Nebojsa Seric Shoba in Conversation with Jovana Stokić

Wednesday, April 21, 2010 @ 7pmFREE and open to the public

Location One is happy to present a conversation with Bosnian artist Nebojša Šeric Shoba, and curator of the Abramović Studio, Jovana Stokić.
This evening will discuss the work of artist Nebojsa Seric Shoba. His work deals with manifold ways of reframing history. The artist confronts us with the many memories and points of view that such a history evokes.

About the Artist
Conscripted to fight in defense of his hometown of Sarajevo during the Bosnian civil war, (1992 – 1995), Nebojša Šerić-Shoba served the majority of his military mandate digging trenches amidst the bodies that littered the battlefield. It is from these wartime experiences that the artist developed a profound sense of distrust for a political machine that saw neighbors taking aim at neighbors, firing across seemingly arbitrary lines of demarcation. Eventually this experience led him to the sober realization that the “history of the human race…can be seen as a history of conflicts,” the majority of which “are destined to be forgotten, buried beneath the surface of history.” The artist’s subsequent travels found him photographing numerous battlefields, including those at Waterloo, Gallipoli, Troy, Verdun, Normandy, Istanbul, Gettysburg and Kursk.

As competing social, cultural, and linguistic incarnations make it nearly impossible to lay claim to any fixed idea of national history or identity, the relationship between history and place has become a struggle for the possession of the past.

Jovana Stokić will present some of the artist’s works, screen his videos, and speak with him about his practice.

ARTIST TALK::