Lana Čmajčanin was born in 1983 in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), in a country long cha-racterized by a very complicated political climate and which experienced a civil war until the mid-1990s. The historical and social background that characterizes her country produces an interest in the analysis of both the contemporary history of Bosnia and Herzegovina and of similar international events. Čmajčanin is inspired by details that emerge from research on changes in the geographical boundaries of a territory, or from the effect that the history of a weapon has to cast a light on the turbu-lence and uncertainties of a historical period, and of a people shocked by political conflicts. In the video Female President, Čmajčanin in the role of the President narrates in first person, and with an authoritative tone the story of a girl that was raped and tortured, together with her mother by Serbian soldiers during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, thereby subverting the stereotype of the passive and pitying victim. The artist has adopted a radical attitude that brings a personal and private experience to a more public and political environment. The work is part of the Trauma of the crime project (2005-2011), a series of works that discuss the mass rapes of women during the war. The artist uses a dramatic tone to remind the public that these raped women are also victims of wars.

Shujun Li e Youyou Ge