Preparations for Until Death (Experimental Action, International Performance Art Festival, Houston, 2017), as seen in Robert Adanto’s upcoming documentary Born Just Now
O ften when someone asks me what is it that I do and I say that I am a performance art- ist, I see a puzzled expression on that person’s face. Performance has its origins in theatre and dance, but it is nei- ther of the two - it is a visual arts practise and it stands on its own. A performance piece usually takes place in a gallery or a museum, but it can also happen in a thea- tre or in the street. Performance is a disci- pline that runs wild and free, it is an expe- rience that attempts and often manages to transform the performer as much as the audience. In February this year I spent three full days in the Rothko Chapel in Houston read- ing prayers of all the religions I could gath- er information on. I titled this performance “Faith”. On the last day, I walked out of the Chapel a different person. It was physical- ly challenging and rather painful, but more than anything it was emotional. People came and prayed with me, cried, laughed, sat in silence with me for hours. They wrote me e-mails after saying what a deep impact the performance had had on them. This is even more striking if one considers that the Roth- ko Chapel is not a religious chapel, but rather a spiritual place created by an artist. I was trained as a visual artist and when the canvas, glass, clay and marble ceased to be enough, my own body became a tool with and through which I could finally ex- press myself without compromise. In my performances, I examine desires, exorcise fears, face hopes and ask questions. I do so through radical, emotionally-charged acts: I burned my wedding dress, smashed over 700 eggs as a symbol of motherhood chances wasted on art and had over 100 pig hearts thrown at me in a symbolic act of love, which accidentally resulted in bro- ken rib. Yet, occupational hazards aside, performance saved my life.
Opravdanje nije neophodno (2014. Njujork), fotograf Majkl Donovan (slika levo) No Justification Necessary (2014, New York), photo by Michael Donovan (photo on the left)
So when I needed salvation again, I moved back to Belgrade after many years and began a mission to bring my home- town back on the map when it comes to the international performance art scene. In this endeavuor, I found a partner in Mil- ica Pekić Belgrade-based curator. That is how PerformanceHUB was born. A plat- form that provides students and young artists with an innovative approach to ed- ucation through encounters with inter- nationally renowned performance artists, professors and lecturers, Performance- HUB started operating in 2015. When in December 2016 its first generation stu- dents Ivana Ranisavljević and Sara Kostić had a chance to perform in front of an in- ternational audience at the Venice Inter- national Performance Art Week - one of the most acclaimed international events in this field - I was moved to tears. That moment for me was just as important as any of my own performances. Indeed, as a mentor, it is my greatest challenge and biggest satisfaction to see my stu- dents thrive. As a mentor, I also feel that it is my duty to preserve the legacy of our per- formance art scene, which spawned some of the most prominent performance art- ists in the world. So, this summer, Perfor- manceHUB is launching its first summer course for international students “Perfor- mance Art in the former Yugoslavia and current practise in the region”. In a very short time since I have been living in Bel- grade again, I have received amazing sup- port from the local institutions, as well as from my international network. After hav- ing lived in New Orleans, New York, Rome, Florence and London, I believe that my hometown can aspire to become a cultur- al and art epicentre and I am devoting as much energy to this goal as if it were one of my own performances.
KO JE MARTA? Rođena u Beogradu, međunarodno po- znati performans umetnik i pedagog Marta Jovanović diplomirala je na Tula- ne Univerzitetu nakon studija na Scuola Lorenzo de Medici u Firenci. Pohađala je Performans program na Institutu za umetnost Hemispheric na njujorškom univerzitetu, kao i AIM program Bronks muzeja. Dobila je prestižnu nagradu Roma Capitale za značajan umetnič- ki doprinos Italiji. Marta je trenutno te- ma dokumentarnog filma Rođen upra - vo sad u režiji Roberta Adanta, čija se premijera očekuje početkom slede- ce godine. WHO IS MARTA? Born in Belgrade, performance artist and educator Marta Jovanović received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Tulane University after studying at Scuola Lo- renzo de Medici in Florence. She atten- ded the Performance Art and Politics Programme of the Hemispheric Art In- stitute at New York University, as well as the AIM (Artist In The Market Place) Pro- grame of the Bronx Museum. She rece- ived the prestigious “Roma Capitale” award for distinguished artistic contri- bution in Italy. Jovanović is currently the subject of “Born Just Now”, a documen- tary film directed by Robert Adanto sc- heduled to be released worldwide ear- ly next year.
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