{"id":1047,"date":"2021-09-03T14:16:36","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T12:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sanjalasic.com\/?p=1047"},"modified":"2026-05-04T08:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T06:37:08","slug":"sevdah-of-lost-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sanjalasic.com\/?p=1047","title":{"rendered":"Sevdah of Lost Identity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“My ongoing project Sevdah of Lost Identity<\/em> started in 2018 as an inquiry into the musical and visual motifs of the traditional art and culture of my native country, Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH). My research into sevdalinka<\/em> songs first developed into performance and video pieces, and then continued in the form of drawings and collages inspired by handicrafts, specifically the folk art of c\u0301ilim<\/em> (tapestry) and
vez<\/em> (cross-stitch). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the project, I deal with identity, post-traumatic stress disorder, forced displacement, and intergenerational and unhealed trauma from an embodied female perspective. The project builds on my personal experience of the war in BiH in the 1990s, the subsequent postwar period, and the aftermath of forced displacement, which stripped away my sense of self. Driven by a desire to reclaim this lost identity, I delved into the history of BiH, ex-Yugoslavia, and the Balkans, gathering information about collective traditions, cultural heritage, and my own ancestral roots. I look at elements and motifs of traditional heritage, research their meaning, and then use this knowledge within my own artistic practice.”
“Standpoint Autotheory. Writing Embodied Experiences and Relational Artistic Practices” Vol. 29 (2025). Akademie der Bildenden K\u00fcnste Wien & Sternberg Press. p.74-75<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sanja Lasic, Turtle carrying world on her shoulders, 2019 \/ 50 x 70 cm \/ pastel on paper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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