The contemporary human condition is defined by tense, ongoing negotiations: between the physical body and the digital interface, personal trauma and collective structures, organic cycles and algorithmic codes. The group exhibition "Forms of Presence" brings together Croatian artists from the European cooperation project Professional Media Presence (PMP) who map these precise friction points. While their practices vary—spanning traditional, expanded, and new media—the exhibition narrative organically links them through vulnerability as a common denominator of existence. Navigation through these works reveals presence not as a static state, but as a fluid, performative process where the body serves as a primary psychological archive. Here, vulnerability is highlighted not as weakness, but as a fundamental site of exposure, resistance, and authentic connection. The artworks function as porous membranes—peeled-back layers of reality that expose the delicate negotiations of being present in a hyper-mediated world.

This exploration of personal archives begins with History of illness, reading, joy, sadness and old age, Manuela Vladić Maštruko’ s project which explores the relationship between the fragility and strength of the body and the spirit's effort to bridge the gap between physical and spiritual experience through art. Starting from the personal experience of illness and surgery, through text, drawing and collage, she thematizes the body in change, transience and identity. This focus on organic memory and transience extends into the environmental sphere where Manuela Pauk explores urban weeds as bearers of the cultural landscape. Usually perceived as unwanted, these weeds record human history and the relationships between nature and human activity.

The tension between organic existence and structural conditioning shifts toward the socio-digital landscape in Lara Petak’s painting, which acts as a commentary on social networks and the influence of the media on the reshaping of individual identities and forms of society. This sense of alienation and modern vulnerability is countered by the internal resilience found in Lana Gržetić’s work, where the central figure acts as a combination of vulnerability and strength, the earthly and the spiritual. In an emotional sense, the painting evokes an experience of inner protection, strength and transformation. In the series Another Kind of Realism which painting Clipping is part of, Mihael Frančić reflects on power dynamics and systemic control. Starting from a personal experience—his attempt to rescue a mouse from a trap—Frančić explores themes of power, control, and vulnerability, turning the mouse into a central motif that symbolizes fear, helplessness, and alienation, while questioning the relationship between humans, animals, and broader social systems.

The psychological and structural toll of these everyday negotiations is further reflected in Mihaela Podboj’s work Under, which explores the dichotomy of routine and absurdity, spontaneity in everyday life and the grieving process. Here, textile production and other experimental techniques (cyanotype, punch needle, crochet, weaving) are used to explore the relationship between decomposition and creation, the process of growth and decay. This focus on isolation and internal processing transitions into an intimate media format with Nika Rukavina. During Covid-19, Rukavina started to write her thoughts on paper, challenging herself to overcome her fear of being a bad writer - a process that ultimately resulted in a video text that represents her inner dialogue and observations of the world that surrounds her.

The exhibition narrative ultimately expands beyond human - centric and physical constraints through the work of Ivana Tkalčić, where the dream image of being a giant alien squid becomes a speculative framework for reflecting on Earth as a shared planetary condition. While the planet makes worlds possible, worlds emerge only through situated experience, differing across human and nonhuman bodies. Developed with the assistance of the AI music-generation program Suno, the work considers the porous boundaries of embodiment and the subtle entanglements that bind living forms within a more - than - human universe. This final dialogue between digital structures and human essence is brought into analytical focus by Kruno Jošt’s work. Placed outside of the gallery space, his podcast-style interviews explore the friction between digital efficiency and human nuance, asking practitioners to define their agency in an era of algorithmic art and social media saturation.

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WORKS:

1. Manuela Vladić-Maštruko, History of illness, reading, joy, sadness and old age (2023-2026), prints on forex

2. Lara Petak, Fake Hope (2026), acrylic on canvas

3. Lana Gržetić, Woman-angel (2026), acrylic on canvas

4. Mihael Frančić, Clipping (2024), combined technique (acrylic & oil on canvas)

5. Manuela Pauk, Reworked heritage (2026), stone, latex, glue

6. Mihaela Podboj, Under (2026), textile installation, embroidery (punch needle), weaving, crocheting and sewing, fabric toning using the cyanotype technique

7. Nika Rukavina, Do you know what love is? (2023), video, 3’21’’

8. Ivana Tkalčić, Heavenly squids (2025), sound installation, 3’16’’

9. Kruno Jošt, Unscripted Algorithms: Researching the Digital Mirror (2026), video, 120’