Alma Gačanin
– b. 1988. in Sarajevo. Alma is a visual artist, poet, and feminist based in Sarajevo. Her work is based on exploring the specificities of labour and the precarity of certain occupations, with a particular focus in the position of women in capitalism and gendered division of labour. Alma works with different mediums, including drawing, photography, performance, and video. In 2024 she was awarded through Artist Changemaker Program by the Global Fund for Women for contributing to gender justice and feminism in her practice. Alma Gačanin is the winner of the 2022 ZVONO Art Award for Young Visual Artists in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts Education from the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo, specializing in Art Education. Alma is a member of CRVENA Association for culture and art. Her poems are published in magazines, collections, and web portals in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in the region.
I am Mother of djevina, goddess of disobedience and ultimate pleasure, and the overall purpose of my work is to participate in collective feminist emancipation and the continuous development of my artwork towards multiplex visual forms.
My work is based on exploring the specificities of labor and the precarity of certain occupations, with a particular focus on the position of women in capitalism, and the gendered division of labor. I am exploring the link between artistic practice and earning a living through the roles I assume as an artist-worker, for which I attended professional training in service jobs across several industries. Using different working positions as transformative and not only transactional has been the driving force of my artistic practice12.
Underscoring the maxim that personal is political within my practice, I am constantly working on reevaluating my personal experiences within the political climate of the present moment. Given the history of service jobs I had3, I take great interest in the master and servant dynamics, which often become blurred in capitalist culture45.
Taking into account other general conditions of participating in the capitalist realm, constant self-improvement, and professional training so we can adapt to the ever-shifting labor market, I use this premise to subvert the meanings of success and physical appearance67. Considering that the figurative and the body, in general, are pivotal in my visual practice, it is essential for me to disrupt the phallocentric representation of the female body and offer a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the lived female experience. This inspires the critical response that I construct within my works.
It takes labor to take the laborer to the workplace, to produce surplus value, perform in the best possible way, and satisfy the needs of the state, society, and system. This shapes the visual language within my drawings, performance choreographies and helps me to create narratives within my scripts89.
My mom often says she believes I can do anything.
Being the child of Yugoslav working-class parents, I strongly believe that hard work will take me places and provide a good life, even when it isn’t that apparent. The transformation of the working class that led to the breakup of Yugoslavia is probably one of the biggest collective traumas and to me one of the most interesting topics when it comes to the history of my own country and it is the starting point of research for most of my performances and works1011.
Every life begins with a woman, and I believe my art practice began with djevina. Through it, I gave myself a second chance as a little girl, as a teenager, an adolescent and a grown woman. I created my own world, and in it, I play the roles by my rules12.
The text was written in collaboration with Adna Muslija (2024).
1I used a thirty days summer job to make a thirty days performance that deals with poor working conditions and position of women on the labor market. Every day I made drawings and notes about it, and distributed them to the visitors of shopping mall I was working at.
Alma Gačanin, I Will Do What I Want (I), durational performance, 4th week/30th day at work, 2016.
2Second iteration of this work is a performance that consists of choreography and narration, and thematizes civil liberties.
Alma Gačanin, I Will Do What I Want (II), performance, 2017, photo: John Tenny.
3Bartender, salesperson, graphic designer, restorer of cultural heritage, surveyor, research analyst, translator, closed captioner, flight attendant, entrepreneur, client care…
4Inspired by biographies of my clients, I created a work that deals with the image we create about ourselves using the language of capitalism.
Alma Gačanin, Service from the heart, installation view at Gallery Manifesto, 2023, photo: Ahmed Avdagić.
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Alma Gačanin, Service from the heart, installation view at Gallery Manifesto, 2023, photo: Ahmed Avdagić.
6Using disobedience as an initial inspiration for the creation of Djevina, a universal name for the female character in my work. The very moment we start disobeying the given codes of conduct, training begins, training against the capitalist patriarchy.
Alma Gačanin, Three Boobs Blessing, Workout Series, 15x20 cm, watercolor 2018.
7Alma Gačanin, #fallapartfuckit, Workout Series, 2021, watercolor 2018.
8Based on my continued exploration of the precariousness inherent in corporate working positions and engagement in artistic labor. This work features excerpts from actual conversations between me and my clients interspersed with my diary entries and quotes from Anne Carson’s “Economy of the Unlost.”
Alma Gačanin, How Well Did You Perform Today, performance on stage SMEEL, Commissioned by MASKA, Ljubljana, 2024, photo: Asiana Jurca Avci.
9Alma Gačanin, How Well Did You Perform Today, performance on stage SMEEL, Commissioned by MASKA, Ljubljana, 2024, photo: Asiana Jurca Avci.
10Yellow Raincoat is a super hero costume for Sarajevo siege. When the war ends,
raincoat is too small to be worn at rainy days. After childhood the raincoat is forgotten and finally lost.
Alma Gačanin, Yellow Raincoat, video performance, 2021, photo: Suad H.
11Series of photography shows workers from Yugoslavia, in Bosnia and Hercegovina, evoking memories of the good times for working class. The workers are celebrating national holiday in a workshop, were my father worked for forty years. The animation shows a dancer on the table that dances to a lullaby You only live twice interpretation of the theme song to the 1967 James Bond film of the same name. The dancer gradually comes too close to the spectator and eats it at the end. Internal colonization was the destiny of Bosnia and Herzegovina inside Yugoslavia which made it the least developed republic in Yugoslavia. Are we still the geostrategic aspiration of our neighbors and the West and will there be a celebration for us all, or are we just a junkyard of human power they want to exploit.
Alma Gačanin, Workshop, animation, 2021.
12Inspired by voice machine message of a client from the one of my previous working position: You can have everything you want if you help others get what they need. Presenting corporate relations as S&M imagery, I am creating another role for djevina as a critique of emotional and feminised labour.
Alma Gačanin, You can have everything you want if you help others get what they need, drawing on paper, commissioned by NGVU Podgorica, 2023;
– r. 1988. u Sarajevu. Alma Gačanin je vizuelna umjetnica, pjesnikinja i feministkinja koja živi i radi u Sarajevu. Njen rad se bazira na istraživanju specifičnosti rada i prekarnosti određenih radnih pozicija, s posebnim fokusom na poziciju žena u kapitalizmu i rodnu podjelu rada. Alma radi u različitim medijima, uključujući crtež, fotografiju, performans i video. U 2024. nagrađena je od strane Global Fund for Women Artist Changemaker Nagradom za feministički doprinos u svojoj praksi. Alma Gačanin je dobitnica najrelevantnije državne nagrade, ZVONO nagrade za najbolju umjetnicu u Bosni i Hercegovini 2022. godine. Master studije u Edukaciji u likovnoj umjetnosti je stekla na Akademiji likovnih umjetnosti u Sarajevu, 2015. Alma je članica kolektiva CRVENA, Udruženja za kulturu i umjetnost. Njene pjesme su objavljene u magazinima, zbornicima, kolekcijama i web portalima u BiH i regiji.
Ja sam Majka Djevine, boginje neposluha i ultimativnog užitka, a osnovni cilj mog rada je učestvovati u kolektivnoj feminističkoj emancipaciji i kontinuirano razvojati svoj umjetnički izraza ka višeslojnim vizuelnim formama.
Moj rad se temelji na istraživanju specifičnosti rada i nesigurnosti određenih zanimanja, s posebnim fokusom na položaj žena u kapitalizmu i rodnu podjelu rada. Istražujem vezu između umjetničke prakse i zarađivanja za život kroz uloge koje preuzimam kao umjetnica-radnica, za koje sam se profesionalno obučavala u različitim uslužnim djelatnostima. Korištenje radnih pozicija kao transformativnih, a ne samo transakcijskih, predstavlja pokretačku snagu moje umjetničke prakse12.
Naglašavajući maksimu da je lično političko, neprestano preispitujem vlastita iskustva unutar političkog konteksta sadašnjeg trenutka. Imajući u vidu svoju radnu historiju3, posebno me zanima odnos gospodara i sluge, koji se u kapitalističkoj kulturi često zamagljuje45.
Uz sveopće uslove sudjelovanja u kapitalističkom sistemu – stalno samousavršavanje i profesionalnu obuku kako bismo se prilagodili nestabilnom tržištu rada – koristim ovu premisu da subvertiram značenja uspjeha i fizičkog izgleda67. Kako su figuracija i tijelo ključni elementi mog vizuelnog izraza, važno mi je razbiti falocentričnu reprezentaciju ženskog tijela i ponuditi složenije i nijansiranije razumijevanje proživljenog ženskog iskustva. To me inspiriše na kritički odgovor koji konstruiram unutar svojih radova.
Rad je potreban i prije nego radnik dođe na radno mjesto, proizvede višak vrijednosti, da svoj maksimum i zadovolji potrebe države, društva i sistema. Ovo oblikuje vizuelni jezik mojih crteža, koreografije performansa i pomaže mi da stvaram narative unutar svojih scenarija89.
Moja mama često kaže da vjeruje da mogu sve.
Kao dijete jugoslovenskih radničkih roditelja, duboko vjerujem da će me naporan rad odvesti daleko i omogućiti mi dobar život, čak i kada to nije očigledno. Transformacija radničke klase koja je dovela do raspada Jugoslavije vjerovatno je jedna od najvećih kolektivnih trauma i za mene jedno od najzanimljivijih pitanja u historiji moje zemlje. To je početna tačka istraživanja za većinu mojih performansa i radova1011.
Svaki život počinje sa ženom, a vjerujem da je i moja umjetnička praksa počela s djevinom. Kroz nju sam sebi dala drugu šansu – kao djevojčici, tinejdžerki, adolescentici i odrasloj ženi. Stvorila sam svoj svijet, i u njemu igram uloge po vlastitim pravilima12.
Tekst je napisan u konsultaciji sa Adnom Muslija (2024.)
1Tokom ljetnog posla koji je trajao trideset dana, izvela sam tridesetodnevni performans koji se bavi lošim radnim uslovima i položajem žena na tržištu rada. Svakodnevno sam crtala i bilježila svoja zapažanja te ih dijelila posjetiocima tržnog centra u kojem sam radila.
Alma Gačanin, Ja ću raditi šta ja hoću (I), performans dugog trajanja, 4. sedmica, 30. dan na poslu, 2016.
2Druga iteracija ovog rada je performans koji uključuje koreografiju i naraciju, a tematizira građanske slobode.
Alma Gačanin, Ja ću raditi šta ja hoću (II), performans, 2017, foto: John Tenny
3Konobarica, prodavačica, grafička dizajnerica, restauratorica kulturne baštine, anketarka, istraživačka analitičarka, prevoditeljica, titlerka, stjuardesa, poduzetnica, službenica za korisnike…
4Inspirisana biografijama svojih klijenata, stvorila sam rad koji se bavi slikom koju gradimo o sebi koristeći jezik kapitalizma.
Alma Gačanin, Usluga od srca, postavka u Galeriji Manifesto, 2023, foto: Ahmed Avdagić.
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Alma Gačanin, Usluga od srca, postavka u Galeriji Manifesto, 2023, foto: Ahmed Avdagić
6Neposluh koristim kao inicijalnu inspiraciju za stvaranje Djevine, univerzalnog imena za ženski lik u mom radu. Onog trenutka kada počnemo kršiti zadate norme ponašanja, počinje trening – trening protiv kapitalističkog patrijarhata.
Alma Gačanin, Blagoslov tri sise, Workout serija, 15x20 cm, akvarel 2018.
7Alma Gačanin, #fallapartfuckit, Workout serija, 2021, akvarel 2018.
8Na osnovu mog kontinuiranog istraživanja nesigurnosti inherentne korporativnim radnim pozicijama i angažmanu u umjetničkom radu, ovaj rad sadrži isječke stvarnih razgovora između mene i mojih klijenata, isprepletene s mojim dnevničkim zapisima i citatima iz knjige Anne Carson „Ekonomija neizgubljenog”.
Alma Gačanin, Koliko ste dobro radili danas, performans na pozornici SMEEL, Po narudžbi MASKA, Ljubljana, 2024, photo: Asiana Jurca Avci.
9Alma Gačanin, Koliko ste dobro radili danas, performans na pozornici SMEEL, po narudžbi MASKA, Ljubljana, 2024, photo: Asiana Jurca Avci.
10Žuta kabanica je kostim superheroja za opsadu Sarajeva. Kada rat završi, mantil postaje premali da bi se nosio na kišne dane. Nakon djetinjstva, mantil biva zaboravljen i konačno izgubljen. Alma Gačanin, Žuta kabanica, video performans, 2021, foto: Suad H.
11Serija fotografija prikazuje radnike iz Jugoslavije, u Bosni i Hercegovini, prizivajući sjećanja na dobra vremena za radničku klasu. Radnici u radionici u kojoj je moj otac radio četrdeset godina slave državni praznik. Animacija prikazuje plesačicu na stolu koja pleše na uspavanku „You Only Live Twice“, interpretaciju naslovne pjesme iz istoimenog filma o Jamesu Bondu iz 1967. godine. Plesačica se postepeno približava posmatraču i na kraju ga „pojede“. Unutrašnja kolonizacija bila je sudbina Bosne i Hercegovine unutar Jugoslavije, što ju je učinilo najmanje razvijenom republikom. Jesmo li i dalje geostrateška aspiracija naših susjeda i Zapada? Hoće li biti proslave za sve nas, ili smo samo otpad ljudske snage koju žele eksploatisati?
Alma Gačanin, Radionica, animacija, 2021.
12Inspirisana porukom automatske sekretarice klijenta s jednog od mojih prethodnih radnih mjesta: „Možeš imati sve što želiš ako pomogneš drugima da dobiju ono što im treba.” Predstavljajući korporativne odnose kroz S&M estetiku, kreiram još jednu ulogu za Djevinu – kao kritiku emotivnog i feminiziranog rada.
Alma Gačanin, Možeš imati sve što želiš ukoliko pomogneš drugima da dobiju ono što im treba, crtež na papiru, po narudžbi NGVU Podgorica, 2023.
