About JAB

Jelsa Art Biennial

The Jelsa Art Biennial on the island of Hvar is a festival of contemporary art that connects different audiences through a multitude of artistic media and practices. It is aimed at both established artists and emerging artists. The event is specific for works that are mostly performed in public spaces with the aim of bringing contemporary art closer to the widest possible audience, emphasizing art that conveys a message of social responsibility and sustainability. In this sense, JAB has a vision to become a unique and recognizable event of socially responsible art at the European level and a generator of development based on environmental awareness and culture. 

2023. concept - Decubator

While authors such as Mark Fisher argue that capitalism makes it impossible to imagine a different future from the one within the existing system, and the world provides dystopian forecasts that seem inevitable, we seek to stimulate the process of de-thinking such scenarios, a practice that requires patience and questioning, while offering alternative solutions. We look for opportunities to change the established patterns of thinking and speech of the dominant development narrative, we encourage decubation, as opposed to incubation. In search of solutions, we turn to the wisdom of animals and plants that individuals or groups inherit on the island with their knowledge. In the endless expanse of digital worlds where information is present in the palm of your hand, it seems absurd that this knowledge is forgotten, but it still happens. The focus of our activities is therefore the research, understanding and development of the connection between people and nature, in discovering the intertwining, relationships and processes that exist within the micro and macro systems of the island’s biosphere. In accordance with these efforts, and in contrast to the expected territorial expansion and scaling, the second edition of JAB focuses on only one street in the grid of the Mediterranean city – kala. Kala, in the context of the typical present of a Dalmatian town, offers space for intimacy and staying in contrast to constant “moving”, encountering oneself as opposed to mass tourism, kala offers a space for decubation.