ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the development of an “alloy” of artist and activist strategies in the context of North Macedonia, during Nikola Gruevski's right-wing conservative government (2006–16) and its turbulent overthrow; the chapter concludes by assessing the conditions for art in the “new normality” of Zoran Zaev's social-democrat-led government from April 2017 onward. First, the characteristics of Gruevski's government are discussed. Critical to their cultural policy was the controversial Skopje 2014 scheme and “antiquization,” the re-casting of the appearance of Yugoslav-era Skopje in neoclassical and Baroque architectural styles and monuments. The response of critical artists to this scheme is assessed through the example of Aleksandar Spasoski's The Ship that Never Sailed (2012) and the work of the KOOPERACIJA grouping. Following a tracing of the fall of Gruevski and the color revolution of 2015/16, I assess the conditions of the “new normality” in the country. Observing that an ever-strengthening alloy between art and activism had developed during these years of upheaval, analysis is provided of the operation and consequences of this co-operation in relation to the TEKSTIL cultural centre in Štip, and the online Arhiva ZAUM run by OPA Fondacija.
