where currently the presidential cabinet is located. For this purpose at the entrance of the Museum of the Contemporary Art I mounted the presidential plate, a red carpet was placed there, and also during the opening night of the Macedonian Conceptual Art exhibition two members of the elite presidential guard kept watch at the entrance. The effect was increased even more when the actual President of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Boris Trajkovski paid a visit to the museum at the opening.