Against the Neutral Image

Against the Neutral Image is not conceived as an exhibitioncatalogue. While the exhibition Choreography of Violence by Jelena Jureša forms an essential point of departure, the book is an edited volume that takes that parting seriously as method: not to preserve an event, but to extend its questions; not to stabilize meaning, but to trace how meaning is staged. It asks how violence is rendered visible or invisible, framed, timed, aestheticized, normalized, or refused—across images, institutions, languages, and publics. In doing so, it insists that neutrality is never merely a style of presentation but often a technique of power: an arrangement of distance, attention, and responsibility. The publication originated from a collaborative effort involving CAS SEE, MMSU Rijeka, and KASK & Conservatorium, thereby establishing a foundation for this convergence of scholarly work and thought. We express our gratitude for this shared infrastructure, as well as for the various forms of care—intellectual, practical, and institutional – that facilitated the realization of this publication. Without the film works of Jelena Jureša, there would be neither an exhibition nor such a collaborative project, nor this publication. We also extend our thanks to the contributors Francesca Raimondi, Shahram Khosravi, Maria Hlavajova, Branka Benčić, and Sanja Bojanić for their insightful texts, which explore themes of imagery, violence, memory, breath, borders, and responsibility from diverse perspectives, without urging the reader to hastily conform to a singular vocabulary or conclusion.