SONIC PILL/OW

An a cappella vocal situation by Julija Castellucci that opens a quiet invocation, activating the space through an embodied vocal presence.

Lying on the ground, she sings lullabies, using them as both form and force.

The lullabies transcend language, detaching it from semantic meaning and returning it to breath - the lullaby becomes a medium of affect and memory.

Her voice, repetitive and stretched in duration, reveals sound as both sculptural and emotional material.

A sonic pill(ow), not to be swallowed, but heard and rested upon.

Julija Castellucci creates a wholly personal performative space that embraces the breadth of the world through a gestural language that is at once vision and vocality, body and breath. In Bread, flour becomes matter and memory: a sacred remnant of domestic labour transformed into ritual choreography. The work centres on a large basin filled with flour, into which the artist repeatedly dips her hands, generating clouds of dust that rise and dissipate under carefully directed lighting. These movements - slow, repetitive, almost devotional-animate the space like an ancient ceremony suspended between symbol and invocation. The performance draws on inherited femininity: songs remembered by the artist’s grandmother, sung while preparing ceremonial bread for family celebrations rooted in Slavic traditions. These melodies, traditionally intended to bless the dough and foster growth, abundance, and protection, reappear here as fragmented, re-enacted ritual scores. Flour - humble and almost invisible, yet a pervasive and symbolic element of daily life - takes on a central expressive role in both the ritual and the transformation of gesture into a mythic motif. The powder, suspending the action in time and space, becomes an immersive atmosphere of collective memory, oscillating between care and enchantment. Far from being a folkloric re-enactment, Bread stages an archaeology of memory embodied in the artist’s body and amplified by her voice. The performance occupies the unstable threshold between nourishment and spirituality, between the invisible labour of women and collective sacred experience. Light lends the flour a spectral, almost cosmic appearance, while the cyclical gestures simultaneously evoke acts of kneading, blessing, burial, and resurrection. The artist’s gestures capture the sense of sacredness and the continually renewed connection with the art of bread-making embodied in the many hands depicted in Torrione’s photographs. Castellucci’s voice, like flour, yeast, and water, kneads and merges with the material, bringing about transformation and permeating its form. Bread is an ancient gesture and a declaration of life, renewed in every present moment - a shared memory that recognises sisterhood and our common humanity.

Text: Susanna Ravelli

As dusk settles, the audience enters a sonic environment shaped by Julija Castellucci, where voice becomes both medium and matter. Through a sustained, intimate vocal presence, Castellucci opens a space in which memory is not fixed, but elastic - capable of unfolding, reverberating, and reforming itself in real time. Her practice dissolves the boundaries between the physical and the immaterial: the body is reconfigured as resonance, and sound emerges as a living architecture that holds breath, distance, and affect in suspension.

The work unfolds as a durational composition, guided by the quiet persistence of pedalling - a gesture that traces an imaginary trajectory from Japan to Italy. This movement pays homage to Hidetoshi Nagasawa, whose journey by bicycle becomes here both a poetic and conceptual axis. Cultural references surface and recede, blending into a fluid, transnational soundscape that resists fixed identity.

Rather than occupying a passive role, the listener becomes an active presence within the work. In the intervals between sound, each breath, each subtle emotional shift contributes to a collective field of resonance. What emerges is a choral, immaterial body - fragile yet expansive - capable of holding the barely perceptible textures of desire, memory, and dreaming.

Susanna Ravelli

Sonic Room is a performative installation based on the body as medium, sound as event, and space as experience. Sound shapes our relation to space and to ourselves. It exists as resonance - a vibratory field between the individual and the world, capable of altering both the visible and the unseen. In Sonic Room, Julija Castellucci activates the space through an embodied vocal presence. Seated on a chair, she sings lullabies that transcend language, detaching it from semantic meaning and returning it to breath. The lullaby becomes a carrier of affect and memory. Her voice, repetitive and stretched in duration, reveals sound as material with emotional and spatial presence. The installation proposes intimacy without touch. This intimacy is not tactile but vibrational.The voice becomes atmosphere, reaching the listener through resonance rather than meaning. What matters is not the word, but its rhythm, duration, and trace in the body. Here, the audience does not look but listens. Sonic Room is not spectacle; it is an offering.

Jovana Stokić

Julija Castellucci opens a quiet invocation, activating the space through an embodied vocal presence. Her voice, repetitive and stretched in duration, creates a soft gravitational pull. The work proposes a form of intimacy beyond touch: a sonic closeness in which the voice becomes atmosphere.

curated by Nada Prlja and Sebastian Cichocki.

Spatial intervention and site-specific installation in which sound, as a sonorous form, is not merely present but functions as a constructive element of the work. It operates at a visceral and psychological register, preceding cognitive interpretation. The work is grounded in an understanding of the body as vessel, sound as event, and space as lived experience. Sound shapes the spatial dimension of perception and our sense of existence. It inhabits what might be called a space of desire as an impulse toward resonance and connection, capable of altering even the most imperceptible parameters of what is visible and what remains unseen. Space may be understood as a fabric of space-time, mathematically described as a manifold. I am interested in exploring the relationship between vibrations, the structure of the manifold, and human consciousness, as well as psychoacoustics and theories of perception, which here unfold between sound and silence, touch and distance, and the external and the internal. This “wall” does not divide space but establishes contact. It functions as a sonic architecture activated by touch. By pressing the forehead against it, sound is activated, and with it an inner dialogue. It becomes a call to attend to one’s own sonic being, not as articulated language, but as vibration and presence. A black rubber membrane in the form of a torus is mounted on a black wall. Within it, a bone speaker is installed. When the forehead is pressed against the membrane, the head appears to sink into a dense field of space-sound. The sensation of immersion subtly echoes the gravitational metaphor of bodies entering a fabric of space-time. What is activated at this point of contact is a composition structured as a micro-landscape of voices, both solo and choral, articulated through polyphonic and harmonic relations. It is audible only to those who lean their foreheads against the membrane. The composition arises from audio recordings of biological processes occurring within my body, including patterns of breathing, cardiovascular rhythms, endocrine activity, and other internal functions. These recordings are used both in their original form and through artistic transpositions generating a delicate sonority structured through micro-variation. The principal compositional method is processual, unfolding through the repetition and gradual transformation of selected samples. With each iteration, the material inscribes a different melodic pattern and micro-harmonic relation, shifting its proximity to the original source. Through this gradual distancing and return, a specific sonic atmosphere emerges. The wall becomes a space of resonance and projection, a site where one’s own sonic being can be encountered. Through this work, I pose the following questions: In what ways can sound operate as sculptural and emotional material? How might architecture become empathetic? What forms of empathy can be articulated through art? Instead of a reactive gesture, the work proposes an engagement grounded in resonance and embodied presence. It shifts focus from technocracy toward listening and affect as structural dimensions of collective life. Here, architecture is not inert infrastructure but a participant in relational experience, reorienting how we inhabit and perceive the spaces we occupy. The work is conceived for an individual encounter. It remains in complete silence until activated through direct contact. Sound is transmitted through bone conduction, traveling directly through the frontal bone rather than primarily through air. The sound event begins and ceases precisely with the pressure of the forehead, establishing a direct correspondence between bodily action and acoustic experience. The installation is presented in a sound-controlled environment, preserving the conditions necessary for deep listening. The work is conceived for an individual encounter. It remains in complete silence until activated through direct contact. Sound is transmitted through bone conduction, traveling directly through the frontal bone rather than primarily through air. The sound event begins and ceases precisely with the pressure of the forehead, establishing a direct correspondence between bodily action and acoustic experience. The installation is presented in a sound- controlled environment, preserving the conditions necessary for deep listening.

Julija Castellucci uses text as a performative medium, inspired by radical empathy, in order to create emotional messages through her interventions in public space. Her work "DO NOT WORRY" is not art to look at; it is an invitation to understanding and connection, inspired by the spirit of textual performative works in contemporary art.

Castellucci begins this project from a personal perspective, facing his own worries and fears. On the walls of her room, she wrote "JULIJA, DON'T WORRY" every day, finding comfort in these words. This intimate practice spread to her inner circle, where she shared messages like "MOM, DON'T WORRY" and "DAD, DON'T WORRY" with family and friends. These messages are now amplified in the public space, carrying a simple but powerful message: "DO NOT WORRY". Her work challenges us to question our worries and embrace the possibility of existing in a state of carelessness. Castelluccidirectly reminds us of the possibility of choice. The series of works "DO NOT WORRY" includes messages such as "MOM, DO NOT WORRY", "DAD, DO NOT WORRY", "MARIJA, DO NOT WORRY", "VLADO, DO NOT WORRY", "ANA, DO NOT WORRY", which are intended to reassure loved ones. However, when placed in a public space, those messages take on a wider context, becoming relevant to each person who reads them.

Julija Castellucci’s works are emotional, compassionate and provocative. They cross the boundaries of traditional art and become part of everyday life, reminding us of the power of words and empathy in transforming the social landscape. Radical empathy differs from ordinary empathy in its depth and intensity. It is not just the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person, but requires active engagement and compassion that leads to real change. Castellucci uses radical empathy to bridge the gap between the private and the public, the personal and the universal. Her "DO NOT WORRY" messages directly address individuals, but are intended for a wider audience, reminding us of the common human need for comfort and understanding.

Her work invites us to rethink our attitudes towards care and to embrace radical empathy as a tool for social change. The very act of writing these messages by hand adds an extra dimension of empathy, emphasizing their personal and universal value. Handwriting conveys a sense of familiarity and authenticity, making messages even more powerful and relevant in the context of public space. Castellucci's work reminds us that radical empathy can bring depth and authenticity to human communication.

Jovana Stokić

Sonic Kitchen is a performative installation that merges voice, the sonority of kitchen elements, and food ingredients to create a multisensory experience. This type of performative installation explores sound, kitchen atmospherics, and communication with the environment and the audience, blurring the boundaries between performance, sound art, and everyday life. In Sonic Kitchen, Julija Castellucci uses her voice, kitchen and culinary elements, including stories: gastro-novels told by her grandmother, and the songs she sang while preparing food in the kitchen. Julija draws on these elements to produce and shape a soundscape rooted in the time and space she inhabits.

This performative installation engages all the human senses, creating an immersive experience and blending the boundaries between performer and observer, while the kitchen, as both a symbol and space of creativity, becomes a stage.

''When I was little, I loved listening to my mom and grandma talking in the kitchen. We lived modestly, using margarine while calling it butter. In all the recipes that mentioned butter, my grandmother would put margarine instead. Three members of my family are lactose intolerant, one has celiac disease and is on a gluten-free diet. My job in the kitchen was to dry the dishes, my mom washed them, and grandma put them away. We had a large living room, between two rooms, where there was a lot of conversation. We often sang together, and when we peeled peppers for ajvar, we would sing Macedonian songs, polyphonically.''

G A S T R O N O V E L

M E N U
FLOUR | SALT | SUGAR

WHITE BREAD, BLACK BREAD, GLUTEN FREE BREAD
my grandmother used to say that black bread definitely has more nutrients than white bread, because black bread is made from parts of the wheat grain: bran, endosperm and germ, which is why it is dark in color.
I remember that my grandmother’s friend Olga made the best bread from white flour; Olga still makes the best white bread, only now she passes it off as gluten free. She bakes bread, and says: “it’s gluten free, don’t worry.” By the way, Olga has this strange habit, she goes all over the city just to get to Lidl because she says that there 1 kg of flour costs 54.99 dinars, while in Idea flour is more expensive, 58 dinars, even though Idea is right behind her building. Still, for those three dinars, Olga ritualistically goes all over town. She dresses up, puts on red lipstick and goes to Lidl for flour.

S A L T
my grandmother used to say that salt absorbs negative energy,
so every time guests came over, if they gossiped too much and spoke badly about other people, right after they left she would immediately put a handful of salt in the corners of the living room, to sit there for 24 hours, and the next day she would vacuum that same salt with the vacuum cleaner.
the specialty of our household and a gastro delicacy was foie gras, because she grew up in France, they had a big farm in Provence, where they raised ducks, geese and lavender. That’s where she learned how to make a spectacle out of goose or duck liver. And every time she prepared it, she would repeat one and the same sentence:
“by the time a man heals his soul, the liver is gone.”

S U G A R
when I was little, my grandmother used to trick me with fake Coca-Cola, in a real Coca-Cola bottle. She would give me black tea with sparkling water and honey, thinking I wouldn’t notice. Then one time we were watching the news and they reported that the Croatian sugar king Marinko Zadro had died of diabetes. Then grandma said: see, you see, the man died from Coca-Cola. Then she picked up the phone and asked gpt chat:
- how much sugar is in coca-cola?
then she read to me the statistical data about Coca-Cola.
100 ml of Coca-Cola beverage contains 10.6 grams of sugar.

Touch as language, in the interactive performance Sonic Touch, Julija Castellucci transcends her personal identity and becomes an art object. This performance exists only through interaction with the visitor, who becomes a co-participant. It is an intimate process in which touch plays a vital role.

When someone touches the object - the exhibit - a subtle exchange begins. In that moment, the sonic sculpture is activated and gently produces sound. Julija becomes both exhibit and instrument; her body is a medium, and sound is her language of expression. This introduces the concept of a sonic sculpture - an entity that responds to touch through sound. At the heart of this work lies the exchange of energy and the creation of experience through human contact. By integrating touch and sound within the framework of a sonic sculpture, the artwork constructs a multisensory environment. It opens space for an exchange of energies and the possibility of a transformative experience. Within the context of Sonic Touch, touch becomes a language of its own - a form of expression that facilitates a deeply intimate and interactive encounter between the artist and the participant.

Brajan Vojinović

Sound Initiations. A small group of people arrives more or less at the same time, as night has already fallen on Belgrade. There can be no more than seven of them, as there are only seven lying spots on the floor, covered with aluminum thermal foil. This is a living room - whose, it doesn't matter - since it stands as a metaphor for comfort and safety. A performance by Julija Castellucci transforms this room into a Sonic Room, both literally and in name, a hybrid installation. The space is almost completely dark, so the senses absorb only sound. As soon as the participant settles into their chosen spot, they turn inward - unconcerned with those around them. A connection is formed with the ambiance, nestled as if in a mother's womb.

This specific atmosphere is shaped not only by the horizontal position of the participants - curled up or stretched out - but also by the audio landscape of a prenatal state, original and played through speakers. Despite the natural expectation that comfort would lead to sleep, most attendees become more awake, more open to inner experience. Time ceases to exist, a fictional concept anyway. From this nirvana-like state, those lying down are suddenly stirred by a sound like babbling water, made by a unique instrument shaped like an elongated bell, called a Koshi bell. Castellucci brings it close to each person, like a priestess of an unfamiliar ritual. After this sonic rite, she begins to sing - in the most mellifluous soprano imaginable. The songs are warm, embracing, whether Macedonian, Slovenian, Indian, or Japanese. Occasionally, the artist recites narrative quotes, also in various languages. Their literal meaning is less important than the vibrations they emit. One might call it a ''neural massage'', another ''soul grounding'' and yet another, a paradox of ''concrete abstraction''.The result of being in the Sonic Room is almost always transformation, but one that couldn't happen without the prior establishment of trust. Another key component of this practically interactive performance is its intimate scale, which brings us back to Schubert's time, when music was performed for small, attentive circles. At the same time, with her ''romantic futurism'', Castellucci sends us into the future, enhanced by the use of aluminum foil and electronically processed sound waves.

She introduces new categories to the meaning of an auditorium and proves their existence empirically, performing concerts in living rooms, barns, butcher shops, markets... This leads us to the question: Who makes up the audience?

Are they only humans or can they also be peppers, carrots, empty chairs, stones, living and non-living animals? Her ideas pull her with an force, and she performs where no one expects her. Julija Castellucci is a nomad, or perhaps someone for whom art is the only home, a room, sonic or not.

Dragana Nikoletić

Julija comes down the blue tower in spirals. Her singing - sometimes audible, sometimes subdued in the echo. Sudden she appears like a dream walker, floats past us and seduces us with enchanting amber voice. With her face turned towards the sky, Julija appears like sonic sculpture in a trance. The songs she sings as she moves down towards the bottom of blue tower are lamentations or small prayers that are lovingly given to the listeners and the afternoon. Once at the bottom of the blue tower, the voice strolls across the park and stretches out elegantly ground and is photographed hundreds of times.

Lilian Frei

The dialogue between life and death, unfolding through the work of Julija Castellucci, is articulated in vocal expression, establishing communication with both living and dead animals. This dialogue explores the boundaries of freedom for the beings that lack the ability to express themselves in a language the humans use and are often perceived as a lower species.

Julija pays homage to the lives taken with a lament. Through the evolution of consciousness and the genetic material, the human species finds itself in a position where it doesn't have to consume animal meat, yet it continues, characteristic of humanity, driven by greed or pleasure. Human and animal species coexist on this planet, and human supremacy over other species placed animals in a position of envy towards humans, subject to their mercy or cruelty.

Through this reflection, Julija points out the complexity of the relationship between humans and animals, challenging us to contemplate our relationship with other species. Additionally, she raises questions about the morality, ethics, and responsibility we have towards other living beings sharing our world. Is our domination over other species justified? How should we define our relationship with animals, and how do we treat them with respect and compassion?

Brajan Vojinović

Sonic Landscapes offers an auditory journey across diverse corners of the world through Julija’s voice and the melodic lines she emits. Each melody carries a specific sonic frequency and informational imprint, enabling the listener to be transported and to travel in a remarkably swift, efficient, and economical way. These sonic frequencies guide the audience on a landscape adventure through the resonances of India, Japan, Macedonia, Slovenia, Morocco, and Africa - but also on an inward expedition. The frequencies traverse the body’s meridians, reaching every atom, molecule, and cell. Thus, the performance operates on two levels: outwardly, as an exploration of global soundscapes, and inwardly, as a deep, corporeal journey. Visitors have the opportunity to choose to which world they want to surrender: vertical or horizontal or to allow themselves to fall upwards, vertically into the far vicinity of the immaterial, the sound.

Saša Janjić

Julija Castellucci, Sanja Latinović, and Sonja Radaković are creating a new hybrid work titled "Emergency Exit" for the Serbian Pavilion in 2024. They are collectively redefining the concept of artistic collaboration. The main idea of this project is for the artwork to embody the collective strength and power of unity, not only among these three artists but also among local, regional, Eastern European, and global forces from all countries, peoples, groups, and individuals who are limited in their mobility. The artists' desire is to create a symbolic collective body that coexists within the pavilion's present. This body is present because it is compelled to move, undergo a sort of migration, and push boundaries until it reaches a wall. It symbolizes the transformation of energy and potential for progress into a deadlock.

The "Emergency Exit" project evokes moments from avant-garde modern and contemporary art: when Marcel Duchamp was fascinated by the accidental cracks in the glass of his famous Dadaist work "The Large Glass"; the scene in Pipilotti Rist's video "Ever Is Over All" where she uses smashing car windows as a symbolic representation of female rebellion and empowerment; and Anne Imhof's use of glass as a dominant material in her installations to create effects of transparency, symbolizing a material that divides space and represents barriers while simultaneously producing layered visual effects.

The theme of strangers, movement boundaries, the sense of presence, and the boundaries between artists and the audience play a crucial role in the "Emergency Exit" project. Simultaneously, the project emphasizes the importance of the artists' long-term commitment to maintaining the work's sustainability to keep the artwork relevant and functional over time. This concept of "maintenance" is related to post-medial hybridity, digital presence, and the idea of sustainability of contemporary art. Through all these themes, the "Emergency Exit" project represents a contemporary response to classical artistic concepts, exploring them through a unique combination of performance, video, and artwork maintenance, while shedding light on current social and political issues signaled by the Biennale's theme, "Strangers Everywhere."

According to Michel Foucault, the concept of the "carceral system" signifies a set of institutions, practices, and techniques used to restrict and control individuals or groups in society, often involving physical structures where people are isolated or under surveillance. The carceral system also encompasses broader social norms, laws, and policies that justify and regulate such freedom-limiting practices. This concept is relevant to this work because it deals with the idea of the "glass frame/ceiling" as a control apparatus. The glass frame can be considered one element of this carceral system as it physically restricts movement and presence within a specific space. At the same time, it can symbolically or metaphorically represent an image of the broader system of social control and confinement. This work explores the dynamics between the subjects within the glass frame and the audience observing them, questioning how this carceral system affects individual freedom, identity, and perception. It raises questions about the sustainability and maintenance of the system and the need for changes to enable greater transparency and empathy for those within these frames.

The artists who come to perform maintenance work in the pavilion after the performance can be analogously compared to "guest workers" or "guest artists" within the artwork. This role of artists as "guest workers" underscores the idea that art is not just a momentary performance or spectacle but also an effort and care for maintaining and sustaining the artwork and space. Their sporadic presence after the performance can be interpreted as an extension of the performance itself but in a different context. Instead of performing in front of the audience, the artists now engage in "maintenance work" as their role in the artistic process. This work may involve cleaning, maintaining installations or other elements of the performance, as well as caring for the pavilion's space. This role of "guest workers" can have deeper significance, emphasizing the importance of the sustainability of the artwork and space, as well as the need for ongoing engagement and care by artists for their works. Furthermore, it can highlight the importance of empathy and care for the work that are also part of the artistic process but often invisible to the audience.

The vision of the Serbian Pavilion for the 2024 Venice Biennale insists on breaking free from traditional exhibition concepts. The collective body emerging from collaboration on this work proposes an arrangement that aims to create a dynamic field of aesthetic and emotional interaction instead of the classic representative container for artworks. The "Emergency Exit" project represents a multidisciplinary artwork that deals with themes of freedom of movement, presence, boundaries between artists and the audience, sustainability, and transparency. Three artists, inspired by the works of Marcel Duchamp and Anne Imhof, create this work as a response to contemporary social and political challenges. The main idea of the project is to explore the concept of "strangers everywhere," illustrating how we feel like strangers in our own lives due to movement restrictions. Through a combination of performance, video, and installation, the artists create a symbolic collective body compelled to move and confront walls. Inspired by Marcel Duchamp's work, the artists use glass as a key material in their work. Glass is used as a symbol of boundaries and barriers but also as a material that creates transparency and layered visual experiences. The project relies on Duchamp's idea that cracks in glass can be part of artistic expression.

Anne Imhof has also been an inspiration for the "Emergency Exit" project due to her use of glass in her installations and her creation of the effect of total transparency. The project recognizes the importance of materials and visual language in art. In addition, the project explores the concept of "maintenance" as the upkeep of the artwork over time. Instead of being just a transient performance, "Emergency Exit" includes the maintenance of the artwork by the artists who return after the performance to clean and maintain it. This recalls the actions of "maintenance workers" and highlights the need for the long-term presence of artists.

The "Emergency Exit" project represents a contemporary response to classical artistic concepts, exploring them through a combination of performance, video, and artwork maintenance. This work simultaneously sheds light on current social and political themes, raising questions about freedom, boundaries, and presence in today's world. In this vision, the Serbian Pavilion becomes an open, fluid space where the roles of artists, curators, and the audience are connected through a sonic dimension that unites all participants beyond the dominant visual representation regime. The performative impulse of the soundscape influences all visitors to emotionally engage in the creation of the artistic experience, opposing passive observation of the exhibited work. This concept of setting up soundscapes that allow emotional connection throughout the duration of the Biennale enables the Pavilion to constantly evolve through the interactions with each visitor's affective engagement, beyond the usual intellectual and aesthetic act of observation. Each visit offers an opportunity for emotional exchange, as the key idea is the Pavilion's openness to everyone and making everyone feel welcome.

As a choreography of the impossible, this work aims to find faith in the body's ability to express itself and communicate through various materials. Through glass as a dominant material, the work explores the boundaries between the body, space, and the audience. This boundary is not impermeable but fluid, allowing the body to communicate and express itself to the external world. This process is not only physical but also emotional. Through sound and music, bodies become carriers of emotions and messages, creating a rich soundscape that contributes to the understanding and empathy of the audience. The body becomes more than a physical entity; it becomes a source of expression, protest, and hope.

From a curatorial perspective, the work of the artists in the "Choreographies of the Impossible" project explores the deeper aspects of the body as an expressive instrument and communicator through the use of different materials, with glass as a central element. This artistic approach aims to break down the boundaries between the body, space, and the audience, and these boundaries are not fixed but fluid, allowing bodies to actively communicate with the world around them. The artists emphasize that this process is not only physical but also has deep emotional components. By integrating sound and music, bodies become carriers of emotions and messages, creating a complex soundscape that enriches the understanding and empathy of the audience. The body is transformed into a source of change, protest, and hope.

Their work advocates for faith in the power of the body to transform materiality and establish deep emotional connections with the audience. The body becomes more than a physical entity; it becomes an instrument of change and a means to open new paths and alternatives, both in individual and collective experiences. This deep faith in the body as an agent of change is a key characteristic of the "Emergency Exit" project.

"Mokranjac's Second Rukovet" is part of a collection of compositions called "Rukoveti," written by the prominent Serbian composer and conductor Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac. This collection represents an important part of Mokranjac's contribution to Serbian choral music and folklore. The Second Rukovet is known for successfully conveying the spirit and emotional depth of Serbian folklore while also introducing innovative elements and Mokranjac's personal artistic touch. These compositions often bring forth layered emotions and an atmosphere deeply rooted in Serbian culture. Radical transparency through the sonic dimension allows for a deeper connection of the audience with the environmental surroundings while emphasizing the importance of sustainability. The sonic dimension, the "soundscape," plays a crucial role in this project, extending beyond national boundaries and enabling a transnational interpretation. Through the soundscape, the audience emotionally connects with the work, regardless of their origin or location, creating a sense of live presence in the installation. Human voice vibrations play a key role in creating an open and inclusive atmosphere within the Pavilion. These vibrations convey warmth, welcome, and emotional depth regardless of linguistic and cultural differences. Combining this idea with the concept of breaking glass and a call for revolt carries deep symbolism.

Breaking glass symbolizes the disruption of existing barriers and the opening of space for change and a new beginning. It can draw attention to injustice and call for action or change. On the other hand, the call for revolt expresses dissatisfaction and protest against injustices, using art as a means of expressing these feelings and demanding a better world.

This combination of breaking glass and a call for revolt indicates the need for change and liberation from limitations or injustices. Both concepts together emphasize the importance of active engagement in social and cultural changes to create a better future.

Jovana Stokić

In Horizontal, Julija Castellucci opens a quiet invocation, activating the space through an embodied vocal presence. Lying down, she sings a Japanese lullaby, using it as both form and force. The lullaby transcends language, detaching it from meaning and returning it to breath - as a medium of affect and memory.
Her voice, repetitive and stretched in duration, creates a soft gravitational pull.
The work proposes a form of intimacy beyond touch: a sonic closeness in which the voice becomes atmosphere. Intimacy in this work is not tactile, but vibrational - carried through the body by way of sound. It is not about understanding the words, but about feeling their residue, their rhythm, their weight. The artist’s horizontal posture disrupts conventional performance hierarchies, positioning care, tenderness, and deep listening as political.
In this horizontal space, the audience does not look - they listen, absorb, remember. Horizontal is not a spectacle; it is an offering.

Jovana Stokić

In September 2021, Sonja Radaković performed Unrequited Love at the Sahat Kula Gallery. The central action of the performance consisted of running within a confined indoor space. Continuous, aimless movement - running in circles, almost to the point of exhaustion - was accompanied by the voice of Julija Castellucci, who sang a cappella the popular song We’ll Meet Again (Vera Lynn), historically used during wartime as a symbol of hope and encouragement to persevere, served as the leitmotif of the performance.

Two years later, the artists decided to bring their distinct energies together in a live collaboration, aiming to demonstrate the endurance of their mental, physical, and vocal capacities.

Standing on a high pedestal, Julija - dressed in a gown made from the American flag - sings the aforementioned song to the point of exhaustion. Holding a lamp in her hand, she illuminates the path for Sonja, who runs in circles directly beneath her, wrapped in the Serbian flag.

This five hours-long performance creates a hypnotic vortex, drawing the audience into a hypnotic atmosphere. All audio and visual symbols are left open to the audience’s interpretation.

This performance shows the passing of time of a young artist in anticipation for something to happen. Tired of waiting for a response, we can see the artist lean against the wall of the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance in Skopje. This action can also be seen as some kind of attempt to establish a dialogue, a connection between the artist and the institutions. Which is why the artist in almost comical way is shown banging their head against the wall of the building. The connection in this piece becomes quite literally physical, aiming to embody the only option left. In a way becoming a symbolic gesture not just for the artist in question, but for all aspiring artists as well. The head-through-wall position references a forceful attempt to enter. Which is born out of impatience, but also contains an element of Sisyphus and a meaningless, functionless action. The position of the body is also reminiscent of a prayer. Which often is a spiritual element accompanying hopeless waiting, and thus conveys what ultimately becomes the only option - pray and wait.

Durational performance in public space. Wrapped in golden foil (unrecognizable), Julija sings and move through the streets, standing on a moving pedestal (on wheels). she, a sonic sculpture, moving through time and space in a particular city. Her audience is not just people who live there, but trees, animals, everything around her, cars, chairs, and flagpoles that inhabit the environment. It does not matter if one has ears; She sings regardless of whether someone listens to her or not. Standing on the pedestal, she is being pulled through the streets by another artist Dorotej Nešovski, helping her. Artist drags artist.

Hana Ostan Ožbolt

The concept of a masterpiece is subjective and varies across artistic disciplines and cultures contexts. What is considered a masterpiece in one era or culture is not necessarily so in another. Nevertheless, masterpieces often transcend time and cultural boundaries, reaching audiences across generations and leaving a lasting impact on artistic practices. As a multidisciplinary artist, Castellucci satirically questions the values of the contemporary market of art, as well as general opinions about the quality of a work of art in the same context. Who, how and on the basis what determines the value, quality and scope of an artist's work of art?

Julija's work from this series was going through an identity crisis during its creation because it didn't pass identification and evaluation process. The whole series started from the position of an artist in the material world, without funds to invest in production. He tells us about the importance of investing in art while he can take advantage of the capital flow potential. As he translates touch into sound, he monetizes his work. It provokes the financial structures of the market. He distinguishes between individual perception and psychology masses when evaluating, followed by artist- curator (critic/theoretician)-space-audience- collectors - public collections.

The series "This is a Masterpiece with an Identity Crisis" encourages us to question the conventional systems and structures that dictate artistic value. It stimulates us to critically examine the criteria in defining the (spiritual, intellectual, material, cultural) value of the work and causes an impact financial considerations in the art world. Challenging these established norms, Julija introduces us into a wider dialogue about the essence and importance of artistic creativity, overcoming the boundaries of the traditional valuation, calling for a rethinking of the way we experience and value art.

Brajan Vojinović

UNTITLED, 2018 - 2020

Julija Castellucci and Petra Varl formed an artistic tandem under the name Romeo in Julija in 2018, intervening in Ljubljana’s public space through a series of performative actions, carried out daily until the beginning of the pandemic and the onset of COVID-19.

Starting from Andy Warhol's famous statement, the artist reflects on the long, often uncertain wait that young artists endure for his prophecy to come true. Tired of waiting, Julija lies on the ground in Venice's Piazza San Marco during the 2022 Venice Biennale, wearing a mask inspired by the iconic Venetian carnival tradition. The mask bears the message:

''I am waiting 15 minutes of fame with this mask'', an attempt to spark dialogue and connection between the artist and the public sphere.

The horizontal posture reads as a double gesture: a surrender, born of impatience with the mechanisms of recognition, and an act of faith, akin to prayer. In this convergence of vertical and horizontal aspiration and submission - the work reflects on the artist's vulnerability within the public arena, and on the paradox of waiting for a moment that may arrive only when one has already laid down to meet it.

''In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 people''

Danica Đorđević