Pieces of history are leaving, lumps of our emotional possessions are sinking. Because, you know what: "No man is an island, a whole in himself...". Well, the whole of our teenage new wave memories have been seriously damaged since Goranka Matić left us. Art historian, famous and talented photographer, woman who preserved all the most exciting moments of our socio-cultural history with her lens. And that history has long worn a patina, of course. What is in the wild conceptual i new wave in the days of the Student Cultural Center, until recently it was still super-modern, contemporary, today's so to speak, now counting only decades of existence, bowing to the noble past with a somewhat elegant resignation on the once so proud and defiant face.
photo: Goranka MatićSpine Discipline, June 1982.
When you look at Goranka's artists and models, one thing is certain: each of them is alive to such an extent that you can almost see them stepping out of her photo, heading further down the street, onto the stage, into some corner of Belgrade. Rock bands like Electric Orgasm, Charles the Acrobat or the latter Discipline of the Spine or Ekaterina Velika, not to mention the Idols - were caught in the moment, the most intense euphoria typical for them or in the serene leisure of ordinary life, in their teenage experiment with sound, to the alchemical magic of his own art.
photo: Goranka MatićSrđan Gojković Gile – Electric orgasm at a concert in SKC, November 1980.
THE MORAL IMPERATIVE OF THE NEW WAVE
Goranka Matić had the rarest talent among art photographers - apparently ordinary recognize exceptionally. And to capture the elusive. She is the one who, through systematic work, visually eternalized the Belgrade new wave scene, and especially the trio of bands gathered on the compilation Package deal. Charlo the acrobat, Električni orgasm and Idoli could not even imagine a better chronicler of the events than Goranka, who herself was part of the permanent staff at SKC as an associate in the art program.
Since at that time hanging out in the hallways of the Student Cultural Center was practically a preparation for important things to actually happen, Goranka Matić could witness the earliest days of these bands and the very creative beginnings of the people who made them. She recorded them in her photos as young, full of hope and determination to do something special with themselves - and Goranka is there excellence in announcement recognized among them even when they were so-called demo bands. It just seems to us, from today's perspective, that these groups mentioned many times were destined to become famous - the truth is actually the opposite, because at that moment a distinct minority bet on them and it took a strong attitude and a lot of personal courage to stop to the same side.
photo: Goranka MatićMargita Magi Stefanović on the Danube quay, June 1986.
Thus, in every way, Goranka became an equal part of the new wave scene. Without her virtuoso eye, today we would not have the thing that captures everyone's attention the most - an almost private insight into what those guys and girls were like as people, on and off the stage, each individually and in the specifics of their mutual relationships. Thanks to her, we get an extremely emotional visual impression, which has preserved the atmosphere of that era in the best possible way. Goranka's casual, street style, without excessive posing, as well as the establishment of equality and solidarity between the observer/photographer and the recorded individuals - are part of the aesthetics and moral imperative new wave, just as much as music.
Fortunately, all her photos from that period are black and white. That's why they look sharp and defined, like a finished myth. Goranka Matić gave a visual identity to Belgrade new wave. And later, through her photographs, she was often the main reminder to us that things in life are sometimes black and white, bad and good. But in the New Wave times, her photographic vision gave the aura of a historically important event to this cultural movement, carried by music. And it coincided, with its own revolutionary creative goodness, with all the good things that befell us at that time.
Photo: A. Andjić...
Today's digitized society and its pervasive visual culture require us to always have visible evidence that something existed - much of what Goranka's brilliant artistic intuition registered provided us with just that: the most authentic possible first-hand testimony, still full captured life, and therefore not susceptible to nostalgia manipulations.
Because Goranka's photos cannot be retouched, processed in some kind of photoshop. They are too tough, of true flesh and blood, indestructible. These are not newspaper rock photos, but rock and roll itself. No new technology would be able to overcome their unadulterated humanity.
photo: Goranka MatićMilan Mladenović and Ivica Vdović Vd, August 1981.
THE SPIRIT OF SINGLE GOODNESS
Dear Goranka has also always been one of the nicest, warmest, most friendly people in this business. There wasn't anyone who wanted to do something real without her helping him if he just asked her. Whenever we came to visit her to choose her photos for our exhibitions at Kalemegdan, the whole deal would consist of her hearty: "Take what you want, children!" and wide-ranging opening of the entire archive, disciplinedly systematized at the same time, which is not a frequent case at all. She had an unwavering trust in people - an almost unbelievable quality today. And she was at the same time insightful in her infinite generosity, absolutely incorruptible.
photo: Goranka MatićCatherine the Great, March 1989.
In addition to all that, no one who had any contact with her will ever forget that soft, human-loving humor with which she spiced up every encounter. It was as if she was always in a good mood and wanted everyone around her to feel the same. That spirit of pure kindness with which she imbued her work is what we can consider Goranka's main gift, which will remain forever to wish us happiness in life and work whenever we think of her. Now we are aware that there was a person among us with an angelic understanding of everything, who loved to take pictures of us. That was what it meant to be Goranka Matić. Kudos to her.
