Deutsches Historisches Museum - Verf�hrung Freiheit. Kunst in Europa seit 1945 - Blog

‘My name is Ivana Udovičić and I was born here in Sarajevo. That’s how it all began. I am a curator at the National Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1996. I finished my studies of history of art and archaeology during the war attending a university in Croatia. After that I decided to come back. The war had just ended and we had suddenly unusual opportunities, even in these kinds of representative institutions because there was a lack of professionals.

I started working here right after the war cleaning the building, saving the works of the collection. So for all this time – about eighteen years now – I am trying to preserve, to save the national heritage but also to present that heritage in Bosnia and in Europe.’

Was there a special moment in your life when you decided you wanted to be in the arts professionally?

‘Well, it is maybe unusual but I was interested in two different things: in contemporary and modern art but also in ancient archaeology. When I came back to Sarajevo I did not know: Should I be an archaeologist or an art historian? Because I had degrees in both fields. But then I found the better opportunity to develop my professional career here at the National Gallery. After the war it was not a good situation for art historians but it was even worse for archaeologists because the whole country was a mine field. And I can really express myself here and work with a very good collection, archive and documentation.’

What are for you the most rewarding and the most challenging aspects of your work?

‘Making exhibitions. It is really the reason why I am still here. I really like to create and set up exhibitions. Especially if they receive good feedback from the audience. That is really the point of my professional life.’

This exhibition is about national identity. Do you think the three main identities here – will they have a different reception of this exhibition? Will they have a different opinion about what they see here?

‘No, because basically we start to think about and consider identities in the exhibition. We chose those works which are dealing with the nonsense of that, that identities are not that important and cannot be an essential part of our life. Besides that if someone of us is a Serb, Croat or Muslim, he could be a curator or artist as well. So we chose the works which are speaking about that, that we can also be human beings besides all the other labels we have about ourselves.

Apart from that, this exhibition can be seen in two different ways, by two different kinds of audience. It is about contemporary art from Bosnia and Herzegovina which is inspired directly by the situation, by the way of living, by the absurd living in Sarajevo and in other parts of Bosnia. So the people that live here can easily recognize the situations, the motives, the keynotes of this exhibition because they live this way. For them it is not surprising, maybe it is more transforming, more visible instead.

On the other hand there is the audience who is maybe more objective at looking at the art and the works shown here are just a reflection. So instead of just looking at that part of their lives that the works reflect, they look at the art.’

With Maja we have talked about the lack of a phase of building national identity in Bosnia, like the 19^th century in other parts of Europe. Is this period now your 19^th century?

‘Concerning politics, yes. We have strong national parties. And it is not that important which economic concept they have or program or if they are left or right or social democrats. It is more important to which nationality the party belongs.’

Do you see the three identities growing back together now?

‘Before the war, the city had the highest number of mixed marriages and by that I mean between the different nationalities, now the situation is completely different. Sarajevo is the biggest city in the country, so the multicultural background and national identities can be seen but it is not the way it was before. That is why we can’t compare it. The picture of the ethnic population is completely different, but we have to find a way to live with the new circumstances.’

Last question: when do you feel most free?

‘On a holiday, by the seaside.’

________________________

Don’t miss:

Our interview with the other curator Maja Abdomerović!

The National Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina online and of course their page on Facebook!