Let us be together – Project

Let us be together is an installation made of two framed analogue photographs and three sculptures that dialogue in a space. The photographs are portraits of the artist after one year: from the sixth to the seventh year of life and coincide with a haircut imposed by popular costume and with the beginning of the first year of school. In these apparently identical photographs, what changes, in addition to the artist's aesthetic - and consequent gender identity - is the character hidden under the guise of Santa Claus: the man who personifies him in the first image is dead. The two photographs thus become a testimony of a visible and invisible change that is intertwined with the passage of time, death and transformation. The sculptures, on the other hand, are made with a base placed underneath made of plaster bust carved in Italy and a pink cover made with a typical Serbian dessert. Let us be together is an attempt to unite two typical aspects of two different cultures into a single indivisible and inseparable object and any effort to divide the two elements would be in vain or tragic since both would be broken.

I Lied in Visa Center ponders over dramatic alteration of personal memories and one’s identity triggered by displacement and forced departure. While Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman introduces in his writings theoretical concept of fluid identity, displaced people in every corner of the world practice it, being physically cut off the material manifestations of their personal stories in the form of documents, photographs and official records. Unrooted they construct their fragmented memories from scratch frequently using this forced oblivion to start over and arrive to the brighten version of oneself. Invited artists will deal with either personal or estranged experience of that kind on both emotional and intellectual levels, trying to tap into altered memories of displaced.

Two different but not necessarily opposite narratives emerge within the show oscillating between altering the past and revisiting it. In both cases, the exploration of the past rebounds the subject and creates a space for reflection. However, as most of the works tries to stress, there is no universal solution, neither there is black or white, ultimate truth or lie.

While most of the narratives about displaced and refugees focus on their misfortunes and problems their arrival cause in Europe, I Lied in Visa Center investigates the psychological condition of the newcomers and taps into their personal memories and the way they affect their current situation.

- Analogue color photographs
- Plaster sculptures covered with Ratluk rose flavor
- Edition: each element is a unique work