Student poster/
a window on the life, a window on the world

If the poster were not such an important and conspicuous model of communication in all spheres of human activity, and especially if it weren’t for its youthful strength and vitality; if it did not penetrate into our field of vision both consciously and subconsciously; if it did not carry over, in the most direct, even aggressive way, messages and information aimed at each individual, intentionally, but also inadvertently; if it did not count on the immense number of users – then fierce battles, for they can be called battles indeed, for the surface intended for it would not be waged; posters would not be constantly glued over, unglued, and torn off nor would billboards be paid so dearly… Yet, no matter how much we rely on the ephemerality of a single message and short duration of its echo, posters bear marks of the relics of our time: they are kept in collections, exhibited in galleries and museums, they become part of our personal ambience, framed, as the most precious works of art. With its visual quality, primarily with its attractiveness that precedes the recognized or new messages, with the balance found between the picture and the words, with perceptible examination of the spirit of the time it addresses, the poster has won an equal place among other visual disciplines, in the space reserved for Art. Even more, a lot of artists today turn to the poster to carry their discourse, to convey their ideas and attitudes, instead of mere commercial or political messages. That way, posters defy the very notions they are woven of: they oppose the disintegration of the fabric, the temporality of their meaning and ephemerality of their one-time usability and, thus, their topicality and engagement, their devotedness to life and vital roles of the contemporary man enter the permanence that we call history.
There lies the beauty of the idea to organize the encounter of young artists to be who are going to present the projection of the future with their student works in the form of a poster. Let us hope that this projection is to be a wise and optimistic one, and that it will help us all to survive the present.

October, 2006
Irina Subotić, prof.univ.