
The Most Dangerous Woman in the World
Curated by Ivana Marjanović
Kunstraum Innsbruck, Innsbruck
11 March – 21 May 2022
In one of her self-portraits created on scrap metal, Selma Selman defines herself as the “most dangerous woman in the world.” Dangerous for whom? Born into a Roma community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose life and work possibilities have been extremely limited by racism (her family members work in scrap-metal collecting and recycling), she not only breaks down cars, washing machines and the patriarchy, but, more importantly, she breaks down the boundaries of class racism. Selma Selman’s works range from powerful performances, intimate and expressive portraits and self-portraits to paintings that comment on community life, stereotypes, and emancipation using irony and humor–and resonate with an immense amount of agency.
The statement “My family transforms metal waste into a valuable resource for survival” is to be read beyond personal experience. Selma Selman’s artistic medium of painting on scrap metal ultimately refers to the racialized living and working conditions of Roma people, which have deteriorated throughout the course of the capitalist transition of the pauperized post-war society. Like many Roma in the Balkans, Selma Selman from childhood on, has worked in the informal economy of recycling: supporting the family by collecting metal garbage and selling it to recycling companies. Selma’s art practice allows her to “escape” the poorly valued work, without abandoning her context, and also questions the processes of generating the value that white privilege and access to education assign to labor and workers. “We are intellectuals” can be read on a painting made on a car roof. Here she critiques the elitist notion of knowledge – (re-)production and also creates an affirmative statement in the struggle for a worthy life and dignity.

Selma Selman, Installation view of The Most Dangerous Woman in the World, Curated by Ivana Marjanović, Kunstraum Innsbruck, Innsbruck, 2022












Photo by Daniel Jarosch