Five good reasons to view
Selma Selman in the SCHIRN

Only a few years ago, she boldly and confi­dently entered into the spot­light of the inter­na­tional art world, describing herself as “the most dangerous woman in the world.” Together with her family, Selman disas­sem­bles former status symbols like Mercedes-Benz cars in front of an audi­ence, in order to acquire the few precious metals that are still usable. The spoken perfor­mances by this artist with a Roma back­ground are usually loud, for she gives expres­sion to anger and her urge to reverse power rela­tion­ships. In a variety of media, Selman’s art explores expe­ri­ences of discrim­i­na­tion, violence, sexism, and patri­archy in a striking way. Her multi­lay­ered work comprises perfor­mances, sculp­tures, paint­ings on car parts and scrap metal, draw­ings, and video.

At the SCHIRN, the artist presents prints, small sculp­tural works made from precious metals, and two perfor­mances that pick up on central themes of her oeuvre, as well as two newly created works. The instal­la­tion “Flowers of Life” (2024), made from multi­pronged grabs, gestures to her family’s liveli­hood, which involves collecting and reselling scrap metal. The film “Crossing the Blue Bridge” (2024) is based on her mother’s memo­ries of expe­ri­ences in her home­town of Bihać during the Bosnian War (1992– 95).

The exhi­bi­tion centers around the newly conceived work “Flowers of Life” (2024), which gives the exhi­bi­tion its title. This expan­sive instal­la­tion consists of four used multi­pronged grabs, typi­cally found on construc­tion sites and scrap yards. In Selma Selman’s appro­pri­a­tion, the massive machines are trans­formed into flower-like kinetic sculp­tures powered by a motor, their blos­soms slowly opening and closing. Inside, they reveal paint­ings by the artist. “Flowers of Life” ties in with Selman’s well-known works with scrap metal, “Paint­ings on Metal” (since 2014), which oscil­late between painting and sculp­ture and refer to her family’s scrap metal trade. The sensual, floral inter­pre­ta­tion of “Flowers of Life” reverses mascu­line and femi­nine conno­ta­tions, at the same time revealing women as the key driving force of the commu­nity. With strong and defiant formal language, Selman rein­ter­prets stig­ma­tizing stereo­types that the social majority has constructed around Roma culture and the role of women.

Selman’s origins and the inclu­sion of her family in her artistic prac­tice form an inte­gral part of her work. The inten­sive collab­o­ra­tion with her mother espe­cially revolves around auto­bi­og­raphy, visi­bility, and eman­ci­pa­tion as a Roma woman, and has already been reflected in numerous works. The SCHIRN presents the new film “Crossing the Blue Bridge” (2024; 27:15 min.) in a two-screen instal­la­tion. “Crossing the Blue Bridge” exam­ines the lingering effects of histor­ical trauma, as well as care, courage, and resis­tance. Selman inhabits the role of her mother and reen­acts her memo­ries.

The film is based on her mother’s expe­ri­ences during the Bosnian war: On a day during a cease­fire in 1994, her mother went into town with Selman’s sister to find food. On the way home, they had to cross Bihać’s Alija Izetbe­gović Bridge, also called the Blue Bridge, which was strewn with corpses and animal carcasses. While trying to simul­ta­ne­ously cover her child’s eyes and carry the heavy basket of food, the strong winds blew her hair around her face, obscuring her view. Selman recre­ates this image in her film, linking it to figures from Greek mythology, among others, in a haunt­ingly recited text in English, Bosnian, and Romani. She styl­izes her mother as a heroine who is partially respon­sible for her daughter’s ability to cope under the most adverse condi­tions in today’s world. The Blue Bridge trans­forms into a symbol of Selman’s artistic activism, which she uses to create new paths.

“Super­po­si­tional Inter­sec­tion­alism – Sleeping Guards” (2023–ongoing), a series of sixteen colored pencil draw­ings on round paper, revolves around Selman’s self-portrait. The draw­ings depict inti­mate obser­va­tions of female figures whose faces and bodies meta­mor­phose into surreal hybrids with fluid iden­ti­ties, expanding and taking on abstract forms. The pene­trating gaze of an eye, a recur­ring motif in Selman’s work resur­faces in these pictures as a refer­ence to iden­tity and social systems of codi­fi­ca­tion. Here, too, Selman addresses the possi­bil­i­ties and limi­ta­tions of what she can be— a woman, an artist, a Roma person, an inter­na­tion­ally successful star, a daughter, a Muslim, a Euro­pean. The title combines the quantum physics phenom­enon of super­po­si­tion, which describes how an atom can be in different states at the same time, with the concept of inter­sec­tion­ality, which refers to the conflu­ence of several forms of discrim­i­na­tion.

Two live perfor­mances by the artist will take place over the course of the exhi­bi­tion. For the opening of the exhi­bi­tion, Selman will present “You Have No Idea” (since 2015). Depending on the situ­a­tion, the haunting perfor­mance can last between just five minutes and an hour and a half. With her contin­uous repe­ti­tion of the phrase that gives the piece its title, she addresses social clas­si­fi­ca­tion and confronts the audi­ence with their subcon­scious assump­tions about other people. In a reading Selman will perform the work “Letters to Omer” (since 2021). In the ongoing series of letters, which she is contin­u­ously publishing on her insta­gram account, the artist shares inti­mate thoughts, wishes, and visions of a possible future with a fictional char­acter named Omer.