Exat's first manifesto in 1951 was fiercely attacked by the traditional art establishment. However, an exhibit of paintings by the group in 1952 in Zagreb was well attended, and in that same year, they participated in the VII Salon des Réalités Nouvelles in Paris. In 1953, an exhibition of paintings was held in the Society of Croatian Architects and there the group issued a second manifesto in response to their critics. Other exhibits followed in Belgrade (1953), Rijeka (1954,1956), Dubrovnik (1956) and finally in Belgrade (1956). Under their influence, Croatian artists moved to more creative and personal forms of expression, to surrealism and lyrical abstraction.