Vi Nemate Pojma (You Have No Idea) is a live piece that is to be performed, where I continually repeat the phrase, “You have no idea.” This performance is a very intimate one. It is my frustration brought to life. You have no idea – you have no idea about my life as a whole. You do not know who I am, nor do you know my happiness or sadness. You do not know about the presence or absence of pain in my life, nor how I feel at the moment that I perform this piece to a live audience. You have no idea.
Though this piece refers to the specific circumstances of my life, I believe that it also carries a universal message. We have no idea about the struggles that others are facing. We have no idea, but we think that we do.
Text by Selma Selman
Information: For her D’EST contribution, Selma Selman’s recorded live performance has been transformed into an audio piece to suggest a different (artistic) experience. This piece is also implemented in the background of the general page of screening chapter #3.
Selma Selman comes from Bosnia and Herzegovina and is of Romani origin. Her work addresses the struggles of her own life as well as her community. She employs a plethora of media such as performance, painting, photography, and video installation. Selman defines herself as an artist of Roma origins, and not a Romani artist, making a subtle, yet critical distinction in her work. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2014 from the Department of Painting at Banja Luka University. In 2018 she graduated from Syracuse University in New York State with a Master of Fine Arts in Transmedia, Visual, and Performing Arts. The artist lives and works in the USA and Europe.
