Bitef

tion of Belgrade artists were presented, such as Marina Abramović, Raša Todosijevic, Slobodan Milivojevic Era, Zoran Popović, Neša Paripović, Gergelj Urkom and others. Nowadays it is only possible to present artistic trends that developed at the end of the 19605, in the spirit of "dematerialisation of the artistic object" and focus on the process and concept, through documentary materials, such as video, photographs, prints and texts. Within Bitef 2006 we present a show based on the original documentary materials and re-prints of the artists like: Beuys, Buren, Pistoletto, Kouneliis, De Dominids, Christo, Ben, Jochen Gerz, Group OHO, Goran Trbuljak, Braco Dimitrijević, Slobodan Milivojevic Era, Zoran Popović, Marina Abramović, Raša Todosijevic, Neša Paripović and Gergelj Urkom from Belgrade. This presentation is a testimony about a really dynamic period of artistic events that marked the beginning of a new art and culture in Belgrade, that placed Belgrade on the cultural map of Europe as one the most important artistic centres of the time. The purpose of the project "Artistic Manifestations 1968-1973" is to establish a time connection, the bridge between the past and the present, and to acquaint the new generations with the artists who became important historical figures in the international contemporary art. Our wish is to bring the models of alternative behavior closer to the new artistic research, affiliations and positions. Forty years later, when our memories reveal and open up, when we live in another time, one could say that we have experienced

many changes, perhaps much faster than one could imagine at young age. We have entered the new age long ago, but the reality of the global world has remained almost the same... or maybe, even more aggressive with its militant politics, market economy, consumerism, social conservatism, and extreme pollution. In the 21st century, in the imagined "Age of Aquarius", everything actually starts from the beginning. The new generations should be connected with the same energy of the struggle for peace, freedom, equality, world and nature unity, for new creativity and spiritual consciousness, for civilized human rights, new life harmony and open future. That is their right and it is still up to us to connect the past with the present, not to make it the same but to make it better for the whole world. Biljana Tomić