Well today I got the news that a project I had helped with in the past has gone public and got its first published page in a quite popular newspaper in Slovenia. And I am more than proud of all the people involved in the making of Menažerija, the name of the project/store/community of artists!

And so this made me wish to share with all of you a bit of the story behind this project, because to me it is a remarkable venture, but not because they have an enormous follower base at the time of writing (though they are growing exponentially fast right now!), and not because they are backed by big money, but because they have sprouted out of the deserted landscape of artistic production that more or less is Slovenia right now. And I don't mean there is no art being made, on the contrary the amount of people practicing fine art, theatre, music and all other flavours of this amazing field is huge to say the least! The problem is sadly financial; cuts in national investments into culture, a almost nonexistent private art market ... And many of the artists, especially us younger ones are struggling to produce anything apart from bills and shift work. And I know, I know, not so different in other countries, and yet, it really is a dire situation.

But out of this, where many of my friends stopped doing art, and got "real jobs", or side jobs that turned into full-time after a year or two, these folks, lead by a wonderful young lady do their thing. Its tough - its quite unforgiving to spend your time building up something from scratch, and in an environment where everyone else is stopping because the soil is sour enough to scare a lemon. You kinda question yourself a lot if it even makes sense. But they still did it and man I love to say this, they are really going at it!

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A casual shoot taken by me on set, when I was helping with their portfolio and website.

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The idea of Menažerija was to change how the wide public perceives art. To get rid of some problems, that affected the consumption of artistic goods, like paintings, sculptures, ... So they decided to make affordable art, that is made for anyone and takes into account the ongoing trends in fashion, design ..., and is also priced accordingly, so they say that anyone who has the money for a normal priced smart phone, can also have the ability to buy their art. And they make their production with a high quality standard - this was and kinda still is a problem with online art, where you never know what you will get. And one of the most important factors: they have a wonderful way of layering a flavour of humour into their works, that I am quite fond of. This cynical but not in a bad way, just kinda poking at the status quo kind of thing. An example:

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You can actually buy abstract art by the meter in their store. I am still laughing at this, its just fantastic how you can layer humour into "serious art"!

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It was structured as a Master Thesis and even though it defied a load of regulations and formal structures of what an MA should be, it was awarded all point at the dissertation. After that, the first day their webpage went public, they sold their first work. On opening day, where some galleries haggle to get anything sold, they (a nobody in the public eye) sold a piece! And the feedback was fantastic. And people started to notice. And now there are conversations in the air about shows in big name galleries and even museums in Ljubljana and Vienna! And all in a time, where most of the artist folk I am close to, don't even want to speak about money, as it upsets them too much to talk about actually being cherished by the public enough to deserve a buck or two for their contributions to the world. And what else is art, if not a glimpse into what could be, a dream or emotion one can share with another being.

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So I got this image a few minutes ago, and I want to make a shoutout to anyone struggling as an artist, that we all can do something about the situation, in which the art market has evolved today (now if you are a bluechip artist in Paris/London/New York/Hong Kong/etc., you wont care about this that much, but most of us aren't).

But it is never a good time to say, OK I'm out, just because times are tough. There are legitimate times, where quitting is the best option, of course, but I don't think anyone of us should stop, just because in the first few weeks/months nothing we tried to do worked. The only difference between people like the team at Menažerija and everybody who is constantly complaining about the bad situation they're in, is that the they didn't just complain, they did something about it. And not for a week, or a month or a few months, but they have been working on the project for over a year, and only after a year this publishing opportunity happened, only after half a year they had sold their first piece. What I would like to say is, it's never to late to start, never a bad time to change something if change is welcomed, but it is also never a time to stop if all that is keeping you down is the fact that nothing has happened yet and that you're not yet a millionaire.

Strive for the greater good, the idea that is above fame and fortune, those two come last anyway. The first predisposition one needs to have is dedication and ambition and the will to go on, to change what isn't working, to adapt what isn't exactly what it should be, and to build what isn't there. People will notice, and they will care eventually, if they don't do so already, but they have to trust you. And the question is more or less, can you stand up to the promises you made/will make to them, that you will take care of them and of their problems, with what you are making. And to be there as a pillar, and not disappoint them after a few failed attempts at trying just because it turned out it isn't easy.

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Another one from their shoot.

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So again bravo and thank you to Menažerija, also for letting me use their images and post some of the behind the scenes (those are mine anyway). I know they are coming soon to Steemit (waiting for account approval), but if anyone is interested in their work or story, check them out or give some support at:

http://www.menazerija.com

FB: https://www.facebook.com/menazerija/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/menazerija/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Menazerija_vox