Milenko Matanović is an artist, poet, and community organizer associated with the group OHO from its inception in 1965 until 1971, when he left Yugoslavia for Scotland and subsequently, in 1973, the United States. Matanović graduated from the University of Ljubljana in 1970 with a degree in Art History. He currently resides outside Seattle, Washington where he is the founder and director of the Pomegrante Center, dedicated to “empowering leaders through collaborative community-building,” since 1986. The Pomegrante Center works in the United States and abroad on projects that bridge art and community. Over the last two decades, Matanović has been involved in numerous sustainable development projects, building housing, classrooms, gardens, and other amenities for children, artists, and populations in need.
Translated from Serbo-Croatian into English here for the first, this interview was published in the 1969 catalog of the exhibition Milenko Matanović, David Nez, Andraž Šalamun, Tomaž Šalamun that took place at the Gallery of Contemporary Art in Zagreb.
