BOSNIAN\ART or Meeting People is Easy

Right now there is a very good exhibition of the Bosnian art in the States. It is not organized by Bosnians or the Bosnian government, it is not even supported by the Bosnian government, but that’s OK because anything that’s good in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not supported nor has anything to do with the Bosnian government. If it had anything to do with the Bosnian government it would be nationalistic crappy exhibition, but it´s not 🙂

Well who did it?

It was selected, organized and promoted by a group of eight students from Goucher College, Baltimore (MD) with a helping hand of their two professors who were in Bosnia and Herzegovina on a three-week intensive course abroad. I was lucky to meet them, and it happened by coincidence, because I had my solo exhibition in that period in Sarajevo. Coincidence or not, I had a really great experience meeting with them. You can read about that here:
Purpose of the Mirror in Time of Darkness

As a presentation of their research BOSNIAN\ART exhibition has been set in the Rosenberg Gallery at Goucher College, with the selection of Bosnian artist, who follow international movements in arts and at same time tackle everyday issues of living in Bosnia. You will not find nationalistically approved art, or one promoted by academia. These are the artists who work and think outside of the box. On the display you can find works from new media, video and installations to drawing, painting, sculpture, print and photography, and, my favorite, comics and illustration. Here is a list of artist included:

Adela Jušić, Adela Nurković, Amer Kapetanović, Amir Husak, Borjana Mrđa, Damir Nikšić, Daniel Premec, Davor Paponja, Dejan Vekić, Đorđe Jovanović, Ella Gall & Kostja Ribnik, Ivan Hrkaš, Namik Kabil, Nela Hasanbegović, Nina Popović, Radenko Milak, Sandra Dukić, Slobodan Vidović and I.

And they all have only one thing in common, and that’s a need “to create a better Bosnia, or at least create a more sound, realistic understanding of what Bosnia currently is and why it is that way”*.

Another thing that I find more important is that it is students’ project, and a good example that I hope will, if Matrix allows it, become common for our Colleges, Academies and Universities. Our students are usually crippled by all the knowledge of Art History and Esthetics etc., so after finishing their study they have to go through, at least, five years of self-medicated brain resetting, so that they can start function normally. All the knowledge and no experience.

The curators of the exhibition are:

Alyssa Applebaum, Carter Harvey, Chrissie Miller, Elise Fields, Janice Byth, Mike Christen, Rebecca Mark, Sam Scholl, with the support of professors Laura Burns and Daniel Marcus.

My personal thanks goes to Elise Fields, Alyssa Applebaum and Carter Harvey.

The exhibition is open from November 7, 2013 to January 5, 2014.

Follow BOSNIAN\ART on tumblr: http://bosnianart.tumblr.com/
and Like facebook page: BOSNIAN\ART

*from the Bosnian\Art catalogue
**photos from the gallery by Alyssa Applebaum.

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This is what my friend Kelly Chroninger wrote me about the exhibition:

Yes, I really liked the exhibition!  The thing I liked most about it was the diversity.  Often, when you see exhibits or books or films about Bosnia that are geared toward an American audience, they are all about the war, and people get the impression that the war in Bosnia is still ongoing, or that the people and the culture have never moved past it mentally. This was different – some pieces clearly dealt with the war, but different concerns were represented – gender, morality, youth, etc.  And the influence of other cultures was apparent (like your piece, with Japan).  I think showed people that Bosnian art is not just one-dimensional, and I appreciated that.

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