Vladimirka Velaga

– born in 2002 in Banja Luka (BiH). She enrolled at the Academy of Arts at the University of Banja Luka in 2021 in the Painting program. She also works as a costume designer for student short films and performances. As a student, she has already participated in several collective and solo exhibitions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region.

I am Vladimirka. The first and only child of Dušan and Anka. Born as an only child, the darling, and the youngest in the extended family. Always surrounded by people, yet alone. When someone is born as the only one, they are always showered with attention, but they know they are essentially alone. I grew up mostly in a female environment, from my mother and grandmother to aunts, relatives, and the girls from the street with whom I played. Thus, from childhood, an exceptional attachment to tenderness and feminine strength was woven into me. The courage of women, which has been nurtured and cultivated in my surroundings for years, now manifests in my artistic work.

“One of the civilizational achievements that fundamentally changed the concept of human life is doors. When a person placed doors on their primitive shelters, they turned them into habitats, i.e., they stopped protecting themselves and hiding, and began to dwell.” Miloš Matić, ethnologist, and anthropologist, states. This sentence determined the core of what I research and engage with in my work. And what I have always been engaged in. I just didn’t know it.

I have always searched for the concept of home, where it is, and what it essentially is. Where is man’s shelter, and where is his habitat? And can these two concepts intertwine? All these questions I open through the lens of the female family line and heritage, which is visible in works with textiles and embroidery, a direct family heritage passed through the line of grandmother-mother-daughter. 123 I also problematize the concept of home and (female) heritage through other media, such as painting 4, video 5, and installation 6. My family beliefs, traumas, and oral traditions become the resource from which I draw the essence of video works and installations.

Research, play, truth. These are the foundations on which I want the process of creating art to rest. Everything that does not delve deeper than the surface is not enough. Everything that has distanced itself from the joy of creation is dead. Everything that is not the truth deceives.

The text was written in consultancy with Adna Muslija (2025).

1Vladimirka Velaga, PROOF, from the series "Turbo Art," art installation, embroidery on canvas, 150x35cm, 2023.
2Vladimirka Velaga, HOUSE, art installation, hair embroidery, 50x70cm, 2024.
3Vladimirka Velaga,DOOR, art installation, hair embroidery, 200x150cm, 2024.
4Vladimirka Velaga,HAIR, oil on canvas, 120x100cm, 2024.
5Vladimirka Velaga,SO EVIL WON’T HEAR, two-channel video installation, duration: 6 min, camera: Kolja Vasić, 2024.
6Vladimirka Velaga,DOWRY, art installation, embroidery, sheets: 145x195cm (two pieces), duvet cover: 200x140cm, pillowcase: 50x70cm, 2023/24.

– rođena 2002. u Banjoj Luci (BiH) gdje 2021. upisuje Akademiju umjetnosti Univerziteta u Banjoj Luci na studijski program Slikarstvo. Ostvaruje se i kao kostimografkinja na studentskim kratkometražnim filmovima i predstavama. Već kao studentica učestvuje na nekoliko kolektivnih i samostalnih izložbi u Bosni i Hercegovini i regionu.

Ja sam Vladimrka. Prvo i jedino dijete Dušana i Anke. Rođena kao jedinica, mezimica i najmlađa u široj familiji. Oduvijek okružena ljudima, a sama. Kada se neko rodi kao jedini, uvijek je obasut pažnjom, ali zna da je suštinski sam. Odrastala sam pretežno u ženskom okruženju, od mame i bake, preko tetki, rođaka, ali i djevojčica iz ulice sa kojima sam se igrala. Tako se, još od djetinjstva, u mene utkala izuzetna privrženost nježjnosti i ženskoj snazi. Hrabrost žena, koja je u mojoj okolini godinama njegovana i uzgajana, sada se ispoljava i u  mom umjetničkom radu. 

“Jedna od civilizacijskih tekovina koja je bitno promijenila pojam ljudskog življenja jesu vrata. Kada je čovjek na svoja primitivna skloništa stavio vrata pretvorio ih je u staništa, odnosno, prestao je da se štiti i sklanja, a počeo je da stanuje.“ Navodi Miloš Matić, etnolog i antropolog. Rečenica koja je odredila okosnicu onoga što istražujem i čime se bavim u svom radu. I čime sam se oduvijek bavila. Samo to nisam znala. 

Uvijek sam tragala za pojmom doma, gdje je on i šta je suštinski. Gdje je čovjekovo sklonište, a gdje stanište? I da li ta dva pojma mogu da se prepliću? Sva ova pitanja otvaram kroz prizmu ženske porodične linije i naslijeđa, što je vidljivo u radovima sa tekstilom i vezom koji je direktna porodična tekovina, prenesena linijom baka-majka-kćerka. 123 Pojam doma i (ženskog) naslijeđa problematiziram i kroz druge medije, poput slikarstva 4, videa 5, i instalacije 6,. Moja porodična uvjerenja, traume i usmene predaje postaju resurs iz koga crpim srž video radova i instalacija.

Istraživanje, igra, istina. To su temelji na kojima želim da počiva proces stvaranja umjetnosti. Sve što ne zariva dublje od površine nije dovoljno. Sve što se udaljilo od radosti stvaranja je mrtvo. Sve što nije istina, obmanjuje.

Tekst je napisan u konsultaciji s Adnom Muslija (2025).

1Vladimirka Velaga, DOKAZ, iz serije „Turbo Art“, umjetnička instalacija, vez na platnu, 150x35cm, 2023
2Vladimirka Velaga, KUĆA, umjetnička instalacija, vez kosom, 50x70cm, 2024.
3Vladimirka Velaga, VRATA, umjetnička instalacija, vez kosom, 200x150cm, 2024.
4Vladimirka Velaga, KOSA, ulje na platnu, 120x100cm, 2024.
5Vladimirka Velaga, DA NE ČUJE ZLO, dvokanalna video instalacija, trajanje: 6 min, kamera: Kolja Vasić, 2024.
6Vladimirka Velaga, MIRAZ, umjetnička instalacija, vez, plahte: 145x195cm (dva komada), navlaka za jorgan: 200x140 cm, jastučnica: 50 x 70 cm, 2023/24.