Tijana Petrović
– born in 1997 in Belarus. Tijana is a Serbian artist and researcher whose artistic inquiries are primarily situated within geopolitical and critical institutional frameworks. She employs various forms of artistic exploration, including performance and video performance, textual art, discursive practices, and conversations. She graduated and earned her master’s degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade and obtained an advanced master’s degree in artistic research from the Sint-Lucas School of Arts in Antwerp. In recent years, her practice has been defined by the interplay of intervention and reflection of subjects within her socio-political context and the use of the peripheral as a means of radical self-interpretation. She deals with themes of identity, borders, labor, and storytelling, especially in the context of migration and diaspora.
She is a member of two collectives: Seasonal Neighbours and Лeζotרes
My origin is my greatest source of confusion. I often joke that I’m a secret agent of a country that doesn’t exist. It took me many years to stop joking and to start seriously considering this as my strategic position.
I was born in Moscow to parents from countries that no longer exist – Yugoslavia (now Serbia) and the Soviet Union (today Belarus). Due to a bureaucratic error, my official place of birth is a village in Belarus, where my mother is from. In Serbia, however, my “place of birth” is registered as a city belonging to the Russian Federation. And in Belgium, where I currently study and live, I’m listed as a citizen of Serbia and Montenegro, a country that hasn’t existed since 2006. I lived in Russia for five years, spoke Russian, learned English, and learned my father’s language after I migrated for the first time.
I spent most of my life in Serbia, where the Serbian language and culture quickly erased my old heritage for the sake of integration and building pride. I couldn’t easily visit my family in Belarus, and the occasional, rare trips were painful, as they reminded me of a part of myself that was torn away. The themes of borders and freedom of movement have burned within me since childhood, feeding my anger, my sense of injustice, and dispersing me. The geopolitical status of both Serbia and Belarus constantly placed me in a position of envy toward the West, while simultaneously imposing a subservient relational role. Both in my private life and artistic practice, I often reflect on my position “in-between” and on the fact that my narrative is embodied through the so-called Eastern Europeanness.
Once, I was asked a question that I had to answer through my work: “What should an Eastern European artist be like?”1 This question carries an assumption that an Eastern European artist should be a certain way, embodying the expected fetishes of my/our radical performativity2 It pushed me to delve deeper into exploring the cracks that appear in the scenes of representation of this Otherness 3, as well as to question how to reverse the conditions of such representation so that its benefits “return” to those being represented. This led me to address the issue of limited mobility and self-imposed borders present in Kosovo and, indirectly, the series of prejudices tied to it.4. Although naïve courage stood behind my artistic intentions, I was confronted with the responsibility I then had to learn to share. That was the moment I entered a crisis, realizing that working alone exhausted me, but also that art, in some ways, deepened the gap between people affected by its limited language.
The desire for recognition within the context of the Academy and related institutions of artistic legitimization was turned upside down by my departure from Serbia to Belgium, which ultimately deepened the rift between me and my questionable origins. As a result, my artistic practice became a transmitter, and my position as a “secret agent” became a strategy. I began learning anew from the people around me. I incorporated their knowledge into my discourse—not only as legitimate but as knowledge that offers a form of reparation.5 6
From the beginning, I was marked by otherness, so it wasn’t natural for me to use peripheral markers and dialects I never felt I fully possessed. I grew up in contradiction—on one side were loud storytellers, folk music, the working class, myths, legends, and a collective hallucination that erased what reason understood as reality; and on the other was the city – the Academy, reason, and “culture.” I found myself in-between. What always troubled me, and what I was afraid to approach alone, I now approach with the support of others. My love is directed toward the working class and rural communities, the language they speak, and the exploration of seemingly uncultured, loud storytelling as rebellious and poetic. For me, the concept of home is largely connected to the notion of language and the “vocabulary” I possess, as well as to the people surrounding me. Living in cities like Moscow, Belgrade, and Brussels, while simultaneously experiencing rural environments in Serbia and Belarus, has taught me how to practice hospitality, what it means, and which language to use to be heard.
Diaspora, ordinary people, friends, and family have become my main collaborators and sources of knowledge, while the fight against marginalization—and self-marginalization for the sake of belonging and recognition—has become my goal. I’ve firmly adopted a working method that uses the practice of imagination, speculation, and storytelling. I recognize this as a concrete strategy incorporated into everyday conversations, rough consonants, rituals of arriving and departing. Imagining the place from which we speak is what I want to practice, as part of a speculative approach that tests “what if” scenarios (“as if,” Ruth Wilson Gilmore). This way, I learn and practice not only how to speak about the “scene of the crime” but also how to return to it. My first conscious return was in 2024, to the place where the work in Kosovo happened—or rather, didn’t happen.7
A personal fetish for borders developed from the repressive experience of living in an environment defined by rigid “administrative crossings.” The idea that there are limited areas through which we can enter a foreign country becomes evident when juxtaposed with a reality where such crossings don’t exist in the same way. “Earning” such a privilege exposes past traumatic experiences, expressed through fear, shock, jokes, anger, and often nostalgia for a familiar repressive reality. I recognize these narratives as testimonies, which serve as starting points and material I use today in my artistic practice.
By uncovering these testimonies and negotiating their origins (a secret agent knows how to hide traces), listening becomes an activity of central importance in the context of activist and solidarity struggles. By listening, we actively engage in the scenes of truth-making and transformation, building a collective capacity to imagine resistance to the everyday sources of repression that often extend beyond the obvious and the articulated.
I like to think that my artistic work will evolve in a direction that explores, tests, learns, and applies methods leading to concrete proposals for new narratives and practices of imagining “freedom as a place.”8
1
Image: Tijana Petrović, What Should an Eastern European Artist be Like?, multi-channel video installation, 2019. From the Marinko Sudac collection
See:
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2
Image: Tijana Petrović, Act as if you know your place!, video performance, 2022.
Link: https://vimeo.com/827227049
See:
https://secondaryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2-10.jpg
3
Image: Tijana Petrović, Wien Wien, video, 2020. The work was realized with the support of the Austrian Cultural Forum and presented on the platform At Second Glance.
Link: https://www.secondglance.rs/en/viewpoints/tijana-petrovic/287 /
See:
https://secondaryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3-8-scaled.jpg
4
Image: Tijana Petrović, I like that you’re naïve, video, 2021. In collaboration with: Vesna Sekulić, Uroš Ranković, Vladislav Andrejević and Milica Bilanović.
See:
https://secondaryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/4-7.jpg
5
Image: Tijana Petrović, Gastarbajter’s guide through poetic possibilities, book, 2022. Photo: Tijana Petrović. Composed with the voices of: Dejan, Slavk, Olga and Mućin.
Link: https://issuu.com/tijana_p/docs/poems_book2a?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tijanapetrovic.com
See:
https://secondaryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/5-7.jpg
6
Image: Tijana Petrović, I was a river, an elephant and a worker, Audio-visual performance, 2023. Photo: Tijana Petrović. In collaboration with Davide Paolillo (music), Tijana Petrović (text, video, and scenography), Barbara Udovčić (violin), Annija Endija Kolerta (violin), Miguel Lopez (clarinet), Yngwie Janseghers (electric guitar). Link: https://vimeo.com/828095622
See:
https://secondaryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/7-9-scaled.jpg
7
Image: Tijana Petrović, So there will be a film #1, two-channel video, 2024. In collaboration with: Martina Petrović, Jana Vasiljević, Mladen Bundalo, and Davide Paolillo.
Link: https://vimeo.com/983558988 /
See:
https://secondaryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/8-8.jpg
8
Gilmore, Ruth & Antipon, Livia & Alves, Cristiano & Novo, Maria. (2024). Freedom is a place. Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Abolition Geography. GEOUSP Espaço e Tempo (Online). 28. e-222824. 10.11606/issn.2179 0892.geousp.2024.222824.
Rođena je 1997. u Belorusiji. Tijana je srpska je umetnica i istaživačica čija su umetnička pitanja primarno situirana u geopolitički i kritički institucionalni okvir. Koristi različite forme umetničkog istraživanja od performansa i video-performansa, zatim tekstualne umetnosti, te diskurzivnih praksi i konverzacija. Diplomirala je i magistrirala na Fakultetu likovnih umetnosti u Beogradu, i stekla diplomu naprednih master studija istraživanja u umetnosti na Sint-Lucas školi za umetnost u Antverpenu. Poslednjih godina njena praksa je definisana međuigrom intervencije i refleksije subjekata unutar njenog društveno-političkog okruženja i korišćenjem perifernog kao sredstva radikalne samointerpretacije. Bavi se temama identiteta, granica, rada i pripovedanja, naročito u kontekstu migracije i dijaspore.
Članica je dva kolektiva: Seasonal Neighbours i Лeζotרes.
https://tijanapetrovic.com/
https://seasonalneighbours.com/
Moje poreklo je moj najveći izvor konfuzije. Često se šalim da sam tajni agent zemlje koja ne postoji. Trebalo mi je dosta godina da prestanem da se šalim i da počnem ozbiljno da razmišljam o tome kao o svojoj strateškoj poziciji.
Rođena sam u Moskvi od roditelja koji vode poreklo iz država kojih više nema – Jugoslavije (sada Srbije) i Sovjetskog Saveza (danas Belorusije). Zbog birokratske greške, ja se u administrativnoj realnosti vodim kao osoba rođena u selu u Belorusiji odakle je moja mama. U Srbiji pak, mesto gde sam „rođena“ zavedeno je kao grad koji pripada Ruskoj Federaciji, a u Belgiji, gde danas studiram i živim, vodim se kao građanka Srbije i Crne Gore, zemlje koja ne postoji od 2006. godine. U Rusiji sam živela pet godina, pričala sam ruski, učila engleski i čekala da prvim put migriram i da naučim i tatin jezik.
U Srbiji sam provela veći deo svog života, i srpski jezik i kultura brzo su brisali moje staro poreklo zarad integracije i izgradnje ponosa. Porodicu u Belorusiji nisam mogla lako da vidim i teško su mi padali povremeni i retki odlasci jer su me podsećali na deo mene koji je otrgnut. Teme granica i slobode pokreta buktale su u meni od malih nogu, hraneći me besom, nepravdom i uvodeći disperziju. Geopolitički status kako Srbije tako i Belorusije konstantno me je postavljao u poziciju zavisti spram Zapada, i istovremeno, u snishodljivo relacionu ulogu. Kako u privatnom životu, tako i u mojoj umetničkoj praksi, često se osvrćem na svoju poziciju „između“ i na činjenicu da je moj narativ otelotvoren kroz tzv. istočno-evropeičnost.
Jednom mi je bilo postavljeno pitanje na koje sam morala da odgovorim kroz rad: „Kakva istočnoevropska umetnica treba da bude?“1 Ovo pitanje u sebi sadrži pretpostavku da istočnoevropska umetnica treba da bude nekakva, ono otelotvoruje fetiše koji se očekuju kroz moju/našu radikalnu performativnost.2 Ono me je povuklo da dublje uđem u istraživanje o pukotinama koje se pojavljuju u scenama reprezentacije ove Drugosti,3 kao i da se zapitam kako da se preokrenu uslovi te reprezentacije tako da se njeni benefiti „vrate“ onima koji su reprezentovani. Tako sam se odlučila da pristupim problemu limitiranog kretanja i samoformiranih granica prisutnih na Kosovu, te posredno nizu predrasuda koja se za to vezuju.4 I mada je naivna hrabrost stajala iza mojih umetničkih namera, suočila sam se sa odgovornošću koju sam tada morala da naučim da delim. To je bio momenat u kojem sam zapala u krizu, u kojem sam shvatila da se previše umaram kad radim sama, ali i da umetnost, u neku ruku, produbljuje jaz između ljudi zahvaćenih njenim limitiranim jezikom.
Želja za priznanjem u kontekstu Akademije i srodnih institucija umetničke legitimacije okrenula se naglavačke mojim odlaskom iz Srbije u Belgiju, koje je najzad produbilo rascep između mene i mog upitnog porekla. Zbog toga mi je umetnička praksa postala transmitor, a moja pozicija „tajnog agenta“ strategija. Počela sam da učim ispočetka od ljudi koji su bili u mojoj okolini. Uvodila sam u svoj diskurs njihovo znanje i to ne samo kao legitimno, već kao znanje koje nudi izvesnu vrstu reparacije.5 6 Kako sam od početka bila obeležena kroz drugost, nije mi bilo prirodno da koristim periferne markere i narečje koje nikad nisam osećala da potpuno posedujem. Odrastala sam u kontradikciji – s jedne strane stajali su glasni pripovedači, narodna muzika, radnička klasa, mitovi, legende i kolektivna halucinacija koja briše ono što razum razume kao stvarnost; s druge bio je grad, Akademija, razum i „kultura“. Ja sam se našla između. Ono što me je oduvek žuljalo, i ono čemu me je bio strah da pristupim sama, sada pristupam uz podršku drugih ljudi. Moja ljubav okrenuta je ka radničkoj klasi i seljacima, jeziku kojim govore, te istraživanju prividno nekulturnog, glasnog pripovedanja kao buntovnog i poetičnog. Pojam doma za mene je velikim delom povezan s pojmom jezika i „rečnika“ koje posedujem, kao i za ljude kojima sam okružena. Iskustvo života u gradovima poput Moskve, Beograda i Brisela, ali istovremeno i u ruralnim sredinama u Srbiji i Belorusiji, naučilo me je kako da uvežbavam gostoprimstvo 7i šta to znači, kao i kojim jezikom da govorim kako bih bila saslušana.
Dijaspora, obični ljudi, prijatelji i porodica postali su mi glavni saradnici i izvori znanja, a borba protiv marginalizacije ali i samomarginalizacije zarad pripadanja i priznanja, postao je moj cilj. Čvrsto sam preuzela radnu metodu koja koristi praksu imaginacije, spekulacije i pripovedanja. Ovo prepoznajem kao konkretnu strategiju inkorporiranu u svakodnevnim konverzacijama, grubim suglasnicima, ritualima dolaska i odlaska. Zamišljanje mesta sa kojeg govorimo je ono što želim da uvežbavam, upravo kao deo spekulativne prakse koja testira „šta ako“ scenarije („as if“, Ruth Wilson Gilmore). Na ovaj način učim i praktikujem ne samo kako da pričam o mestima „zločina“, već i kako da se vratim na njih. Moj prvi svesni povratak bio je 2024. na mesto gde se desio, ili pre, gde se nije desio rad na Kosovu. 8 Lični fetiš granica razvio se iz represivnog iskustva življenja u okruženju kojeg definišu rigorozni „administrativni prelazi“. Ideja da postoje ograničena područja kroz koja možemo ući u stranu državu postaje očigledna u jukstapoziciji spram realnosti u kojoj ovakvi prelazi ne postoje na isti način. „Zaslužiti“ ovakvu privilegiju iznosi na videlo prethodna traumatska iskustva, izrečena kroz strah, šok, šale, bes i često nostalgiju za poznatom represivnom realnošću. Ovakve narative prepoznajem kao svedočenja i upravo ona mi služe kao početna tačka i materijal koji koristim danas u svojoj umetničkoj praksi.
Razotkrivajući ova svedočenja i pregovarajući o njihovom poreklu (tajni agent ume da sakrije tragove), slušanje postaje slušanje postaje aktivnost od centralnog značaja u kontekstu aktivističkih i solidarnih borbi. Slušajući, aktivno se uključujemo u scene proizvodnje istine i transformacije, gradeći kolektivni kapacitet za zamišljanje otpora spram svakodnevnih izvora represije koji se često protežu izvan očiglednog i artikulisanog.
Volim da mislim da će se moj umetnički rad razvijati u smeru koji istražuje, isprobava, uči i primenjuje metode koje vode ka konkretnim predlozima novih narativa i praksi zamišljanja „slobode kao mesta“.
1
Slika: Tijana Petrović, Kakva istočnoevropska umetnica treba da bude? (What Should an Eastern European Artist be Like?), multikanalna video instalacija, 2019. Rad je u Kolekciji Marinko Sudac
Pogledaj:
https://secondaryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/1-8.jpg
2
Slika: Tijana Petrović, Act as if you know your place!, video performans, 2022.
Link: https://vimeo.com/827227049
Pogledaj:
https://secondaryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2-10.jpg
3
Slika: Tijana Petrović, Wien Wien, video, 2020. Rad je realizovan uz podršku Austrijskog kulturnog foruma i prezentovan na platformi At Second Glance
Link: https://www.secondglance.rs/en/viewpoints/tijana-petrovic/287 /
Pogledaj:
https://secondaryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3-8-scaled.jpg
4
Slika: Tijana Petrović, I like that you’re naïve, video, 2021. U saradnji sacija sa: Vesna Sekulić, Uroš Ranković, Vladislav Andrejević i Milica Bilanović.
Pogledaj:
https://secondaryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/4-7.jpg
5
Image: Tijana Petrović, Gastarbajter’s guide through poetic possibilities, knjiga, 2022. Foto: Tijana Petrović. Komponovano sa glasovima: Dejana, Slavka, Olge i Mućinog.
Link: https://issuu.com/tijana_p/docs/poems_book2a?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tijanapetrovic.com
Pogledaj:
https://secondaryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/5-7.jpg
6
Image: Tijana Petrović, I was a river, an elephant and a worker, audio-vizuelni performans, 2023. Foto: Tijana Petrović. U saradnji sa: Davide Paolillo (muzika), Tijana Petrović (tekst, video i scenografija), Barbara Udovčić (violina), Annija Endija Kolerta (violina), Miguel Lopez (klarinet), Yngwie Janseghers (električna gitara).
Link: https://vimeo.com/828095622
Pogledaj:
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7
Image: Tijana Petrović, Ghosts in Town, javni događaj, 2023. Foto: Kelly Donckers i Jonathan De Maeyer. U saradnji sa: Seasonal Neighbours. Uz podršku Ar-Tur, Platform for architecture and space in Kempen. Projekat je realizovan kao deo „dorpsmakersfestival“.
Pogledaj:
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