DOCILE BODIES – CHOSEN YU
The Chosen YU platform presents the exhibition Docile Bodies at U10 Art Space in Belgrade from 21 to 26 July, as part of the Podium project. The exhibition builds upon the project of the Working Group for the Program, which functions as a space for gathering, self-organization, independent production, and collaborative work among emerging artists.
Chosen YU is a platform dedicated to presenting, archiving, and connecting contemporary queer artistic practices from the former Yugoslav region. Through the exhibition, video programme, performances, and discussions, Chosen YU creates a space for reflecting on the relationship between the body, gender, and systems of social visibility from the perspective of queer identities.
Docile Bodies takes as its starting point the concept of “docile bodies” from Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish, placing it within a contemporary queer context. The exhibition explores the rules that shape the body, behaviour, identity, and the individual’s position within the system. In this context, discipline is not understood as a neutral form of progress, but as a system of control that produces bodies and identities adapted to social norms—legible, useful, and obedient. The queer position emerges as a way of understanding, questioning, and dismantling such norms, opening space for alternative forms of existence and representation. As part of the programme, the opening on 21 July at 7:00 PM will feature the performances Willendorf: An Independent Body by Luka Joksimović and the delegated performance Anarchitecture by Ilja Simin, while Slavic Pagania will be performed on 26 July. The exhibition, performance, and video programme features works by Ilja Simin, Luka Joksimović, Ivana Ivković, Nikola Radosavljević, Karlo Štefanek, Anastasija Pavić, Vukadin Filipović, Ilija Vujošević, Rose, Aurora Obscene, Aleksa Jovanović, Maja Simišić, Silvio Vujičić, Pavle Banović, Isidora Branković, and Edvard Winters.
The accompanying programme is developed through the Chosen Theory series, which includes artist talks, portfolio presentations, and Chosen Reads. The discussions will examine the ways in which norms are produced and maintained through the internet and surveillance, feminist perspectives on the body, and the role of the art system, education, institutions, and mechanisms of visibility in shaping identity and social relations. Participants include Nevena Ostojić, Ana Simić, Aleksa Jovanović, Bojana Jovanović, Vladimir Bijeličić, Sunčica Psuljević Kandić, Ilja Simin, and Luka Joksimović. A special segment of the programme is Queer Video Night, an evening dedicated to screenings of video works and experimental films.
The exhibition opens on 21 July at 7:00 PM as part of the programme section The Body as a Political Terrain, accompanied by performances, discussions, and public talks.
Fill out the registration form for CHOSEN READS, taking place on 24 July at 6:00 PM at U10 Art Space.
