Ivana Ivković (*1979, based in Belgrade) holds a master’s degree in drawing and a doctorate in performance art from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade. She has gained international recognition for her research in the field of delegated performance, critically examining the deconstruction and reconstruction of gender roles through the lenses of biopolitics, political ethics, and symbolic reflections on female perception.
Her work interrogates identity, gender experiences, and stereotypes of imposed roles by introducing the nude or semi-nude (collective) male body as a performative medium. These orchestrated scenes embody a unique sensitivity and sensuality, reflecting the prejudices, beliefs, and complex relationships between the individual and the socio-political environment. Through her projects, she deals with the issue of the deconstruction of the exhibition narrative in the context of engaged, changing, and processual contemporary practice. Ivana connects the language of fine art with theater and mass-media culture in post-media or hybrid practice, which opens the oculocentric concept of art to immersive contents, tactile, sound, and bodily affects. Her exhibitions and site-specific installations create spaces of unstable sensory experiences, forming hyperdynamic systems that merge personal and collective dimensions, and probe the individual’s identity within the socio-cultural matrix. Drawing remains a cornerstone of Ivković’s practice, showcasing its technical, expressive, and conceptual possibilities. Her works articulate themes ranging from intimate personal reflections to global socio-political phenomena, shaped by her nomadic lifestyle and frequent travels.
She has exhibited her works in collaboration with numerous institutions, including the Humboldt Forum in Berlin; Stuttgart’s ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen); the museums of contemporary art in Athens, Belgrade, Novi Sad, Sarajevo, and Nicosia; Hošek Contemporary in Berlin; the Goethe Institute; EIKON Schauraum gallery (MuseumsQuartier Wien); Museums and Galleries of Podgorica; the National Museum of Montenegro; Kibla Portal in Maribor; Eugster II Belgrade; NGVU (New Gallery of Visual Arts); Residency Unlimited in New York; the October Salon; and the Cultural Center of Belgrade. She has received numerous grants and awards, and her works are included in prestigious collections, such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade; the ifa collection in Berlin and Stuttgart; the October Salon collection in Belgrade; the Wiener Städtische Art Collection in Vienna; the Telenor Collection in Belgrade; the Belgrade City Museum; and the Subotica Contemporary Gallery. Ivković is also the co-author and curator of the ARTiculation project, a series of site-specific exhibitions aimed at mapping and visualizing sensitive social topics through contemporary artistic practices in neglected and socio-referential spaces. Her recent projects include the FACING series, in collaboration with the Basel-based publishing house dsbooks. This initiative comprises 13 art and travel books, with the first title, Facing Morocco, published in partnership with the Cultural Center of Belgrade in 2023 and launched at the Museum of African Art in Belgrade.
Ivana Ivković (*1979, based in Belgrade) holds a master’s degree in drawing and a doctorate in performance art from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade. She has gained international recognition for her research in the field of delegated performance, critically examining the deconstruction and reconstruction of gender roles through the lenses of biopolitics, political ethics, and symbolic reflections on female perception.
Her work interrogates identity, gender experiences, and stereotypes of imposed roles by introducing the nude or semi-nude (collective) male body as a performative medium. These orchestrated scenes embody a unique sensitivity and sensuality, reflecting the prejudices, beliefs, and complex relationships between the individual and the socio-political environment. Through her projects, she deals with the issue of the deconstruction of the exhibition narrative in the context of engaged, changing, and processual contemporary practice. Ivana connects the language of fine art with theater and mass-media culture in post-media or hybrid practice, which opens the oculocentric concept of art to immersive contents, tactile, sound, and bodily affects. Her exhibitions and site-specific installations create spaces of unstable sensory experiences, forming hyperdynamic systems that merge personal and collective dimensions, and probe the individual’s identity within the socio-cultural matrix. Drawing remains a cornerstone of Ivković’s practice, showcasing its technical, expressive, and conceptual possibilities. Her works articulate themes ranging from intimate personal reflections to global socio-political phenomena, shaped by her nomadic lifestyle and frequent travels.
She has exhibited her works in collaboration with numerous institutions, including the Humboldt Forum in Berlin; Stuttgart’s ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen); the museums of contemporary art in Athens, Belgrade, Novi Sad, Sarajevo, and Nicosia; Hošek Contemporary in Berlin; the Goethe Institute; EIKON Schauraum gallery (MuseumsQuartier Wien); Museums and Galleries of Podgorica; the National Museum of Montenegro; Kibla Portal in Maribor; Eugster II Belgrade; NGVU (New Gallery of Visual Arts); Residency Unlimited in New York; the October Salon; and the Cultural Center of Belgrade. She has received numerous grants and awards, and her works are included in prestigious collections, such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade; the ifa collection in Berlin and Stuttgart; the October Salon collection in Belgrade; the Wiener Städtische Art Collection in Vienna; the Telenor Collection in Belgrade; the Belgrade City Museum; and the Subotica Contemporary Gallery. Ivković is also the co-author and curator of the ARTiculation project, a series of site-specific exhibitions aimed at mapping and visualizing sensitive social topics through contemporary artistic practices in neglected and socio-referential spaces. Her recent projects include the FACING series, in collaboration with the Basel-based publishing house dsbooks. This initiative comprises 13 art and travel books, with the first title, Facing Morocco, published in partnership with the Cultural Center of Belgrade in 2023 and launched at the Museum of African Art in Belgrade.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND FAIRS
| 2025 | The Gallery Is In-between Shows, Eugster || Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia |
| 2024 | THE PORT OF TRUST (MONUMENT OF TRUST), Gallery ART and Gallery NGVU, Podgorica, Montenegro |
| 2023 | California Dream (OMNIBUS: ISOLATION), Cultural Center of Belgrade, Art Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia |
| 2022 | MONUMENT: NO ONE IS LOST, Hošek Contemporary Berlin in cooperation with mala voadora, Porto, Portugal |
| 2021 | MONUMENT: NO ONE IS LOST, Muzej Savremene Umetnosti Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia |
| 2020 | In Him We Trust, BITEF Theatre, Belgrade, Serbia |
| 2019 | Mother Tongue, Eugster || Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia |
| 2018 | A Mirror to Reflect Myself Upon, TAF Theartfoundation, Athens, Greece |
| 2017 | Babylon the Great, Eugster || Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia |
| 2016 | The Pleasure of Love, October salon (Belgrade biennial) curated by David Elliott, Belgrade, Serbia |
| 2015 | Like There Is No Tomorrow, BAR phase II, BAR Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon |
| 2014 | GOING BACK HOME, Prototip Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia |
| 2013 | Neighboring landscapes II, SC Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia |
| 2012 | 61 days in Harlem, Gallery FLU, Belgrade, Serbia |
| 2011 | Palmsprings, Sound and Visions festival, Majdanpek, Serbia |
| 2009 | Boudoir, Gallery Eurocentar, Belgrade Serbia |
| 2008 | I am ready for you, MATT Concept Gallery, La Coruna, Spain |
| 2006 | European Solitude, Kunstpunkt, Dusseldorf, Germany |
PUBLICATIONS
| 2025 | EVROVIZION ATHENS |
| 2024 | FACING California and Arizona |
| 2023 | FACING Morocco |
| 2021 | AFTER YOU / POSLE VAS |
| 2000 | AMUSE ME |
COLLECTIONS
| 2024 | Museums and galleries of Podgorica (Modern Gallery), Podgorica, Montenegro |
| 2021 | Ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), Stuttgart/Berlin, Germany |
| 2018 | Contemporary Art Gallery Subotica, Serbia |
| 2017 | The October Salon Collection, Cultural center of Belgrade, Serbia |
| 2015 | Galerie B312, Montreal, Canada |
| 2013 | Casa dell Arte Collection, Istanbul, Turkey |
| 2011 | Telenor Collection of Serbian contemporary art, Belgrade, Serbia |
| 2007 | Collection of the Museum of Belgrade City |