From Svetokret to Tank: Zenitism and the Slovenian interwar avant-garde (1921-1927)

Abstract

In January 1921, Svetokret, the first radical avant-garde magazine in the newly founded Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, was launched in Ljubljana by Virgil Poljanski (1898-1947). This unique edition was a herald of Zenit (1921-1926), a mouthpiece of the ambitious zenitist movement, embodied by Poljanski's elder brother Ljubomir Micić (1895-1971). This article examines the dynamics of relations between the protagonists of the Slovenian interwar avant-garde and the leading zenitists, as documented in correspondence, newspaper reports, and, above all, in the magazine and publishing production of the avant-garde movements themselves. In the first phase, these relations revolved around Anton Podbevšek and his group, which had gathered around the Trije labodje magazine (The Three Swans, 1922), but cooperation remained limited. In the second, more productive phase, zenitist ideas were partially embraced by the group of Slovenian constructivists led by Avgust Černigoj and Ferdo Delak. Zenitism and its magazine were certainly an important source of information and inspiration for Slovenian avant-garde artists (e.g., the poet Srečko Kosovel) but, despite several attempts, the cooperation did not produce lasting results before Zenit was banned in 1926. In 1927, the Ljubljana-based Tank magazine, edited by the ambitious Delak and supported by Micić, tried to continue the zenitist legacy. Unfortunately, its existence was short-lived.