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Universalmuseum Joanneum [email protected] Mariahilferstraße 4, 8020 Graz, Austria Telephone +43-316/8017-9211 www.museum-joanneum.at 1395 Days without Red The exceptional circumstances of Sarajevo's besieging in film

Kunsthaus Graz, Space 02 Lendkai 1, 8020 Graz Opening: 15.05.2012, 6pm Duration: 16.-20.05.2012, 10am-5pm, screening in loop: Šejla Kamerić, 65 min Screening of Anri Sala's film, 9pm at KIZ RoyalKino, 43 min Coordinator: Katrin Bucher Trantow Information: +43-664/8017-9239 In cooperation with Ari Benjamin Meyers

1395 Days without Red concerns the Yugoslavian civil war, and the besieging of the city of Sarajevo that began exactly 20 years ago and lasted nearly four years. No city in the 20th century had to endure a siege longer, and somehow carry on with daily life. The habit developed among the population not to wear bright clothing so as to not excite the attention of the snipers.

Both films accompany a musician on her route through the city. To the rhythm of the music from Tschaikovsky’s Pathéthique , the woman moves through the streets and over junctions. These highly sensitive places have entered the annals of history as Sniper Alleys. Visible from the mountains and from the snipers positioned there, they symbolise the moment of decision between life and death. Correspondingly the woman’s feelings intensify in line with the music. Thus the sudden onset of silence heralds existential decisions which they are faced with at the street junctions – as are the passers-by coming towards them.

1395 Days without Red began as a jointly conceived project of Šejla Kamerić and Anri Sala (in collaboration with Ari Benjamin Meyers and Liria Bégéja), but then flowed into two films which have differing focuses. Šejla Kamerić’s film is also represented at the CROSSING EUROPE Film Festival Linz.

Commissioned by Artangel with Manchester International Festival; Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester; MACBA Barcelona; Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (enabled by Han Nefkens); Festival d’Automne, Paris; Arts Council England; European Cultural Foundation; Film Fund Sarajevo; Marian Goodman Gallery, New York; Hauser & Wirth, London and Zurich. Co-produced by Artangel and SCCA/pro.ba

Further information: http://www.artangel.org.uk//projects/2011/1395_days_without_red/about_the_project/1395_day s_without_red1 Page 2

Šejla Kamerić Šejla Kamerić was born in 1976 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She uses mainly photography and video as media juxtaposing an explicit social context with intimate perspectives. Her approach to art also includes public interventions, diverse types of actions and site-specific installations. She won the National Gallery of Arts, Tirana, Albania ONUFRI award for 2004, Special award at (46th) October Salon, Belgrade in 2005 and The ECF Routes Princess Margriet Award for Cultural Diversity in 2011. Šejla received DAAD- Berlin, Artist in Residency Fellowship for 2007. Her works have been exhibited throughout Europe, in the USA and in Japan, and have been included in some prestigious European collections such as Muse d'Art Moderne de la ville de Paris; COFF, San Sebastian; collection of the National Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her first short film What do I Know , premiered in Corto Cortissimo section of (64th) Venice International Film Festival and circulated over 40 film festivals winning Best Short Film awards at (5th) Zagreb Film Festival and (15th) Adana Film Festival.

Anri Sala Anri Sala was born in Tirana, Albania, in 1976 and grew up under the most repressive regime in Europe, the Stalinist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. His body of work, primarily in video, is distinguished not so much by a particular look or subject matter as by a specific sensibility. Working primarily with music and location-based filming, Sala’s works are precise evocations of particular sensibilities, made in places as far afield as Albania, Africa, Berlin and now Sarajevo. Anri Sala was educated at the National Academy of Arts, Tirana; at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris; and at Le Fresnoy, Studio National des Arts Contemporains in Tourcoing. Sala has exhibited internationally and is the recipient of numerous prizes. Recent solo shows include Background/Foreground with Edi Rama (About Change Collection, Berlin, 2010) and Purchase Not By Moonlight at various galleries including Marian Goodman Gallery in New York (2009), Contemporary Arts Centre in Cincinatti (2009) and the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami (2008). Concurrent with the London presentation of 1395 Days without Red , the Serpentine will present an exhibition of his work. For further information visit serpentinegallery.org.