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Maja Smrekar | |
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| Born | 1978 (age 46–47) Brežice, Slovenia |
| Education | Academy of Fine Arts and Design, University of Ljubljana |
| Known for | Intermedia art, bio-art, performance |
| Awards | Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica (2017) Prešeren Foundation Award (2018) Oton Župančič Award (2021) Follow Fluxus After Fluxus grant (2023) |
Maja Smrekar (born 1978) is a Slovenian intermedia artist whose work combines performance, installation, video and biotechnology. She explores relationships between humans, non-human animals and technology, often from ecofeminist and posthuman perspectives. [1] [2] She is known in particular for the project cycle K-9_topology (2014–2017), which addresses human–dog coevolution and bioethics and was awarded the Golden Nica at the 2017 Prix Ars Electronica. [3] [4]
In 2018 Smrekar received the Prešeren Fund Award for K-9_topology, one of Slovenia's highest national honours for artistic achievement. [5] [6] Her later projects include !brute_force, an ongoing research platform on artificial intelligence, robotics and human–animal relations, and Dooms of Love (2024–2025), a solo exhibition at Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden that revisits her long-term collaboration with dogs. [7] [8] [9]
Smrekar was born in 1978 in Brežice, Slovenia (then part of Yugoslavia). [10] [1] She studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design at the University of Ljubljana, graduating from the Department of Sculpture in 2005 and later completing a master's degree in Video and New Media at the same institution. [1] [6]
Smrekar's practice spans performance, installation, video, sound, site-specific projects and lecture-performances. Her work frequently involves collaboration with biologists, computer scientists and roboticists, and is often developed in laboratory or research settings. [1] [2] She has described her practice as examining kinship between humans and non-humans, including animals, ecosystems and technological systems, and as challenging anthropocentrism, patriarchal structures and rigid human–nonhuman boundaries. [2] [11]
Her projects have been presented in museums and art centres including MAXXI – National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome, ZKM Karlsruhe, Kunsthalle Wien, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Musée de l’Homme in Paris, Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, BOZAR in Brussels, the Latvian National Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova in Ljubljana and many others. [1] [2] She has been a long-term associate of Kapelica Gallery and the Kersnikova Institute in Ljubljana, as well as collaborating with organisations such as The Culture Yard in Denmark, Cultivamos Cultura in Portugal and the Quo Artis Foundation in Spain. [12] [13]
Between 2014 and 2017 Smrekar developed K-9_topology, a four-part project cycle that investigates coevolution, domestication and kinship between humans and dogs. [3] [14] The series includes the works Ecce Canis (2014), I Hunt Nature and Culture Hunts Me (2014), Hybrid Family (2016) and ARTE_mis (2017). [3] [10] Across these projects Smrekar uses biotechnological and performance methods, including hormone-induced lactation and in vitro cell manipulation, to explore interspecies care, motherhood and the politics of human–animal hierarchies. [3] [15]
K-9_topology was awarded the Golden Nica in the Hybrid Art category of the 2017 Prix Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria. [3] [4] [16] In 2018 the project received the Prešeren Foundation Award, a national award for artistic achievement in Slovenia. [5] [2]
From 2016 Smrekar has expanded her focus to include artificial intelligence, robotics and wider ecological questions. !brute_force is an ongoing research platform and performance project, developed in collaboration with the Danish artist and researcher Jonas Jørgensen and others, that explores the entanglement of humans, machines and dogs within techno-capitalist infrastructures. [7] [8] A robotic performance installation under the !brute_force umbrella was presented in 2022 as part of Ars Electronica's programme "Welcome to Planet B". [7]
In 2023 Smrekar received the Follow Fluxus After Fluxus grant from the Hessian state capital Wiesbaden and Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden. [17] [18] The grant supported a solo exhibition, Dooms of Love, shown at Nassauischer Kunstverein from November 2024 to April 2025, which brought together works from K-9_topology with newer pieces such as Opus et domus, Superposition and the textile installation (soft) forces of production. [9] [19] [20]
Smrekar has continued to exhibit in group shows, including Co-Existence at the City Art Gallery in Ljubljana (2023–2024) and the 32nd Nadežda Petrović Memorial in Čačak, Serbia, in 2024. [21] [22]
In addition to the 2017 Golden Nica and the 2018 Prešeren Foundation Award, Smrekar has received a number of other prizes and nominations. These include first prize at the Cynetart Festival 2012, an honorary mention at Ars Electronica in 2013 and the Golden Bird Award (Ljubljana) in 2013. [1] [2] In 2020 she was selected as a finalist for the Science Breakthrough of the Year (Science in the Arts category) by the Falling Walls Foundation and Berlin Science Week. [23] [24]
In 2021 she received the Oton Župančič Award, the City of Ljubljana's highest honour for achievements in the arts. [1] [25] As Follow Fluxus awardee in 2023 she was the subject of public talks and lectures on hybrid art at Nassauischer Kunstverein and other institutions. [17] [26]
Smrekar's work has often generated public debate because of its use of her own body, animals and biotechnological procedures. In 2017, Austrian politicians from the Freedom Party criticised the Golden Nica award for K-9_topology, questioning the use of public funds for the project. [3] [11]
In 2025, during a Slovenian referendum campaign on pension reforms for award-winning artists, the opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) used an image from K-9_topology: Hybrid Family showing an image of Smrekar's artwork without her consent. [27] Smrekar stated that the image had been removed from its artistic context, and reported receiving threats and abuse as a result of the campaign. [27] [11] Later that year she announced that she was suing the SDS for misuse and distortion of her work, citing violations of her moral rights under Slovenian copyright law. [11] [28] [29]
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