Milena Ivić
-b. 1995. in Novi Sad. Milena graduated from the Academy of Arts in Banja Luka. In 2019, she won first prize at the exhibition of fine arts graduates at MSURS, and her first solo exhibition, What Do We Do with All This Freedom?, opened at Galerija Plus in Banja Luka. However, it was shut down by MSURS after just 18 hours. In 2022, she founded the open studio initiative SOBA, fostering horizontal networking among artists, activists, theorists, and performers. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the Academy of Arts in Banja Luka.
After ten years of serving in a church choir, I find myself in conflict with the male voice within me. I strip my old uniform of its fabric in the shape of a cross in the reproductive organs area. With this intervention, the deception of authority is exposed; it had always been a universal uniform for the female reproductive role in service of national politics and the church that supports it.1
During my studies, I recognized the field of art as a site for the production of values—a “battlefield”2 for constructing meanings that challenge the continuous renewal of repressive behavioral patterns, the machinery that maintains the status quo. In my desire to demystify art and the exclusive figure of the genius creator, driven by an impulse for truth, I extract narratives from cemented discourses.3 The connections between patriarchy, capitalism, conservative nationalism, military and police protection, the criminalization of communities4, class differences, racism, the production of sexual and gender-based violence, economic exploitation, and domestic labor5 become visible at this juncture, from which later works emerge. Beyond an awareness of the contradictions of artistic engagement within a capitalist economy—where we often witness the suppression of critical potential as it shifts to the side it once opposed, all under the guise of freedom of expression—I see art as a specific field of language with the power to confront authority with the meaninglessness it has produced6 and to communicate with everyone, provoking us to think collectively.
Through strategies of institutional critique, I aim to generate discourse on mapped-out problems at the core of their emergence. The artistic space of the museum gallery—one of the key links in maintaining power7—became, during my first solo exhibition (a case study), a site of its reevaluation. This transformation earned me the status of a dissident within the institutions of culture in my city of residence.8910111213
Considering the themes I have explored, the prohibition of protests and public gatherings in Banja Luka due to prolonged political tensions surrounding the case of a murdered young citizen14, the intensified police presence in public spaces15, the political favoritism of certain MSURS personnel with whom I collaborated, and the context of the upcoming local elections—all of this, coupled with the modification of one segment16 of my exhibition an hour before its opening—made it evident that the exhibition was not removed due to public complaints about religious symbols (crosses)1718 in the installation allegedly offending religious sentiments. It is particularly revealing that this same institution, within the span of a year, both awarded and banned the exact same work by the same artist.19
The position of social exclusion from which I originate has shaped me as both a person and an artist, which is why I often address it in my work. If we first acknowledge that the ruling class controls not only material production but also the production of ideas, it becomes clear why the possibility of engaging in art is, at its core, a class issue. The excluded do not engage with culture—they struggle for survival. Members of the working class attempt to secure a place within the cultural field through a Sisyphean battle for rare, guarded, and privileged positions within the patriarchal-capitalist labor market hierarchy. On the other hand, many artists I know—including myself—sustain two career paths, two ambivalent identities, two ways of life that, when merged, become nearly schizophrenic. This manifests as existing both within and outside the art world, which pretends to be inherent to us.
In that world, upon which, fortunately, I am not existentially dependent, my experience with censorship continues to significantly shape my direction. Not only do I turn toward an interdisciplinary approach to art20, but I also symbolically step out of the white cube into the public space—“among the people.” While the local institutional art scene places me on its blacklist, parallel opportunities for collaboration arise with cultural and artistic associations. I connect with female artists and begin sharing authorship, which allows me to consistently understand and explore the levels of interconnectedness between women.212223 Together with my comrades, I remind myself of the importance of solidarity and public exchange in an era of destruction—an era in which the long-fought-for rights of our foremothers are once again under threat.
Françoise Vergès, in her discussion of the theory of violence, writes: “Public space is not neutral.”24 The state militarizes, surveils, and saturates it with violence, only to later relocate the surviving bodies of vulnerable women into safe houses.252627“Cities must be reclaimed by those who, throughout history, have been excluded from them—those whose exclusion has rendered our cities bourgeois, hostile, and inhospitable.”The phenomenon of the “city of ruins” has become a norm in the context of imperialist competition and global political crises. Acting through the legacy of feminist disobedience against war rhetoric and patriarchal power—within ethnically and territorially divided lands—means opposing nationalism and militarism, resisting violence against women and all minorities, and perpetuating care for the spaces in which life unfolds.282930
Text was written in consultancy with Adna Muslija (2024).
1Milena Ivić, She dreamt a deep dream, object, 2020
2Milena Ivić, ART WAR, installation segment, AUBL, Banja Luka, 2019
3 Milena Ivić, ART WAR, installation, AUBL, Banja Luka, 2019
4 Milena Ivić, Criminal Milieu, object, made by: Mileva Popović, photo by: Nemanja Mićević, MSURS, Banja Luka, 2019
5As part of the critique writing workshop, the text "Cleaning as Punishment: A Feminist Reading of the Pop Culture Phenomenon" was written, awarded, and published in the anthology "Glasne i jasne", pp. 7-14, a journal for feminist theory and art in Bosnia and Herzegovina, BONA, 2020.
https://bonamag.ba/2020/07/07/ciscenje-kao-kazna-feministicko-citanje-fenomena-pop-kulture/![]()
6Anđelković, Dejan, "Father, Don't You See That I'm Burning?", 2020. https://www.studijesavremenosti.org/2020/02/29/oce-zar-ne-vidis-da-gorim/![]()
7Gallery Plus, Banja Luka, 2018
8Milena Ivić, "What Shall We Do with All This Freedom?", exhibition, photo by: Nemanja Mićević, Galerija Plus, Banja Luka, 2020
9Milena Ivić, "What Shall We Do with All This Freedom?", exhibition, photo by: Nemanja Mićević, Galerija Plus, Banja Luka, 2020
10Milena Ivić, "What Shall We Do with All This Freedom?", exhibition, photo by: Nemanja Mićević, Galerija Plus, Banja Luka, 2020
11Announcement from MSURS about the withdrawal of the exhibition, 2020. https://facebook.com/muzejsurs/posts/pfbid0iLX1ZwiitMhpDQK3t79pcVoLPfAa3MpfFjywfrCt1skNL7uB6zT213zFvuRTUYVal![]()
12Art Mašina, RTRS, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZA8v977GVA![]()
13In response to claims of self-censorship, I wrote an open letter "In What Era Do We Live If It's So Easy to Become a 'Banned Artist'?", published by Vox Feminae, 2020.
https://voxfeminae.net/kultura/u-banjoj-luci-cenzurirana-izlozba-mlade-umjetnice/![]()
14“Charges Against Activists of the Justice for David Group”, Al Jazeera Balkans, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=fZp7AQuRmRg![]()
15“Arrested in Banja Luka for Performance with Toys”, RTV BN, 2019
https://www.rtvbn.com/index.php/3972179/uhapsen-u-bl-zbog-performansa-sa-igrackama-![]()
16Milena Ivić, "ART RAT", installation segment, AUBL, Banja Luka, 2019
17Milena Ivić, Cross, Boobs, Pussy, installation segment “ART RAT”, Galerija Plus, Banja Luka, 2020
18Milena Ivić, “1+1 Gratis”, installation segment “ART RAT”, Galerija Plus, Banja Luka, 2020
19Announcement of the MSURS Award Winner, 2019
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1757703947665701&set=a.421532344616208![]()
20Milena Ivić, “Metal”, interactive installation created in collaboration with programmer Marko Mačkić, photo by: Jasmin Agović, Goethe Institut, Sarajevo, 2023
21Alma Gačanin, Jelena Fužinato, Milena Ivić, “Draga drugarice”, serija bilborda i intervencija u javnom prostoru, foto: Haris Sahačić, Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar, 2022
22Alma Gačanin, Jelena Fužinato, Milena Ivić, “Draga drugarice”, series of billboards and intervention in public space, photo by: Ajla Salkić, Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar, 2022
23Alma Gačanin, Jelena Fužinato, Milena Ivić, “Draga drugarice”, series of billboards and intervention in public space, photo by: Ajla Salkić, Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar, 2022
24Verges, Françoise, Feminist Theory of Violence: For an Antiracist Protection Policy, 2020![]()
25 Milena Ivić, “Obstacle”, POV Drone, video performance, drone pilot: Igor Bošnjak, video: Irma Beširević and Nastasija Puhalo, KC Trebinje, 2021
26Milena Ivić, “Obstacle”, POV Drone, video performance, drone pilot: Igor Bošnjak, video: Irma Beširević and Nastasija Puhalo, KC Trebinje, 2021
27Milena Ivić, “Obstacle”, POV Drone, video performance, drone pilot: Igor Bošnjak, video: Irma Beširević and Nastasija Puhalo, KC Trebinje, 2021
28 Milena Ivić, “Ruin Series”, interventions in public space, performance by: Adin Aškraba, Antonio Radić, Kris Andrić, Nikolina Mudrinić, Dženi Čuljak Batoš, photo by: Antonio Radić, Mostar, 2024
29Milena Ivić, “Ruin Series”, intervencije u javnom prostoru, izvedba radova: Adin Aškraba, Antonio Radić, Kris Andrić, Nikolina Mudrinić, Dženi Čuljak Batoš, foto: Claudia Claude, Mostar, 2024
30Milena Ivić, “Ruin Series”, intervencije u javnom prostoru, izvedba radova: Adin Aškraba, Antonio Radić, Kris Andrić, Nikolina Mudrinić, Dženi Čuljak Batoš, foto: Claudia Claude, Mostar, 2024
-r. 1995. u Novom Sadu. Milena je diplomirala na Akademiji umjetnosti u Banjoj Luci. Osvojila je prvu nagradu na izložbi diplomiranih studenata likovnih umjetnosti u MSURS-u 2019. godine, a njena prva samostalna izložba Šta radimo sa svom ovom slobodom? otvorena je u Galeriji Plus u Banjoj Luci. Međutim, MSURS ju je zatvorio nakon samo 18 sati. Osnovivačica je otvorenog studija SOBA, koji od 2022. godine promoviše horizontalno umrežavanje umjetnika, aktivista, teoretičara i performera. Trenutno je na master studijama na Akademiji umjetnosti u Banjoj Luci.
Nakon deset godina služenja u crkvenom horu sukobljavam se sa muškim glasom unutar sebe. Svoju staru uniformu lišavam tkanine u formi krsta u području reproduktivnih organa. Prevara autoriteta je ovom intervencijom razotkrivena; to je sve vrijeme bila univerzalna uniforma ženske reproduktivne uloge u službi nacionalne politike i crkve koja je potpomaže.1
Tokom studija prepoznajem polje umjetnosti kao mjesto produkcije vrijednosti -“bojno polje”2 za konstrukciju značenja koja se suprotstavljaju neprestanom obnavljanju represivnih obrazaca ponašanja, odnosno mašineriji održavanja statusa quo. U želji za demistifikacijom umjetnosti i ekskluzivne figure genijalnog stvaraoca, te u nagonu za istinom, izvlačim narative iz zacementiranih diskursa.3 Veze između patrijarhata, kapitalizma, konzervativnog nacionalizma, vojne i policijske zaštite, kriminalizacija zajednica4, klasnih razlika, rasizma, produkcije seksualnog i rodnog nasilja, ekonomske eksploatacije, kućanskog rada5, postaju vidljive na tom čvorištu iz kojeg niču kasniji radovi. Pored svijesti o kontradikcijama u vezi s umjetničkim angažmanom unutar kapitalističke ekonomije gdje često svjedočimo gašenju potencijala kritičke prakse prelaskom na stranu onoga protiv čega se borila i to pod okriljem slobode izražavanja; umjetnost vidim kao specifično polje jezika koje ima moć da sukobi autoritet “sa besmislenim značenjem koje je produkovao”6 i komunicira sa svima, provocirajući nas da zajedno mislimo.
Strategijama institucionalne kritike nastojim stvoriti diskurs o mapiranim problemima u žiži njihovog nastanka. Umjetnički prostor muzejske galerije, jedne od važnih karika u održavanju moći7, prilikom prve samostalne izložbe – studije slučaja, transformišem u mjesto njezinog preispitivanja, zasluživši status disidentkinje na nivou institucija kulture u gradu stalnog boravka.8910111213
Imajući u vidu sve teme koje sam obrađivala, zabranu protesta i javnog okupljanja koja je bila na snazi u Banjaluci zbog dugotrajne političke nategnutosti oko slučaja ubistva mladog sugrađanina14, kontekst pojačanog prisustva policije u javnom prostoru15 , stranačku podobnost pojedinog kadra MSURS-a sa kojim sam sarađivala u kombinaciji sa kontekstom nadolazećih lokalnih izbora, “modifikacije” jednog od segmenata postavke16 jedan čas prije njenog otvaranja, postaje očigledno da izložba nije uklonjena zbog žalbi građana čija su vjerska osjećanja bila povrijeđena krstovima u postavci.1718 Zanimljiv je podatak da ovom prilikom ista institucija nagrađuje i zabranjuje isti rad od iste umjetnice, u vremenskom razmaku od godinu dana.19
Pozicija socijalne isključenosti iz koje dolazim me oblikovala kao osobu i kao umjetnicu, stoga je često obrađujem. Ako prethodno osvijestimo da vladajuća klasa kontroliše ne samo materijalnu produkciju nego i produkciju ideja, postaće nam jasno zašto je pitanje mogućnosti bavljenja umjetnošću u osnovi klasno pitanje. Isključeni se ne bave kulturom, već preživljavanjem. Pripadnici radničke klase pokušavaju osigurati mjesto u polju kulture sizifovskom borbom za rijetke, čuvane i privilegovane pozicije u patrijarhalno-kapitalističkoj hijererhiji na tržištu rada. S druge strane, mnogi umjetnici i umjetnice koje poznajem, pa tako i ja, održavaju dva karijerna smjera, dva ambivalentna identiteta, dva načina života koji kad se spoje postaju gotovo šizofreni. Ovo se očituje istovremenim postojanjem unutar i izvan svijeta umjetnosti koji se pretvara da nam je inherentan.
U “tom” svijetu, o kojem na sreću ne ovisim egzistencijalno, iskustvo cenzure nastavlja značajno da oblikuje moj pravac. Pored toga što se okrećem ka interdisciplinarnom pristupu umjetnosti20, simbolično izlazim iz “bijele kocke” u javni prostor, “među ljude”. Dok me lokalna institucionalna umjetnička scena stavlja na “crnu listu”, paralelno se otvaraju prilike za saradnje na projektima sa udruženjima za kulturu i umjetnost. Povezujem se sa umjetnicama i počinjem da dijelim autorstvo što mi omogućuje da dosljedno razumijem i obradim nivoe isprepletenosti između žena.212123 Zajedno sa drugaricama se podsjećam koliko je važna vidljivost solidarnosti i razmjena u javnom prostoru u doba destrukcije, kada su davno izborena prava naših pretkinja, ponovo ugrožena.
Fransoaz Veržes u obradi teze o teoriji nasilja piše: “Javni prostor nije neutralan”24. Država ga militarizuje, nadzire i opskrbljuje nasiljem a potom preživjela tijela ugroženih žena sklanja u sigurnu kuću.252627 “Grad moraju iznova prisvojiti one i oni koji su iz njega tokom prošlosti isključivani i čijim isključivanjem su naši gradovi postali buržujski, neprijateljski i negostoljubivi.”
Fenomen “grada ruševina” je opšte mjesto i normativ u kontekstu progresije imperijalističkognadmetanja i političke krize koja je u svijetu evidentna. Djelovanje strategijom feminističkog nasljeđa neposlušnosti ratnoj retorici i patrijarhalnoj moći unutar etnički i teritorijalno podijeljenog tla jeste suprotstavljanje nacionalizmu i militarizmu, jeste suprotstavljanje nasilju nad ženama i svim manjinama, jeste perpetuiranje brige za prostor u kojem se odvija život.282930
Tekst je napisan u konsultaciji sa Adnom Muslija (2024).
1Milena Ivić, "Usnila je dubok sanak", objekt, 2020
2Milena Ivić, "ART RAT", segment instalacije, AUBL, Banja Luka, 2019
3Milena Ivić, "ART RAT", instalacija, AUBL, Banja Luka, 2019
4 Milena Ivić, "Kriminalni milje", objekt, izrada: Mileva Popović, foto: Nemanja Mićević, MSURS, Banja Luka, 2019
5U sklopu radionice pisanja kritike nastao je tekst “Čišćenje kao kazna: feminističko čitanje fenomena pop-kulture”, nagrađen i objavljen u Zborniku “Glasne i jasne”, str. 7-14, časopis za feminističku teoriju i umjetnost u BiH, BONA, 2020.
https://bonamag.ba/2020/07/07/ciscenje-kao-kazna-feministicko-citanje-fenomena-pop-kulture/![]()
6Anđelković, Dejan “Oče, zar ne vidiš da gorim?”, 2020 https://www.studijesavremenosti.org/2020/02/29/oce-zar-ne-vidis-da-gorim/![]()
7Galerija Plus, Banja Luka, 2018
8"Šta da radimo sa svom ovom slobodom?", izložba, foto: Nemanja Mićević, Galerija Plus, Banja Luka, 2020
9"Šta da radimo sa svom ovom slobodom?", izložba, foto: Nemanja Mićević, Galerija Plus, Banja Luka, 2020
10"Šta da radimo sa svom ovom slobodom?", izložba, foto: Nemanja Mićević, Galerija Plus, Banja Luka, 2020
11Obavještenje MSURS-a o povlačenju izložbe, 2020 https://facebook.com/muzejsurs/posts/pfbid0iLX1ZwiitMhpDQK3t79pcVoLPfAa3MpfFjywfrCt1skNL7uB6zT213zFvuRTUYVal![]()
12Art Mašina, RTRS, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZA8v977GVA![]()
13Kao odgovor tvrdnjama o autocenzuri, pišem otvoreno pismo “U kakvom dobu živimo ako je toliko lako postati „zabranjena umjetnica“?”, prenosi Vox Feminae, 2020.
https://voxfeminae.net/kultura/u-banjoj-luci-cenzurirana-izlozba-mlade-umjetnice/![]()
14“Prijave protiv aktivista grupe Pravda za Davida”, Al Jazeera Balkans, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=fZp7AQuRmRg![]()
15“Uhapšen u BL zbog performansa sa igračkama”, RTV BN, 2019
https://www.rtvbn.com/index.php/3972179/uhapsen-u-bl-zbog-performansa-sa-igrackama-![]()
16Milena Ivić, "ART RAT", segment instalacije, AUBL, Banja Luka, 2019
17Milena Ivić, “Krst, sise, pička”, segment instalacije “ART RAT”, Galerija Plus, Banja Luka, 2020
18Milena Ivić, “1+1 gratis”, segment instalacije “ART RAT”, Galerija Plus, Banja Luka, 2020
19Objava dobitnice nagrade MSURS, 2019
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1757703947665701&set=a.421532344616208![]()
20Milena Ivić, “Metal”, interaktivna instalacija nastala u saradnji sa programerom Markom Mačkićem, foto: Jasmin Agović, Goethe Institut, Sarajevo, 2023
21Alma Gačanin, Jelena Fužinato, Milena Ivić, “Draga drugarice”, serija bilborda i intervencija u javnom prostoru, foto: Haris Sahačić, Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar, 2022
22Alma Gačanin, Jelena Fužinato, Milena Ivić, “Draga drugarice”, serija bilborda i intervencija u javnom prostoru, foto: Ajla Salkić, Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar, 2022
23Alma Gačanin, Jelena Fužinato, Milena Ivić, “Draga drugarice”, serija bilborda i intervencija u javnom prostoru, foto: Ajla Salkić, Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar, 2022
24Verges, Françoise, “Feministička teorija nasilja: za antirasističku politiku zaštite”, 2020![]()
25 Milena Ivić, “Obstacle”, POV Drone, video performans, drone pilot: Igor Bošnjak, video: Irma Beširević i Nastasija Puhalo, KC Trebinje, 2021
26Milena Ivić, “Obstacle”, POV Feed, video performans, drone pilot: Igor Bošnjak, video: Irma Beširević i Nastasija Puhalo, KC Trebinje, 2021
27Milena Ivić, “Obstacle”, POV Audience, video performans, drone pilot: Igor Bošnjak, video: Irma Beširević i Nastasija Puhalo, KC Trebinje, 2021
28 Milena Ivić, “Ruin Series”, intervencije u javnom prostoru, izvedba radova: Adin Aškraba, Antonio Radić, Kris Andrić, Nikolina Mudrinić, Dženi Čuljak Batoš, foto: Antonio Radić, Mostar, 2024
29Milena Ivić, “Ruin Series”, intervencije u javnom prostoru, izvedba radova: Adin Aškraba, Antonio Radić, Kris Andrić, Nikolina Mudrinić, Dženi Čuljak Batoš, foto: Antonio Radić, Mostar, 2024
30Milena Ivić, “Ruin Series”, intervencije u javnom prostoru, izvedba radova: Adin Aškraba, Antonio Radić, Kris Andrić, Nikolina Mudrinić, Dženi Čuljak Batoš, foto: Claudia Claude, Mostar, 2024
