PAGE 8A
10
MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
ART
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Visitors take a tour of contemporary art by artist Edo Murtic from Croatia, displayed at the war bunker about 50 miles south of Sarajevo, Bosnia, on Friday, April 26. The once-secret bunker, built to shelter Yugoslavia's Marshal Josip Broz Tito and the communist leadership from a nuclear war turns — for three months — into one of the world's quirkiest contemporary art galleries.
Art exhibit re-opened in past Yugoslavian bunker
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KONJIC, Bosnia-Herzegovina — A once-secret bunker built to shelter Yugoslavia's communist leadership from nuclear war has temporarily reopened as an art gallery, with some exhibits pondering what would have happened if more mushroom clouds had hit the world's skies.
The 280-meter (920-foot) deep, U-shaped complex is dug into a mountain and took 26 years and billions of dollars to build; for years, only the late Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito and his closest confidantes knew the subterranean fortress existed.
The secret was revealed when Bosnia broke away from Yugoslavia in 1992. The new army took over and still owns the labyrinth just outside Konjic 25 miles south of Sarajevo. The space had never really been put to use until, in recent years, artists turned to authorities with an idea to put this sleepy town on the cultural map.
In 2011, the bunker was opened up for three months as an art gallery. This year's run, which began Friday, also is for three months, and artists from 19 countries have worked hard on performances and projects on display in almost 100 rooms of the facility, project director Edo Hozic said.
For now, the bunker's artistic transformation is being done on a biennial basis. But the goal is to gradually turn it into an art gallery permanently.
It is a "crazily incredible project," said Basak Senova, a Turkish artist who acts as one of the curators.
The entrance to the bunker, which is supposed to hold 300 people, lies behind a nondescript garage door of a remote house at the end of a lonely road east of Konjic.
The first installation is startling: A loud noise simulates the detonation of a 25-kiloton nuclear bomb in the vicinity of the bunker — making visitors feel as if they are the last to escape an apocalypse just before the giant bunker door closes.
Right afterward, visitors walk along a tunnel with floored lins
with mirrors that crack under people's steps.
Doors along the long tunnel lead to more than 100 small bedrooms, offices and conference rooms that are usually decorated with simple wooden furniture and the obligatory portrait of Tito with his usual "visionary" gaze.
The rooms have been turned into small individual galleries displaying the works of the various artists.
Some of the exhibits try to reconstruct the isolated life of the people who would have used the bunker had it been necessary. Others focus on tragedies that did occur.
Japanese artist Saeri Kiritani plays a video of a phantom touching rice and chanting for the departed souls of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombings. Hungarian artist Janos Sugar uses pictures of people in today's conflict zones waving their simple weapons to show how the gun became "the typewriter of the illiterate."
POLITICS
Obama brings humor to annual White House dinner
President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hotel on Saturday in Washington.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama joked Saturday that the years are catching up to him and he's not "the strapping young Muslim socialist" he used to be.
Obama poked fun at himself as well as some of his political adversaries during the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner attended by politicians, members of the media and Hollywood celebrities.
Entering to the rap track "All I Do Is Win" by DJ Khaled, Obama joked about how re-election would allow him to unleash a radical agenda. But then he showed a picture of himself golfing on a mock magazine cover of "Senior Leisure."
"I'm not the strapping young Muslim Socialist that I used to be," the president remarked, and then recounted his recent 2-for-22 basketball shooting performance at the White House Easter egg hunt.
But Obama's most dramatic shift for the next four years appeared to be aesthetic. He presented a montage of shots featuring him with bangs similar to those sometimes sported by his wife.
"So we borrowed one of Michelle's tricks," Obama said. "I thought this looked pretty good, but no bounce."
Obama closed by noting the nation's recent tragedies in Massachusetts and Texas, praising Americans of all stripes from first responders to local journalists for serving the public good.
Saturday night's banquet not far from the White House attracted the usual assortment of stars from Hollywood and beyond. Actors Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Claire Danes, who play government characters on various TV series, were among the attendees, as was Korean entertainer Psy. Several Cabinet members, governors and members of Congress were present.
Despite coming at a somber time, nearly two weeks after the deadly Boston Marathon bombing and 10 days after a devastating fertilizer plant explosion in West Texas, the president and political allies and rivals alike took the
opportunity to
enjoy some hum-
or. Late-night
talk-show host
Conan O'Brien
headlined the
event.
Some of Obama's jokes came at his Republican rivals' expense.
"I'm not the strapping young Muslim Socialist that I used to be."
And on the 2016 election, the president noted in self-referential
son would have had better success getting Obama out of office if he simply offered the president $100 million to drop out of last year's race, Obama quipped.
He asked that the GOP's minority outreach begin with him as a "trial run" and said he'd take his recent charm offensive with Republicans on the road, including events with conservatives such as Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Michele Bachmann.
"In fact, I'm taking my charm offensive on the road — a Texas barbeque with Ted Cruz, a Kentucky bluegrass concert with Rand Paul and a book-burning with Michele Bachmann," Obama joked.
BARACK OBAMA President of the United States
Casino magnate Sheldon Adel-
if self-telecommunication that potential Republican candidate Sen. Marco Rubio wasn't qualified because he hasn't even served a full term in the Senate. Obama served less than four years of his six-year Senate.
term before he was elected president in 2008.
"I mean, the guy has not even finished a single term in the Senate and he thinks he's ready to be President," Obama joked.
The gala also was an opportunity for six journalists, including Associated Press White House Correspondent Julie Pace, to be honored for their coverage of the presidency and national issues.
1020 MASSACHUSETTS STREET
GRANADA
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN PRESENTS:
BIG BOI
WITH: KILLER MIKE & FISHHAWK
SHOES FOR RUNNING 2013 WORLD TOUR
ALL AGES
DOORS: 7:00PM
SHOW: 8:00PM
785-842-1390
TOMORROW NIGHT
COREY SMITH
WITH: CONNOR CHRISTIAN &
SOUTHERN GOTHIC
UPCOMING SHOWS
HIP-HOP LOVERS:
ZION I MAY 6
TALIB KWELI MAY 10
LOGIC JU
ALTERNATIVE & INDIE
MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS MAY
THE PRESETS & DRAGONETTE MAY 17
JAPANDROIDS MAY 29
FOALS
COUNTRY LOVERS:
JUN 5
CASEY DONAHEW BAND APR 30
JT HODGES JUN 13
HARDCORE & METAL LOVERS:
JUN 13
DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN MAY 12
ASKING ALEXANDRIA MAY 15
THE COLOR MORALE MAY 24
LIMP BIZKIT JUM
/ THEGRANADA / THEGRANADA
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THEGRANADA.COM AND AT THE GRANADA BOX OFFICE NOW