Around – Art Interventions in Public Space

Around is an ongoing programme of contemporary art in Zagreb’s public space. Through artistic interventions, it activates city locations and enables a direct encounter between art and audiences outside traditional institutions. Every August, about ten locations in the city centre become part of a temporary art map of Zagreb. Linked into an art walk, the interventions offer an alternative way of reading the city. Around 2027 continues the project’s ten-year interest in the city as a space of artistic research, while introducing a new curatorial focus. The programme starts from the idea that the city is not just a physical setting for art but a space of encounter, communication, everyday life and shared identity. At its centre is the relationship between artwork, location and audience. Artists create site-specific works that respond to a location’s architecture, history, function and atmosphere. The interventions interpret and question public space and change how we experience it, with special attention to neglected, empty or overlooked sites. Passers-by become potential participants in an artistic situation. Multidisciplinary in approach, Around links contemporary art with architecture, urbanism, design and activism. It puts local artists and their visions of Zagreb first, while collaborating with regional and international artists, collectives, cultural institutions and public and private partners, connecting the local scene with international practice. Accessibility is a key value. Because the work takes place in open public space, it removes the barriers of traditional exhibition formats: audiences do not need to plan a gallery visit or know contemporary art, as it meets them in their daily movement through the city. The programme reaches residents, passers-by, children and young people, cultural audiences and international visitors. It also has cultural-tourism potential, presenting Zagreb through contemporary art beyond conventional tourist routes. Ten years of continuity have built a recognisable platform and a network of artists, audiences and partners, and each edition builds on the last. In 2027, the focus is on new productions, domestic and regional artists, new and existing locations, and the growth of audiences and partnerships. The general goal is to develop contemporary art in Zagreb through continuous production of diverse, high-quality works and to encourage new ways of thinking about, using and experiencing the city. To this end, the programme commissions new site-specific works, supports local and especially younger artists, and fosters international, regional and inter-institutional cooperation, strengthening Around’s position as a platform for public art in Zagreb.