Statement

ARTIST STATEMENT

 

 

For quite a long time, I have been dealing in my work with the topic of cultural and social stereotypes and politics of the body. My art projects are based on social research and analyses and express their ideas in visual language. The starting point of every project is an identification of a problem or adverse situation of a minority (be it ethnic, racial or gender/sexual minority). I am interested particularly in minorities who have been systematically eradicated from the hegemonic historical discourses, collective memory and visions of common future (which concerns foremost of Roma worldwide). My visual commentary or statement oftentimes draws on contextual interpretation of the art of western culture and its canonical representations embedded in their specific historical contexts. I regard a substantial part of my work as engaged art. Many projects were interventions or performances in the public space, be it projects with Katarina Boborova, a partner in the performative duo AVO AVO (established by us in 2008) or with the art-activist group Romane Kale Panthera (established by Tamara Moyzes in 2007). The last five years, my work deals with the topic of internal and external construction of Romani identity and the appropriation of the Romani body in the long history of European culture. I deconstruct stereotypical representations used by the majority society. I engage in a dialogue with a viewer on the topic of perception and construction of the Romani identity and challenge his ingrained judgements and views mostly based on their superficial contact with Roma or schematic representations in mainstream culture. Many of my projects addressed the inner tension between the performance of identity in the in-group and out-group setting. The vantage point of my work is an object which I use in (video)installations, performance, or graphics. I approach it as a multi-layered medium which can allows the viewer to read into his/her own ideas and whose perception varies based on the changing context. I push the viewer to re-evaluate their own narratives on a given subject.

 


 

2018

Artists-in-Residence Q21, MuseumQuartier, Vienna, Austria

 

 

2016

Artists in Residence, Jaw Dikh!, Czarna Gora, Poland

 

 

2016

Artists in Residence, Visegrad Fund, Gallery8, Budapest, Hungary

 

 

2014

Artists in Residence, Jaw Dikh!, Czarna Gora, Poland

 

 

2012

Medzicentrum III., Banská St a nica, Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia