The significance of the Ljubljana Maska Journal (1920/21) in the context of the Yugoslav avant-garde

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the publications of Ljubomir Micić and Branko Ve Poljanski in Maska, the Ljubljana performing arts journal from 1920. While with his engagement in Maska Micić primarily wanted to present himself as a writer outside Zagreb (first, he published in Maska a review of the play Anfisa, and then his own play Istočni Greh was reviewed), Poljanski used his engagement in Maska for a polemic with Ljubljana critics, to later continue his critical response to Ljubljana's artistic milieu in his journal Svetokret, as well as in Zenit. Moreover, one of Poljanski's main motives for publishing an independent journal in Ljubljana was the continuation of the polemic he had started in Maska. Therefore, this article presents the assumption that for a complete genealogy of the beginnings of cooperation between Slovenian avantgarde and representatives of Yugoslav zenithism, it is necessary to take into account Maska, although it was not considered a revolutionary or avant-garde journal. Yet, its aspiration to become international and its openness to different languages and polemics contributed to the exchange of opinions about art and criticism of the time, which was a fruitful ground for the development of relations between various representatives of the Yugoslav avant-garde and their independent actions.