Present Tense

Why is the exhibition called Present Tense, what does this mean? Firstly, because it was thought of as a name for a potential exhibition in New York by Juan Puntes, founder and artistic director of White Box, this maintained a continuity with the original idea. And secondly because this generic (on the symbolic level) title brilliantly points out the principle of ambiguity – to borrow from Heisenberg the well-known definition of the key principle of historical time, in which we live. From here, in part, stems the choice of nine excellent contemporary Montenegrin artists of different generations, from the reputable and established to young artists that have burst onto the scene, employing in their works the linguistic and informational experience of their generation, actively engaging with global art practices. #But however uncertain time may be, and however unpredictable the future, it is as if all the selected artists, somewhere deep inside are reciting together with Osip Mandelstam the lines from his famous poem My Time, written in 1922: #»To tear this time into freedom,#to begin a new world, we
Need a flute to tie up
The joints of knotty days. » #in which Mandelstam, evidently citing Mayakovsky’s poem Backbone Flute written in 1915, demonstrates that only art can overcome the tragedy of time.