Standing in the Sun

Viktor Naumovski
2019

Us boys of the suburbs are different. Baptized to wear foil around our necks. Walk with dog teeth under our armpits.

Standing in the Sun is based on a time when the real and the imaginary folded neatly into one-another; We spent days playing in the dirt during my country’s passage from war to westernization. Inspired by the emotional experience of growing up in a country in transition, Standing in the Sun is an alternative narrative. It is a coming of age story, focusing on a group of boys living in suburban Skopje, Macedonia. Both the group of boys’ and the nation’s state of transition are explored through the boys’ perspective; where masculinity and national pride are highly celebrated and appreciated. With my childhood friends and family as participants in all stages of production, we explore relations between I as the director and them as outsiders of the art world. With our nation as our backdrop, we reimagine the present by revisiting the past. As a result, through this body of work, I investigate dynamics between our cultural identity and surroundings in Macedonia.

We stayed out late... until we started to read each other’s minds, be in each other’s minds. Rifles on our shoulders made sure we had things under control... But we’re just boys, what did we ever have under control?

About the artists:
Viktor Naumovski (1996) is a Macedonian photographer and director based between Skopje and London. Born in a family with no artistic aspirations whatsoever, but a lot of love and imaginative spirit, he spend his childhood playing with his family's animals in the suburbs of Skopje. Consequently, there lies his artistic motivation and topic of interest—heritage, family/intimate relationships, performed identity and representation serve as a key of self exploration. Throughout his career, Naumovski has presented his autonomous work with the likes of FOAM Museum, Unseen Photo Festival and Rencontres d'Arles, and has worked on commissions for clients such as Louis Vuitton, JW Anderson, Gucci and Vogue Italia. His last short film Standing in the Sun has been included in the EYE Film Institute's museum Collection.