Davor Džalto ( sr-Cyrl, Давор Џалто; born 17 May 1980) is an

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

and

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

of Bosnian-Herzegovinian origin.Travnik International University https://iu-travnik.com/about-travnik/

Biography

Džalto was born in

Travnik Travnik ( cyrl, Травник) is a town and a municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the administrative center of the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. He graduated from the School of Art in

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. As an 18-year-old student he published his first book – ''On Writing as an Artistic, Historical, Social and Cultural Phenomenon''. His academic career started in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

where he received an MA in

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

from the

University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy The University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy (), established in 1838 within the Belgrade Higher School, is the oldest Faculty at the University of Belgrade. The Faculty building is located at the meeting point of the Čika-Ljubina with the ...

. He graduated with a thesis in art history, as the best student of the Faculty. Since 2007, he has been a

university professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

of history and theory of art and of Orthodox Christian theology and

religious studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

. He has taught at various universities in Europe and the United States, including University of Prague,

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

in New York, and the University of Stockholm.

Work

His academic work focuses on the exploration of human freedom and creativity, as metaphysical, political, and aesthetic concepts. He has been publishing in the fields of political philosophy, cultural studies, history and theory of art and theology, in English,

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

and German. He was a founding member and the art director of the Flexible Art Network, which explored relations between artworks, artists and the public; the president of the Institute for the Study of Culture and Christianity; and the vice president of the

Christian Cultural Center The Christian Cultural Center (CCC) is a non-denominational Christian megachurch located in the Starrett City section of Brooklyn, New York City, with a satellite campus in Smithtown on Long Island. It is the largest Evangelical Evangeli ...

, coordinating activities with Fr. Radovan Bigovic to promote inter-religious and ecumenical dialogue. He has been a commentator and contributor to regional and international liberal and left-wing media on politics and religion as well as civic and academic freedoms and culture. He works in the media of painting, printmaking, installations and interventions in space and performances. His artworks have been presented at numerous exhibitions.

Impact

In the media and in the academic community he has been described as “the most important Orthodox thinker today”, "one of the most important thinkers today in the Orthodox world," "one of the most important Orthodox thinkers in the world today," and “one of the most important contemporary philosophers.” He contributed to the theory of creativity by exploring human creative capacities (most notably on the example of art) as an expression of the

personal identity Personal identity is the unique numerical identity of a person over time. Discussions regarding personal identity typically aim to determine the necessary and sufficient conditions under which a person at one time and a person at another time ...

of the human being, having an

existential Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and value ...

importance. He was the first one to formulate a theological argument (from an Orthodox Christian perspective) based on his analysis of modern and contemporary art (in particular the work of

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...

, Richard Long,

Joseph Kosuth Joseph Kosuth (; born January 31, 1945) is a Hungarian-American conceptual artist, who lives in New York and Venice,

and

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

). That way he contributed to the revision of the

postmodernism Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...

, actualizing the question of the possibility and meaning of (human) ontological freedom and creation. This approach was especially developed in his book ''Beyond Capitalist Dystopia'', where he claimed that a new freedom-affirming metaphysics is needed, as a basis for a new conceptualization of non-oppressive political ideologies. He continued to further develop theological concepts of

John Zizioulas John Zizioulas (; ; 10 January 1931 – 2 February 2023) was a Greek Orthodox bishop who served as the Metropolitan of Pergamon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople from 1986 until his death in 2023. He was one of the most influent ...

and philosophical statements given by

Nikolai Berdyaev Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev (; ; – 24 March 1948) was a Russian Empire, Russian philosopher, theologian, and Christian existentialism, Christian existentialist who emphasized the existentialism, existential spiritual significance of Pe ...

, implementing them in the analysis of contemporary society. He also examines the concept of "

simulacrum A simulacrum (: simulacra or simulacrums, from Latin ''wikt:simulacrum#Latin, simulacrum'', meaning "likeness, semblance") is a representation or imitation of a person or thing. The word was first recorded in the English language in the late 16 ...

" in relation to the human person and its ability to create. Based on the ''Aesthetik der Absenz'', formulated in German-speaking art circles, he recognized and explained the phenomenon of "absence of body" in twentieth-century art. He contributed to

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

and, specifically, Orthodox Christian

political theology Political theology is a term which has been used in discussion of the ways in which Theology, theological concepts or ways of thinking relate to politics. The term is often used to denote religious thought about political principled questions. Scho ...

with his understanding of

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

as a political philosophy which focuses on the affirmation of human

freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

against any institution or exercise of power. This shapes his approach to "Orthodox Christian anarchism," which he proposes as the only

political philosophy Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and Political legitimacy, legitimacy of political institutions, such as State (polity), states. This field investigates different ...

which is consistent with Orthodox Christian

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

and

ontology Ontology is the philosophical study of existence, being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of realit ...

. His approach to political theology is best exemplified in his book ''Anarchy and the Kingdom of God: From Eschatology to Orthodox Political Theology and Back'', which has been described as "perhaps the best book on Christian anarchism since Jacques Ellul" and "a rich contribution to the burgeoning literature on political theology, and a particularly welcome perspective in the field of Orthodox political theology." He was involved in ecumenical and peace-building initiatives during his affiliation with the

Pax Christi Pax Christi International is an international Catholic peace movement. The Pax Christi International website declares its mission is "to transform a world shaken by violence, terrorism, deepening inequalities, and global insecurity". History ...

office in Belgrade and as part of the Christian Cultural Center. He has participated in a number of regional and international conferences and peace building initiatives that contributed to the promotion of peace, reconciliation, and ecumenical dialogue. In 2007, his name appeared on a list of 100 most influential people of Serbian origin in the world, compiled by the daily ''

Blic ''Blic'' (Cyrillic: Блиц, ) is a Serbian web portal covering politics, economy, entertainment, and current events. The first printed edition of Blic was published in 1996, its online portal was launched in 1998, and Blic TV began broadcasting ...

''.

Criticism

Džalto’s positions on contemporary and recent political questions in the Balkans have been criticized in the media and in popular literature. Jasmin Agic writing for

Al-Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pr ...

, characterized him as providing “ideological guidance” to Noam Chomsky, for Chomsky’s position on a variety of political questions related to the Balkans, criticizing him for minimizing the negative role of the Serbs in the war conflicts of the 1990s. He has also been under attack by some conservative intellectuals and the media for his work on contributing to gender equality in the Balkans, dismissed as the attempt to "change the consciousness of the entire population of Serbia."Hronograf https://hronograf.net/2018/05/11/vlada-i-strane-nvo-zajedno-promovisu-tv-recnik-rodne-ravnopravnosti/

Artwork

*''Verbal and Visual Marking of Space'' – Performance-installation (2000) *''Funeral of an Author'' – Video-performance (2002) *''Creating...'' – Video (2003) *''The

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

'' – Video (2003) *''Icons in

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...

'' – Action (2004) *''Meditation with Icons and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n Coffee in Japanese Garden (in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

)'' – Performance (2005) *''Absent Body of the Artist'' – Actions (2006) *''The Body of the Artist'' – Photographs (2006) *''One and Three Pyramids'' – Installation, Belgrade (2007) *''10/30'' – Retrospective art exhibition, Belgrade (2010) *''Facing New Faces of Icons'' – One-man exhibition, Greifswald (2011)

Selected articles

*''Who is an Author (Artist)?'' (2003) *''Totalitarianism and Totalitarianisms on

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n Way to

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

'' (2004) *''Significance and Meaning of the Process of Global Integrations'' (2004) *''On the Meaning of Church Art'' (2004) *''Human Face between Mask and Person'' (2005) *''On the Horrible Sin of Nationalism'' (2006) *''A Comparative Research of the

Space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

Issue on the Examples of the "

Lamentation A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about something ...

Composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

from Nerezi and

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto, was an List of Italian painters, Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the International Gothic, Gothic and Italian Ren ...

's "

" from the

Arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

Chapel'' (2006) *''Techne vs. Creatio: The Inner Conflict of Art'' (2010) *''The (In)Stability of Memory'' (2012) *''Beauty Will Destroy the World'' (2012) *''Religion, Politics, and Beyond: The Pussy Riot Case'' (2013) *''Ikonen neu:gefasst oder über das Menschsein in unserer heutigen Medienkultur'' (2014) *''Art: A Brief History of Absence (From the Conception and Birth, Life and Death, to the Living Deadness of Art)'' (2015) *''Otherness, Symbolism, and Modernism in Serbia: Leon Koen'' (2015) *''The Quest for Reality That Has Not Happened (Yet)'' (2016) *''Monism, Dualism, Pluralism? From Orthodox Cosmology to Political Theology'' (2016) *''Icons – Between Images and Words. Between Images and Words. Modes of Representation or Modes of Being?'' (2016) *''The Challenge of ‘Posteriority’ and Pluralism'' (2016) *''Orthodox Christian Political Theology: An Anarchist Perspective” in Political Theologies in Orthodox Christianity'' (2017) *''Christianity and Contemporary Art: An (Un)Natural Alliance?'' (2017) *''Icons: the Orthodox Understanding of Images and the Influence on Western Art'' (2019) *''The Aesthetic Face of the Sacred'' (2019) *''Orthodoxes Christentum und zeitgenössische Kunst'' (2019) *''Freedom and Nothingness, between Theodicy and Anthropodicy: Lacan and (Un)Orthodox Perspectives'' (2019)

Books

*''On Writings as an Artistic, Historic, Cultural and Social Phenomenon'', Niš: Đorđe Krstić School of Art (1998) *''The Role of the Artist in Self-Referent Art'', Berlin: Dissertation.de (2007) * ''The Testimony of Icons'' (''Svedočanstvo ikona'' /in Serbian/, ''Ikonen legen Zeugnis ab'' /in German/), Belgrade – Tainach: Christian Cultural Center, Sodalitas (2008) * ''Decem concepti et termini'', Belgrade: Faculty of Culture and Media (2009) * ''Plus Ultra: Essays in Culture, Communication and Faith'', Belgrade: Otacnik (2011) * ''Res Publica'', Belgrade-Požarevac: Diocese of Braničevo-Department of Education and Culture (2013) *
The Human Work of Art: A Theological Appraisal of Creativity and the Death of the Artist
', New York: SVS Press (2014) * ''Religion and Realism'', New Castle u. Tyne: Cambridge Scholars (2016) * ''Art as Tautology'', Belgrade: Clio (2016) * ''In Medias Res'', Belgrade: Admiral Books (2017) *
Yugoslavia: Peace, War, and Dissolution
' (with

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

), New York: PMP (2018) *
Religion and Art: Rethinking Aesthetic and Auratic Experiences in 'Post-Secular' Times
' (2019) * ''Savremena čitanja Velikog Inkvizitora (Contemporary Readings of the Grand Inquisitor)'', Belgrade: Vulkan (2020)
''Anarchy and the Kingdom of God: From Eschatology to Orthodox Political Theology and Back'' New York: Fordham University Press
(2021) *
Orthodoxy and Fundamentalism: Contemporary Perspectives
' (with George Demacopoulos), Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield (Lexington Books/Fortress Academic) (2022) *
Beyond Capitalist Dystopia: Rethinking Freedom and Democracy in the Age of Global Crises
', London: Routledge (2022) *
Schöpfung und Nichts: Orthodoxe Theologie und moderne Kunst im Dialog
', Sankt Ottilien: EOS Verlag (2023) * ''Savremena čitanja Apokalipse'', Belgrade: Agape Books (2023) *
(Post) istina (post) demokratije
', Belgrade: Mediasfera (2024) *
Orthodoxy and Anarchism: Contemporary Perspectives
', Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield (Lexington Books/Fortress Academic) (2024)

References

External links

The Role of the Artist in Self-Referent Art

The Testimony of Icons

Christian Cultural Center

A Short Biography and Critical Exposition of Artworks
(in German)

"Techne vs. Creation" Article

Res Publica

Religion, Politics, and Beyond: The Pussy Riot Case

Davor Džalto-Art and Theory

Yugoslavia: Peace, War, and Dissolution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dzalto, Davor 1980 births Living people 21st-century anarchists 21st-century Eastern Orthodox Christians Anarchist writers Anti-globalization writers Bosnia and Herzegovina anarchists Bosnia and Herzegovina art historians Bosnia and Herzegovina artists Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian theologians Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriates in Germany Bosnia and Herzegovina philosophers Christian anarchists Eastern Orthodox socialists Eastern Orthodox theologians Media critics People from Travnik Philosophers of art Postmodernists University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy alumni University of Freiburg alumni