LAUBA invites you to the opening of an exhibition by the graffiti artist operating under the pseudonym NEBITNO

One of the most beautiful aspects of street art is that it never remains the same but changes along with the streets it casually leans on. While classical painting is carefully preserved in controlled museum conditions, graffiti and murals willingly surrender themselves to the mercy of weather conditions, urban politics, and local painters. Some images disappear, some change, and the most interesting are those works that in a different context gain a new patina, reminding us of who we were and what we have become.

Graffiti known as “Nebitno” can be found in all parts of Zagreb, but they easily escape anyone who focuses on the essentials on the street. They are located on the sides, in-between spaces, mostly short, sarcastic, and playfully smart comments that use commonplaces and clichés to mock us but also to attach new meanings to old phrases. Thus, each graffiti functions as a witty quip and a short poem, as a daily jab that disrupts the everyday rhythm, but also as a little discovery of an exciting new space in the city and in the language. Many have been preserved in the book “Nebitno: Glavu Gore,” published at the beginning of 2020, just before the pandemic that fundamentally changed our everyday lives.

If you were walking through the deserted Zagreb during those months, you noticed that the graffiti suddenly, in the city of ghosts, became the only message the street addresses us with. Nebitno’s inscriptions seamlessly merged with the new present: in a society where fear, distrust, and exclusivity have strengthened, these graffiti unexpectedly remained a voice of reason, a witty reminder that both ourselves and the world should be taken less seriously, a hope that anxiety can be turned into a cheerful dance with the discomfort of existence with the help of spray and resourcefulness. “Sounds simple,” one graffiti will tell us mischievously, at a time when nothing sounds or is simple. “That’s how it has to be,” the message written under the shop window where I’m appreciated, I shop there, will explain to us. “Just 5 more minutes,” a graffiti on a tarp will promise, hidden under the shrubbery, while another graffiti will explain to us: “Promises make fools of us.” Nebitno reminded us that in a crazy world, we cannot rely on anyone’s promise, that there is no support, but that even with this disturbing fact, there is still room for joy. Therefore, now, after all the pandemics, earthquakes, and wars, at a time when everything has become of epochal importance, Nebitno has become more important than ever – perhaps even the only essential (if that’s even essential).

The Nebitno exhibition is not a classic exhibition; it does not place beautiful works on immaculately white walls but rests on the discomfort and uncertainty of the present moment. Walking through the gallery space is interrupted by strange obstacles and absurd jokes that create a world completely different from the “ordinary,” yet easily recognizable to all of us who have experienced and survived the last three years. Do you know the feeling when you read Orwell’s famous novel and realize that the ominous 1984 was almost 40 years ago? If our current lives, with their absurdity, far exceed the imagination of the 20th century, what the hell is this that we are currently living through? Nebitno does not provide answers, it does not fight against Big Brother, it is not Big Brother. Nebitno is the little brother who will make us laugh, who will tell us to “Shut up” and encourage us to keep going, out of spite and for pleasure. Only if we know how to look away from what is essential.

Preface author: Luka Ostojić

The exhibition opening is scheduled for October 28th 2023 at 8:23 PM.

The exhibition is part of ARTUPUNKTURA – Zagreb art platform – a project of the Zagreb Tourist Board.

P.S. Mark your calendars for November 6th when we open the closing of the exhibition!