Selma Selman
Curated by Amila Ramović
National Gallery BiH, Sarajevo
23 July – 10 September 2021

Presented in the exhibition are 64 art pieces belonging to the most recent production created for this exhibition. They represent Selman’s opus in its conceptual uniqueness while reflecting the complexity of her identity as a permanent “other” – a Roma, an immigrant, and a woman. Their strong driving power is, paradoxically, generated from the destructive energy employed in the recycling of raw iron material which secures the sustenance of her family. This energy can further be traced in the performative gesture, a manner of artistic and social engagement, which remains a characteristic of her work. Performativity here is, however, equally on the artist’s side as well as on the audience’s: her works do not possess a stable meaning, do not offer a final message, nor do they have didactic ambitions. On the contrary, Selman invites us to reflect and question, particularly the ways in which we assign value to objects, work, and people.

Along with the audio installation No Space (2019/2021), the introduction to the exhibition is Selman’s selection of three video pieces contextualizing the newly created production and indicating the continuity and conceptual uniqueness of her entire oeuvre. The video installation I Will Buy My Freedom When (2014/2018) documents her conversations with her family about the value of her life as seen through the living costs required for her upbringing. Salt Water (2015/2016) is a subtle document of Selma’s mother Naza Abdulahi’s first encounter with the sea: as a Roma woman without identity documents, she never traveled outside her country, until laws aimed at confirming the identity of war-displaced persons did not allow her to obtain a passport. Mercedes Matrix (2019) was created as a video documentation of the Mercedes car disassembly performance at the Krass festival in Hamburg, which Selma realized in collaboration with her permanent team of family and friends from the community, where the performance literally replicates the daily activity that is the main source of their personal income.

Photo by Damir Šagolj