20–30 October 2026
THE UPPER FLOOR GALLERY, Preradovićeva 5 Street
ANATOMY OF FRIENDSHIP
6:45 pm / Participatory Installation
Installation Landscapes of Friendship, by Jadran Kale with visitors
7 pm / Exhibition opening
Artists: Natasha Baković, Marlen Ban, Marina Burolo, Zdenko Bužek, Jadran Kale, Željko Zorica Šiš, Josip Pino Ivančić, Stanislav Habjan
The Festival of Firsts, a multidisciplinary arts festival now in its 24th edition, takes place in Zagreb from 19 to 30 October at KNAP and KIC.
The central theme of this year's edition is Anatomy of Friendship, which explores what friendship consists of beyond its dictionary definition of a relationship between people founded on respect, trust and love. Is it even possible – in a world of all-pervasive conflict – to cultivate respect, trust and love for our fellow human beings and the companions with whom we share this planet?
Anthropologist Robin Dunbar concluded that humans have the capacity for close communication with a circle of 150 people. He narrowed this circle to five truly close friends. Jacques Derrida analysed philosophers’ reflections on friendship throughout history and concluded that friendships between women, and between women and men, were excluded from their ideas about friendship, and deemed impossible. This reading was criticised, among others, by feminist theorists Nancy Holland, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Dorothea Olkovoski as “empowering the traditional philosophical silence on women”. Heather Devere argues that Derrida's deconstruction should not necessarily be considered anti-women, as it ‘identifies numerous ways of discriminating against women... contributing to the postmodern feminist debate’.
What do artists and non-artists, those just entering a particular field of art, think about all these questions? Throughout the programme of exhibitions, discursive events and workshops, we will attempt to explore and answer these and other questions related to the theme of this year's 24th Festival of Firsts.
* Here is the programme of events at KIC, while the detailed programme for the Festival of Firsts, including timetables and locations, can be found at this LINK.