THE FOOTBALL BOOT IN THE ART GALLERY

On December 22nd 1989, what used to be the Army Day, the children of real-socialism manifestly put on their football boots and proclaimed "The theatralization of football culture". On that day MONTAЖ$TROJ self-initiated its own inclusion, without an official invitation, into the program marking the opening of a retrospective exhibition of paintings by Kazimir Maljevič in the Gallery of Modern Art at St. Catherine’s Square in Zagreb. THE FOOTBALL BOOT IN THE ART GALLERY artistic action was an hommage to Maljevič and his painting "Sportsmen", which served as an inspiration for the costumes worn by the performers. THE FOOTBALL BOOT IN THE ART GALLERY was a declarative performance in which 11 young men wearing football boots, with no previous experience in the theater, marked the begining of the public activity of the MONTAЖ$TROJ theatrical group, with their ritual performance. The members of MONTAЖ$TROJ were aged 16 to 22 back then. This was during the time when Ceaucescu was killed, the Berlin Wall fell and entire value and ideological systems disappeared.