2014 Where Do We Come From

Curator Essay

2014 Where Do We Come From

Professor/Curator Department of Art & Art History University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado 80309 United States of America

"Where Do We Come From?" is an ambiguous question in Bosnia and Herzegovina, if one relies only on the region's numerous history accounts. "What Are We?" We, collectively proclaim that we have always been living in a transition zone in its geographic, cultural, sociological, political, even metaphorical sense of the word. That attribute has been shaping our collective identity for decades, even centuries, we say. We announce that the East and the West merge in our land, delivering to us the best of the both worlds. We declare our cultural, spiritual, ideological, even emotional state "in between" has shaped us - we praise our inherent duality, diversity and openness. "Where Are We Going?" - The inquiry not easy answered form our Bosnian perspective. It is important to contemplate those questions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Continually. Always. Over and over again. It is important to contemplate Art that contemplates these questions while contemplating these questions: can Art provide some answers, can Art educate us, inform those inquiries? Can Art teach about others who also feel as being perpetually "in between", or Others different than us? What answers can Art provide? Being exhibited in the institution of higher education, this Art - the diverse visual answers to the questions posted, offered by diverse nonBosnian, non-Balkan artists - can educate us in Art: about diverse means and methods of creating Art and thinking Art. This Art can also educate about multiple perspectives and different worldviews. Not so long ago people in Bosnia and Herzegovina treasured the inherent diversity of their land, culture and heritage. Now, nineteen years after the war had ended, the diversity is being "petrified",

culture is being devoured by consumerism, heritage is, for the most part, violated and replaced by "better new" things. Our habit of respecting the others' perception and values, accepting the Other, has been traded for the single - "the right"-worldview. Although all Art can be (is) pedagogic, an artistic practice displayed in the institution of education performs an explicitly educational function. Furthermore, each diverse practice - each different worldview condensed in a single art piece (or diptych or triptych) representative of each exhibiting artist - presented in the educational setting has a potential of becoming an activist gesture: Art can compel us to see differently and consider differences. Art can encourage us to reconsider our own practice and own (often self-centered) philosophy. Iva Simcic Assistant Professor Department of Art Education The Academy of Fine Arts Sarajevo

In the context of Bosnia and Herzegovina these questions stand at crossroads. Our history shapes our identities and mould who we are in the present. This in turn shapes the unknown future: will we divide ourselves, or decide to walk into the future united? Where do we come from? For Bosnian citizens today, there are three history versions, three languages, three religious faiths. Once, we all coexisted in the land which the country was built on, and became independent. The differences between people were blurred, and the close-knit relationships built between neighbours, inter-religious families, coworkers, teacher-students seemed strong enough, and it would have