The Group of Six Authors
Maj 75 magazine (1978-1990)

Having been named after the month and year of their first public appearance (i.e., May 1975), the Maj 75 magazine by a “groups of friends” – which is what painter Boris Demur, photographers Željko Jerman, Sven Stilinović and Fedor Vučemilović, poet Vlado Martek and experimental filmmaker Mladen Stilinović called themselves – presented mostly their street, square, beach, park and other open space actions, installations and interventions. Other artists who also presented their work in Maj 75 included, to name but a few, Vlasta Delimar, Tomislav Gotovac, Sanja Iveković, Mangelos (aka Dimitrije Bašičević), Bálint Szombathy, Raša Todosijević, Goran Trbuljak and many others. The activities and work of the artists presented in the Maj 75 magazine are closely linked to Conceptual Art or New Art Practice (which is what the international phenomenon of Conceptual Art was called in Yugoslavia). The magazine was produced simply and cheaply (using a hectograph, screen printing, a photocopier, etc.), was staple-bound, and its print run varied from issue to issue, ranging from 50 to 250 copies, with the print run of some issues unknown. It was distributed and shared through a network of people who thought similarly about art.

The Group of Six Authors was founded in 1975 in Zagreb, and its members were Željko Jerman, Vlado Martek, Sven Stilinović, Mladen Stilinović, Boris Demur and Fedor Vučemilović. The group was active until 1981. The closing edition of the magazine, presenting exclusively works by female artists and edited by Vlasta Delimar, was entitled Ex-Maj 75.

Text: Klaudio Štefančić, curator of the National Museum of Modern Art © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Translated by: Ana Janković
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb