Ana Prvački, Apis Gropius, 2022, crafted by NEEEU
© Ana Prvački
Ana Prvački
Digital Artist in Residence 2021/2022
Apis Gropius
Apis Gropius (2022) is an augmented reality experience by Ana Prvački, the Gropius Bau’s first Digital Artist in Residence. Inspired by the botanical motifs embedded in the exhibition hall’s architecture, Prvački invented a new species of bees, Apis Gropius, which led visitors on an immersive tour through the Gropius Bau’s atrium.
© Gropius Bau
About Apis Gropius
Ana Prvački, Apis Gropius, 2022, crafted by NEEEU
© Ana Prvački
Apis Gropius is derived from Ana Prvački’s long-standing interest in bees, specifically her view that they are our hosts on this planet and that we are dependent on their pollination. Employing Prvački’s signature playful wit, the project is grounded in scientific and taxonomical research on bees and botany. It unfolds through digital and on-site forms of storytelling, merging scientific with poetic and speculative aspects and showing the manifold ways in which institutions and nature intersect and co-evolve.
Behind the Screen
With Ana Prvački
In this video, the interdisciplinary artist talks about her practice, the influence of science and poetry on her work, and the amazing stories bees can tell us.
About Ana Prvački
Ana Prvački’s training and background in music, theatre, mask work, architecture, fine art and beekeeping inform a cross-disciplinary practice that ranges from watercolour to video, performance and augmented reality. Prvački has an environmentally conscious artistic practice. She has realised solo exhibitions and projects at the NTU CCA in Singapore, de Young Museum, San Francisco, UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston; and the Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin. Her work has also been included in many international exhibitions, including the 2020 Bangkok Biennial, 13th Gwangju Biennial, 14th Istanbul Biennial, 1st Singapore Biennial and documenta (13). Her performances have been commissioned by the LA Philharmonic and the Chicago Architecture Biennial, among others. In 2020 she was part of the Marina Abramović Sky Arts TV takeover. In 2019, as a resident at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, Ana collaborated with Google Arts & Culture on Detour, a Webby Award-winning alternative tour of the museum.