The history of the Dukley European Art Community (DEAC) began in Montenegro in the mid-2010s—the moment when Marat Guelman, after concluding his work in Russia, relocated his cultural activities to the Balkans. He moved to Montenegro in 2014, and DEAC became his first major project in his new country.
DEAC was envisioned as more than a gallery or exhibition venue. At its core lay the concept of an international artistic community operating simultaneously as a residency, a laboratory, an exhibition center, and a hub for continuous cultural exchange. Montenegro served not merely as a backdrop for imported art, but as the raw material and a direct participant in the artistic process.
The first major operational hub for DEAC was Kotor, where artists lived and worked in the former headquarters of the "Jugooceanija" shipping company. The residency initially operated by invitation, later evolving into an open international program. Artists came to Montenegro for several weeks or months to produce new works, resulting in exhibitions and projects showcased both within the country and internationally.
A central theme of the program was an original continuation of the historic "foreigners on Montenegro" tradition. Artists were encouraged not simply to stay inside their studios, but to engage directly with the new environment—its landscape, history, culture, people, and visual environment. Consequently, a significant portion of DEAC’s artistic output arose directly from the experience of residing in the country. Petar Ćuković, curator of the art center, later cited this principle as one of the two fundamental pillars of the community's program.
Another key focus for DEAC was engaging with the urban environment and street art. In 2015, in collaboration with BIT and the Hip Hop Academy, the community presented a project dedicated to the famous unfinished House of Revolution in Nikšić. Artists Petro Aesthetics and Misha Most worked directly within the space of this giant modernist structure. The project bridged contemporary art, the architectural heritage of socialist Yugoslavia, and new urban culture.
The very first year of DEAC’s existence demonstrated the scale of the initiative. Artists from diverse countries and artistic disciplines—ranging from painting and conceptual art to photography, sculpture, and street art—arrived in Kotor. By early 2016, at least fourteen artists had completed the residency, and their work was showcased at exhibitions in Podgorica.
Participants during this initial period included Alexander and Olga Florensky, Mikhail Pavlyukevich and Olga Subbotina, Marina Skepner, Slava PTRK, the Dim Tim art group, Anatoly Akue, and others. The residency set DEAC apart from traditional commercial galleries: rather than merely displaying pre-existing art, the institution created the conditions to produce new work directly in Montenegro.
Concurrently, DEAC built ties with existing Montenegrin cultural institutions—the National Library, the Association of Fine Artists of Montenegro, galleries, and museums. The private initiative integrated into the national cultural infrastructure.
Marat Guelman’s vision extended beyond organizing individual exhibitions. He viewed Montenegro as a territory where contemporary art could serve as a catalyst for transforming the environment. The objective was to build a community around art—uniting artists, curators, local residents, expatriates, entrepreneurs, and intellectuals. In a 2016 interview, Guelman articulated the primary ambition of the project with complete clarity: Montenegro must secure its place on the cultural map of the world.
Over time, DEAC’s geography expanded beyond Kotor. Projects opened in Budva, Podgorica, and Cetinje, followed by the establishment of a new exhibition space—the Dukley Art Center in Budva. By 2017, its program directly linked the international residency with the contemporary Montenegrin art scene. The exhibition Inside — Outside served as an interim review of DEAC’s first two and a half years, consolidating diverse artistic perspectives on Montenegro.
In parallel, DEAC built its own collection and an international network. The community collaborated with foreign galleries, represented artists abroad, and gradually acted as a bridge between the local Montenegrin scene and the broader international art context.
A notable example was its collaboration with Gallery Karenina in Vienna. In 2016–2017, the venue hosted projects connected to the Dukley Art Center: the exhibition Aksenovi(i) Somewhere Deep in the Ocean, projects by Igor Gusev and other artists, and in autumn 2017, Still Water by Alex Alexeev, Semyon Faibisovich, and Victor Freidenberg.
Crucially, the goal was not only bringing established figures to Montenegro, but also integrating Montenegrin creators into a broader European circulation. In 2016, Guelman announced plans to significantly expand the presence of local artists within DEAC's programming.
The exhibition Present Tense, curated by Petar Ćuković at DEAC in Budva, featured works by Montenegrin artists. This direction was vital for the community's future evolution. DEAC evolved from being solely a meeting point for visiting international artists in Montenegro into fulfilling the reverse function—presenting Montenegro’s own contemporary art within an international context.
Following the closure of the Kotor residencies at the end of 2017, the project transitioned into its next phase: the Montenegro European Art Community (MEAC). In public discourse, the names DEAC and MEAC coexisted for a time, while the program continued to integrate a gallery, an international residency, and exhibition activities. Maintaining continuity with the original concept of the Dukley European Art Community, the project advances a model of an open artistic space where exhibition practice, creative residencies, collecting, and interdisciplinary research form a unified cultural environment.
A core priority for MEAC is supporting contemporary art as a space for free artistic expression and international dialogue. The residency program provides artists with the opportunity to work in a new cultural environment, produce original works, and present them to the public. The community's exhibition projects encompass a broad range of artistic practices—from painting, sculpture, and conceptual art to digital media and AI experiments. A prominent place is given to projects addressing cultural identity, historical memory, migration, and the intersection of art and new technologies.
In this way, MEAC continues to develop the concept initiated by Marat Guelman: an artistic community operating as a living, constantly evolving institution where the creation of art is inseparable from building professional networks, fostering cultural exchange, and preserving artistic heritage. Montenegro becomes not merely a venue for exhibitions, but an independent node of international artistic communication, uniting creators across generations, national traditions, and aesthetic movements.
In 2020, MEAC served as a partner for the 42nd Montenegrin Art Salon "November 13th" in Cetinje, contributing artworks from its permanent collection to the exhibition.
Over the years of DEAC and MEAC's operations, numerous artists have participated in the community's exhibition and residency projects, including Arsen Savadov, Dmitry Gutov, Vitaly Komar, Alexander Melamid, Ilya Kabakov, Sergey Anufriev, Pyotr Bankov, Igor Gusev, Milija Pavićević, Ljuba Ivanova, Polina Verbitskaya, Katerina Sumareva, Victor Gutsu, Ivan Tuzov, Katya Granova, Aristarkh Chernyshev, Alexei Shulgin, Konstantin Benkovich, Pavel Muntyan, Anton Litvin, Lada Uchaeva, Pavel Otdelnov, Igor Frolov, Damir Muratov, Artyom Loskutov, Natasha Yudina, Philippenzo, the Electroboutique and Blue Noses art groups, among many others.
In this sense, DEAC and its successor MEAC stand as one of Marat Guelman’s most consistent Montenegrin experiments: a proof that a cultural institution does not necessarily begin with a physical building. First comes a community, followed by projects, networks, an audience, and a shared history. Out of these elements, a new point on the cultural map emerges.
