Exhibition

Selma Selman (BA)

*exhibition opening & official closing of the festival

The exhibition No Space, by Selma Selman, examines a very delicate and always present topic of space: personal, collective, physical, mental, emotional, political, feminine, irrational, creative, real, inner, space of empathy, space of requestioning and survival. On the stage in Hamburg, Selma and her family destroyed the symbol of capitalist society - the Mercedes Benz car, demonstrating, along with the aesthetics of matrix, the hard work of survival of her family as well as her artistic practice. For Selma, everyday life is the focus, such as constant re-examination of personal beliefs and shifting the boundaries. Selma's No space! is her coming out on the line.

The scenes of Selma's performance are monumental: the joint engagement of an experienced family group in breaking it down into something that in a capitalist society represents the production of the self confidence of many, the meaning of accomplishment and proven values. By taking away these characteristics of a once established symbol, breaking it with physical work and power into the small parts which further trade provides their survival, Selma and her family members realize an alchemical process that connects them. 

Selma's artwork is very intimate, like a family approach. She is often a voice of her family, which follows her courageous steps of perceiving the system and stepping out of it. It's really about teamwork and togetherness. 

Intimacy, clarity and strength are characteristics of Selma's engagement. The No Space functions and sets on these principles in the MoCa - Skopje. The space becomes a delicate cinema hall in which classic seats are replaced by old ones, torn from the bowels of Mercedes vehicles. The seats thus create a special installation that matches the projection of the Mercedes Matrix films. This precise and adequate intervention is at the same time film, performance and a stage that is extended in the physical space of the gallery which recreates Selma's or our common reality. Even though the number of seats is limited, the way Selma approaches the audience from the stage of her life, she says that there will be space for everyone, at least for those who are brave and willing enough to meet them.

Ivana Ivkovic