46 | , / , GalaČaki, a32-year-oldartist from Novi Sad,hasachievedwhat few havemanaged. SheholdsaPhD fromtheBelgradeUniversityFaculty of Fine Arts, having previously earned twomaster’s degrees fromtheAcademy of Arts inNovi Sad,which isunprecedented in the eld of artistic creativity locally. This year she’s still awaited by exciting times. Shewill exhibit at the newly opened Serbian Culture Centre in Beijing and her workswill also travel toNewDelhi andLondon, while her works have already been on show at Paris’s Grand Palais, at the invitationof the famous Salondes Indépendants association. Describingherwork,Galasays that she paints“themanifoldsimultaneityofdestinies, depicting the inevitability of dying”. Those deaths are“ubiquitous evenwhile life is still goingon”, notes thisartist,whosepaintings areactuallyrepresentationsofamaterialised philosophy. In an abstract and very expressive way, she uses oil paints on canvas to conjure a spiritual relationship towards her own artwork, the scream of hopelessness, the tragedies of mountains, the incomprehensible space of the unconscious…With the overlapping of layers of colour, her entire internal world becomes visible to the viewer. “And those are all miseries and tribulations,”says Gala Čaki. Thanks to the power of art, the results of constantquestioningcomeacrossasoptimistic to someone fromthe outside , with all thecomplexityofhercompositions. Intertwining within them are lines, stains, light, shadows, silence and sounds… Because all Gala wants is “to reach the deepest hidden self that she suspects she won’t even like”. “But,” she says, “I just have to dig further and deeper”. “Ipaintmyemotions, Iapproachthecanvas ‘primordially’. My task isn’t to show anything, to send messages to anyone, but if they are nonetheless universally read then my art will also push the boundaries of other people’s minds.” And despite these unusual painted scenes, Gala loves people, especially peculiarones; she loves todance, loveskafanataverns, lovesthesnowwhenit fallsonmountain peaks, lovestotour theworldinherpaintings. “Art isunattainable,givenonlytothespecial. Thinking you’re special is pride, but to move in such a way towards art is courage, while devoting your life to art is pure madness,”saysGaladescribingher lifephilosophy. And a special segment of craziness is to sacri ce your time and money with the aim of promoting other artists. It is to this end thatGalawill beorganising theGala International Symposiumof Art for the second time in early November, this time at Kaštel Schulho in Padej, a small village near the town of Ada in Vojvodina. Gala will mutually connect the fteen participants of the symposium, eminent artists from all over the world, but will also connect them with collectors, galleryowners, representatives ofmuseums andother institutions, butof coursealsowith the“ordinary”public. Thecastle, built in1896bywealthymerchant Lajos Schulho , is located alongside the Tisza, one of Vojvodina’s most romantic rivers. The rooms in which the arts will stay are luxurious and equipped with stylish furniture. Their studio will be the huge garden in the grounds around the castle, lled with skilfully cultivated plants and replicas of ancient sculptures. The spacious dining room, withahuge square table, will host the artists during lunch,withthebest chefs cooking for them. Andalso representinganexclusivity is the fact that these15artistswill each receive compensationof a1,000euros, althoughthe Symposiumisnotanelitistgathering,butratheranavant-gardesummitdevisedtochange the local understanding of art. When it’s all over, Gala will return to painting; to her incomprehensible worlds lled with strange scenes, for which she is celebrated, among other things. In conclusion, we ask her why she does all of this, not for personal gain, but for thegeneral bene t of all. She says in response“because I’mcrazy,”which is howunwavering enthusiasm is described here. Ja slikam svoje emocije, iskonski pristupam platnu, kaže slikarka I paint my emotions, I approach the canvas ‘primordially’, says this painter She doesn’t only create her unusual scenes for Serbia, with her works having been exhibited in many countries around the world, reaching New York, Japan, Korea, Indonesia etc. And although she resisted – claiming that she was too young – she was nonetheless included in the commission to select this year’s Serbian representative for the Venice Biennale.
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