Sanja Sekelj, PhD
Biography
Sanja Sekelj is a Research Associate at the Institute of Art History in Zagreb. Her research focuses on the art production of the second half of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, with a specialization in the research of cultural dynamics and networking practices of the visual arts scene actors at the turn of the millennium. Her scientific production is directed primarily at the advancement of network analysis in art history, data analysis with both quantitative and qualitative methods, mechanisms of international cultural exchange, and the development of the art field and the role of cultural institutions in the late 20th century.
In 2014, Sanja Sekelj graduated Art History and French Language and Literature from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb. From 2016 to 2022, she was employed as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Art History in Zagreb on the research project ARTNET Modern and Contemporary Artist Networks, Art Groups and Art Associations – Organisation and Communication Models of Collaborative Art Practices in the 20th and 21st Century (leader dr. sc. Ljiljana Kolešnik, HRZZ-IP-2013-11-6270, 6270, 2014–2018). She defended her Doctoral Thesis “Digital Art History and Artists Networks in Croatia of the 1990s and 2000s” in 2021 at the University of Zadar, under the co-mentorship of dr. sc. Petar Prelog and dr. sc. Željka Tonković. From 2022 to 2024 she was employed as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute, within the bilateral research project GLOBE EXCHANGE Models and Practices of Global Cultural Exchange and Non-aligned Movement. Research in the Spatio-Temporal Cultural Dynamics (leader dr. sc. Ljiljana Kolešnik, HRZZ-IP-2013-11-6270; 2020–2023), and participated as a collaborator on the project New Public Culture and Spaces of Sociability (leader Ana Abramović, ESF, 2021–2022). She is currently a team member of the project DIGitART Digital network, spatial and (con)textual analysis of artistic phenomena and heritage of the 20th century (leader dr. sc. Sanja Horvatinčić, NextGenerationEU, 2023–2027).
She authored a number of scientific articles and book chapters, and participated and/or organized dozens of international conferences. She co-edited the book Currents: 34 Years of Gallery Miroslav Kraljević (with Ana Kovačić and Lea Vene; GMK, Zagreb, 2020), and two thematic issues of the scientific journal Život umjetnosti, focused on the topic of digital art history: Život umjetnosti 105/2019 (with Ljiljana Kolešnik and Sanja Horvatinčić), and Život umjetnosti 114/2024. She is one of the authors of the scientific information system and database Croatian Artists' Network Information System (CAN_IS). She participated in the international research seminar Understanding 1989 in East-Central European Art: War vs. Revolution, organized by the Piotr Piotrowski Center for Research on East-Central European Art at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznán, supported by the Getty Foundation as part of its Connecting Art Histories initiative.
She participated in the work of several working groups or committees, among which the working group for the analysis of the state of cultural policy in the Republic of Croatia, within which she worked on the analysis of networking practices and collaborations within the culture sector in Croatia. She was a member of the curatorial team of Gallery Miroslav Kraljević (2013–2016) and the executive editor of the scientific journal Život umjetnosti (2018–2021).
Bibliography (selection)
From Postsocialist Geographies to Late Socialist Networks: The Role of Cultural Exchange with Non-Aligned Countries in Croatia and Yugoslavia, in: Plural and Multiple Geographies of Modern and Contemporary Art in East-Central Europe, Caterina Preda, Magdalena Radomska (eds.), Routledge, London-New York, 2025, pp. 167–179.
'Constructing a Critical Situation': A Data-Based Approach to the Study of Cultural Periodicals and Art Criticism, in: Visual Resources: an international journal on images and their uses, 38, 2024, 156–185.
Networking Through Persistence: Case Study on the Position and Development of the Clubture Network (Edgar Buršić, Sanja Sekelj, Donato Ricci, Davor Mišković), in: Sociologija i prostor, 62, 2024, 229 (1), 3–28.
'We All Came from Soros': Continuities and Discontinuities in the Croatian Visual Arts Scene in the 1990s and 2000s (with Željka Tonković), in: Third Text, 4, 2023, 525–542.
Qualitative Approaches to Network Analysis in Art History: Research on Contemporary Artists' Networks, in: The Routledge Companion to Digital Humanities and Art History, (ed.) Kathryn Brown, Routledge, 2020., New York – London, pp. 120–134.
Tajna revolucija treće veličine: prilog povijesti odnosa računalnih tehnologija i povijesti umjetnosti, in: Radovi Instituta za povijest umjetnosti, 41, 2017, 233–242.