Robert Gligorov is an artist from Macedonia who is known on the international scene for his unsettling performances and his photographs that pack a strong social and communicative punch. His language ranges from pop art to the purely conceptual, from drawing to video.
For the Social Enterprise World Forum 2015, to be held in Milan from 1 to 3 July, the artist has devised and created a symbolic work especially for the ACRA Foundation, the event sponsor: FACELAND.

Faceland – the landscape is my face – embraces various themes close to Gligorov’s heart, namely the environment, the animal, the vegetable, and the story of the planet.

Robert Gligorov says, “In recent years, we have become increasingly aware of the contradictions in economic development and the inability to ensure a fair distribution of wellbeing to all on Earth, but we are becoming conscious of that. Those raising awareness of that, like ACRA, are signposting a possible way ahead for development and growth that is increasingly in touch with what our planet has always given us but that humans, through poor organisation, have been unable to manage, thus creating social and environmental imbalances.

Robert Gligorov for “The magnificent seven”

Faceland comprises a set of offerings that are the legend of life, the origin of everything, and the potential of what nature offers us. Like skin, the land must be looked after, and not just from an environmental-cleanliness perspective. The landscape is like a face, and all the aspects that involve ourselves and the world we live in resemble us, and the care that we can put into improving our appearance should be applied to the Earth, too, and its resources … because it is visual, mental, spiritual beauty …

Art can point to a way ahead, but it is not enough. We need a moral commitment from individuals to improve the land and make it more and more effective, not to build a monopoly for running the new economy but to show everyone that they can manage their own place themselves.”

Faceland is an ink drawing that embraces all the values stated above. The work will be reproduced for the occasion on limited-edition t-shirts at the SEWF 2015 to support the ACRA Foundation’s social enterprises.