„Art in a third space“ uses the metaphor and reality of non-aligned modernism as a way of accessing the rich transdisciplinary origins of New Tendencies, an international „abstract“ art movement which lasted from 1961 to 1973 and had its centre in Zagreb, Croatia. Former Yugoslavia's self-managed socialism created unique conditions that enabled New Tendencies to emerge, a contemporary of Pop Art and Minimalism, and an early precursor of media art. A „third way“ socialism, combined with an upgraded Bauhaus modernism, a catching-up modernization in economy and the idea of non-alignment in politics made former Yugoslavia a highly interesting in-between space. The notion of a third space where non-aligned avantgardes could meet and define a different modernism becomes a conceptual tool to contextualize other art movements from semi-peripheral and peripheral places. „Non-alignment“ is understood as way of undoing false master narratives of modern art, opening important chapters that remained hitherto obstructed.