The School of Speculative Documentary

The book presentation of Against the Neutral Image: Essays on the Exhibition Choreography of Violence by Jelena Jureša and the accompanying panel discussion Is There Such a Thing as a Neutral Image? will take place on February 12, 2026, at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Rijeka (MMSU). Organized by MMSU and the Center for Advanced Studies of the University of Rijeka, the discussion brings together contributors to the edited volume — Francesca Raimondi, Maria Hlavajova, Shahram Khosravi, Branka Benčić (curator of the exhibition), and Sanja Bojanić, alongside artist Jelena Jureša and publication designer Ana Labudović.

The publication departs from the exhibitionChoreography of Violence (13 November 2025 –22 February 2026, MMSU), which brings together four immersive audiovisual installations by Jelena Jureša. Situated between the documentary and the performative, the works focus on the poetics and politics of the moving image. Jureša’s work is marked by a deep engagement with the histories and politics of the long twentieth century, exposing the mechanisms of representation that reveal how colonialism, nationalism, racism, and capitalism remain inextricably intertwined.

Departing from the exhibition, Against the Neutral Image (University of Rijeka) is conceived not as a conventional exhibition catalogue, but as a critical and discursive space that brings artistic, curatorial, and theoretical practices into dialogue. The book develops questions about how violence is made visible or invisible, how it is framed, aestheticized, normalized, or suppressed, insisting on the thesis that the neutrality of the image is never merely an aesthetic position. Rather, it often functions as a technique of power: an arrangement of distance, attention, and responsibility.

The panel discussion continues the logic of the publication itself as a “space of encounter,” extending its questions through dialogue and exchange, rather than treating the book or the exhibition as a closed entity. The discussion will address the relationship between image and institution, aesthetics and ethics, as well as the role of exhibitionary and discursive frameworks in shaping the ways we look at, understand, and (fail to) respond to violence.

In 1897 the young engineer Theodor Scheimpflug sets out for the Soča River valley in Northern Slovenia.

A stay in the Baumbach Hütte in the remote alpine village of Trenta.
The mountainous area must be mapped. The slopes are steep; the equipment is heavy. The Soča River – its hue azure and almost artificial – winds down through the shepherds’ settlement, with the Vršič Pass looming over it.
The needles and cones of the larches tremble gently when a soft breeze makes its way southwards.

Flying a Kite Through an Oblique Plane of Focus draws on the phototechnical principle named after Theodor Scheimpflug and his interest in kites. At the heart of the project lies an attempt to photograph a nineteenth-century kite flying through an oblique plane of focus in a clearing in the Julian Alps, near Trenta. The title doubles as a protocol through which the work delves into the political, poetic and historical ties between photography, landscape and cartography.

The exhibition opens on Saturday 31 January, from 14:00 to 18:00, with a presentation of the book of the same name (Roma Publications) by Arnout De Cleene & Michiel De Cleene at 15:00.

Flying a Kite Through an Oblique Plane of Focus was made possible with the support of KASK & Conservatorium, the school of arts of HOGENT and Howest. It is part of Arnout and Michiel De Cleene’s research project On Instructing Photography, financed by the HOGENT Arts Research Fund.

Thinking near the exhibition Run-through, with works by artists Jelena Jureša and Aernout Mik, Maria Hlavajova will reflect on the notion of art that conspires — art that does not just represent but instead commits to the politics of dissent from the hegemonic powers that be.

Before engaging in a dialogue with the artists on the last day of their exhibition, she will speculate about this “conspiracy” as a commitment to truth and to the ideals of justice and equality. Taking inspiration from the exhibition title, she will further elaborate on art as a rehearsal of — a run-through of — various implementable imaginaries of living together, both against and in spite of the rising anti-democratic and authoritarian-populist predicament of our time.

Jelena Jureša is affiliated as an artistic researcher to KASK & Conservatorium, the school of arts of HOGENT and howest. The research project Revolt! On a refusal to sing was financed by the HOGENT Arts Research Fund.

Duo-exhibition Run-through is an encounter between Jelena Jureša and Aernout Mik. Jelena Jureša relates in her films, the last one of which is once again produced by nona, individual stories to collective processes of oblivion and remembrance, while Aernout Mik’s audiovisual installations chart the formation and transformation of group behaviours. With new and recent works, they sketch a critical portrait of our contemporary society. As such, Run-through reflects on historical facts, present)day European matters and political narratives.

The selected works of Dutch artist Aernout Mik are being presented for the first time in Belgium. Through a range of historical events - from the colonial power relations of the Dutch Indies to the aftermath of the terror attack in France - they investigate the relationship that individuals have with their environment. Mik represented the Netherlands in the Dutch Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale, 2007 and had solo exhibitions at Jeu de Paume (Paris), MoMA (New York), Schirn Kunsthalle (Frankfurt) and the Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam).

Jelena Jureša is an artist and filmmaker born in former Yugoslavia. In her films, she unceasingly questions historical and political narratives, and tries to challenge our ideas of what is true. In Aphasia (2019) for instance, she deals with black chapters in European history, from Belgian colonialism to Austrian anti-semitism and atrocities in Bosnia during the Yugoslavian wars. Her work was internationally presented during Manifesta 14 Pristina and in argos (Brussels), Contour 9 (Mechelen), Maxim Gorki (Berlin) and BAK (Utrecht).

Jelena Jureša is affiliated as an artistic researcher to KASK & Conservatorium, the school of arts of HOGENT and howest. The research project Revolt! On a refusal to sing was financed by the HOGENT Arts Research Fund.

The start of the new school year means top pressure for seamstress Mambar Pierette. From early morning until sunset, she sews uniforms in her wooden hut in a shabby neighbourhood of the Cameroonian city of Douala. But she still always takes the time to hear the worries of local residents and friends who drop by. Not that she has no worries of her own. As a mother of three with a husband who refuses to contribute to the household, she lives in permanent need of money. Her customers nevertheless try to haggle on everything and the repair of her ancient sewing machine costs a fortune.

Strictly speaking, Mambar Pierrette is a fiction film, but because of director Rosine Mbakam's documentary background, Pierrette's daily life seems to unfold spontaneously in front of the camera. Mbakam once again delivers a layered portrait of life on the margins where the boundaries between fiction and documentary are sensitively explored. The fact that most of the actors are not professionals playing themselves in addition enhances the sense of authenticity.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Rosine Mbakam.

Researchers De Cleene De Cleene present a new book: Amidst the fire, I am not burnt (Roma Publications 462).

In April 1872, Vesuvius erupted in a violent cataclysm. It is considered to be the first volcanic eruption ever photographed. Major eruptions have followed since, with the next eruption dangerously looming. Each eruption leads to the next cataclysm, each period of quietude to forgetfulness and complacency.

Get your copy at the booklaunch on 22 March in 019, support your local bookshop, or order directly from Idea Books.

Arnout De Cleene and Michiel De Cleene are affiliated as an artistic researcher to KASK & Conservatorium, the school of arts of HOGENT and howest. The research project Documenting Objects was financed by the HOGENT Arts Research Fund.

A three-day symposium focusing on the intersection between embodied and documentary practices, reflecting on new choreographic articulations of sociopolitical issues.

In recent decades, there has been an increasing interest in embedding elements from reality into performance. The testimonial plays of Lola Arias, the lecture performances of Rabih Mroué and Hito Steyerl, or the hybrid installations of Walid Raad propose complex dispositives and dramaturgies that question our modes of engagement with factual information. 

While the field of contemporary dance is known for its critical experimentations, the inclusion of factual information in its practice remains largely uncharted. Choreographers often use documentary elements such as texts, photographs, or videos as sources of inspiration in their artistic process, but few of these items remain visible in the final stage work. The intersection between embodied and documentary practices, however, opens up possibilities for new choreographic articulations of sociopolitical issues of various sorts and alternative ways of engaging with such matters. It results in what art philosopher Frédéric Pouillaude calls “factual representations” that consequently lead to a “poetics of factuality” (Pouillaude 2020).

For this symposium, which follows from his practice-based PhD research, choreographer Arkadi Zaides invites various practitioners and scholars to reflect collectively on the notion of “documentary choreography”. By looking at concrete case studies and by proposing various theoretical lenses, the participants will explore the strategies used by artists when combining embodied and documentary practices. Through different formats, they will consider the potentiality of such blending not only to challenge the boundaries of contemporary dance and documentary theater, but also to engage critically with social and political issues.

This event is made possible with the generous support of: Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts (ARIA); the Flemish Government; the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy of Ghent University; the Faculty of Arts (Department of Literature) of the University of Antwerp;  CoDa | Cultures of Dance – Research Network for Dance Studies (funded by the Research Foundation Flanders - FWO). It is organized as a part of Arkadi Zaides’ practice-based PhD in the Arts at the University of Antwerp, Royal Conservatoire Antwerp, Ghent University, KASK & Conservatorium and his active membership within the CORPoREAL research group at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp and the research center S:PAM (Studies in Performing Arts & Media) at Ghent University.