Jury’s Opinion – Isidora Todorovic

It was my great honor, as a member of the jury, to participate in the Inclusive Gallery project and to contribute to the culture of better interaction and understanding within the marginalized group.

In that context, when deciding on the award winning projects, I was guided by three principles – aesthetic, utilitarian and innovative. They are generally used to evaluate any work that has practical, not just abstract and artistic value. They are valid as a golden rule of universal design, in the adaptation of a work of art into something that will be comprehensible to people with disabilities.

I noticed all these qualities, in two different ways, in the works of Jelena Gajinović and Jovana Milosavljević. Both projects use immersive experience to conjure up certain concepts and phenomena, using different senses.

On the one hand, Jelena Gajinović’s work is based on tactile stimulation using texture and shape. She creatively interprets the internal and external environment. Jelena thus produces an immersive approximation of nature or factory environment, which are somewhere between a de facto artistic spatial installation and a texturally tactile work – adapted to people with disabilities.

On the other hand, by translating the topographic map of the Fruška gora Mountain into sound, using a mathematical principle, Jovana Milosavljević creates an auditory experience. Translating one way of communication with open air – be it a walk through the Fruška gora Mountain or a visualization of its topography – she transfers the perception of spatial experience to another medium. In addition, she introduces us to the ways the medium transfer itself can increase the project’s artistic quality and inclusiveness as well.

Due to all the mentioned above, both projects deserve our attention and I am looking forward to their further development.

Isidora Todorović
New Media Department
Art Academy
University in Novi Sad