LES BALKANNES
Contempl'Art's second exhibition in Paris in 2023 and in Nantes in 2023 and 2024.
1st Prize Winner
Home Again, Theodor Papadakis
Greece
" The invasion of technology and social media has brought changes in every aspect of the modern world. This photographic series is an observation of the blurred boundaries between private and public life.
Much like we are used to sharing our everyday routines on social media with questionable control over the circulation of our content, each room “resident” was “feeling like home” despite the presence of many people walking down the street watching these publicly exposed private moments unfold."
2nd Prize Winner
Guxim, Arijan Zymeraj
Kosovo
« My latest work and graduation project is titled ‘Guxim’, which translates to ‘to dare’. This body of work is dedicated to the underground LGBTQIA+ Community in Kosovo, which blossoms everywhere you go.
The brightness with which these people manage to shine, even in the darker times caused by the polarizing climate of the world, begs to be captured and portrayed in all its color. »
3rd Prize Winner
The Rail Face Portrait,
Borna Bursać, Croatia
In our world today, we rarely stop and think about the beauty of every-day situations—the moments in life that are pure and connected to a deeper energy of space and time. Like the way a candle in flame is melting and vanishing while at the same time producing a new dimension for the viewer. Combined in one picture, we can see both sides of the story, forming a new reality of a dream.
Contempl'Art selection
Barefoot friendship,
Marko Dajak, Croatia
« At the very end of the last century, in the crazy but progressive 90s, while the world was preparing for a new millennium, a guy (actually, I don’t even know his name, not even his nationality) accidentally changed everything. He was dystrophic and became very important by misspelling the word brothers (in some kind of national document) and instead of it writing "borders". Unfortunately, that mixture of o, r, t, h, d has changed the future of many generations in middle east Europe populary know as the Balkans. That guy changed the story of my childhood. At the same time, when I heard that story, there was another guy who showed me a French punk band called Youth Avoiders. The right foot in the photograph is his (and the left is mine). That guy changed the rest of my life. He is Serbian. »
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Shokë Zëri, Muhamet Spahiju,
Albania
« With this photograph, my intention was to convey the effect that the COVID-19 Pandemic hadon my relationship with friends in the city.
When you try to have a conversation by messaging on your smartphone, there is always the possibility of distraction. That’s why the phone booths are important. All your energy and focus are going into the conversation. The difficult part was that almost nobody wanted to put all this effort and energy into a conversation over the phone. In the end, I found myself with only one friend. That’s why there are only two phone booths. One for me and the other for my friend. I chose to photograph the scene at nighttime because having a real conversation during those hours felt like going out without physically going out. It felt like a psychological solution to the lockdown. »
Antilukovantifa, Laura Riedl
Bulgaria
« I took this photograph on the 13th of February 2022, at the anti-fascist counterprotest to the annual ‚Lukov March‘ that takes place every year in Sofia. It is merely a snapshot taken on a disposable camera to capture the energy of the moment, as I was scared to bring my heavier, more professional camera in fear it could be used against me in a situation of conflict. Lukov March is a protest to commemorate General Christo Lukov, politician, minister of war, and Nazi ideologist, who was shot on the 13th of February 1943 in Sofia. This year, the Bulgarian Antifa organized a counter-protest, to show that not everybody agrees with allowing Nazi ideologists to take over the streets. Violence will never silence us, we are resilient and will stand back up and keep fighting for what we believe in. »
Britney Bitch, Amina Ahmetagić
Bosnia & Herzegovina
« I was over at Maja’s house, and the bathroom get-ready party just sort of happened. So I picked up my camera and decided to capture it. Honestly, at this point, doing this for years feels like a tradition now, no matter what part of the country you come from, and I think that is something we have in common among us in the Balkans, not just Bosnia. The urban youth, however cool and trendy they are trying to be, are still loyal to their Slavic roots. I mean, Adna was wearing thick white wool socks just seconds before putting the heels on. »
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Dobermans, Marko Kuculovski,
North Macedonia
« In our historical and legendary narratives, women have always been portrayed as lovers, wives, divorcees, widows, muses or victims of communal oppression. Today, they are trying to tell their stories in the first person while living in one of the most conservative parts of Europe. Fighting and striving for success can be extremely difficult in societies as narrow as those of the Balkans, and young girls are still brought up according to deeply misogynistic rules.
In this analog photograph that I took this summer, I have caught a moment of my coexistence with the smartest, most intelligent and the most fearless creatures in my life. »
Clash of Civilizations,
Asja Idrizović, Montenegro
« Once I walked through the streets of Podgorica at 2am. While I was scrolling through my music library, I found myself on a diverging road. “Should I listen to my general playlist filled with songs of musicians who live at least 7000km away, or the ones who I might even see in the street the next day?”. Oddly enough, I chose to listen to the local artists. This ended up being an exceptionally avant-garde, almost hallucinogenic, blissful experience. My eyes saw dozens of venerable buildings, while my ears heard how they came to be. I listened to melodies of struggle, poverty, heroism, and brotherhood, but I saw buildings that actually experienced all of these first seats. This piece is a hopeless cry for the perseverance of my cultural Balkan identity, with a touch of nostalgia for the times when that same identity was not endangered. For that identity to disappear, I, and many others, will simply become trees without any roots. »
For You, Oliver Merce
Romania
« Two young people with intellectual disabilities participate in a music therapy session in a daycare center within the Foundation "For You". “For You” is the only foundation in Timişoara that offers community social services to these disadvantaged categories. The Foundation was established in 1996 and provides support for 200 people with intellectual disabilities and their families. The activity of the Foundation has extended from one year to another; nowadays, it provides social services through the three daycare centers dedicated to people with developmental disabilities or severe intellectual disabilities. In Romania, there are approximately 800000 disabled people. Among them, almost 98% are in the care of their families and/or live independently (non-institutionalized), and only 2% are located in the residential public institutions of social assistance for disabled adult persons. »
Who is Ana, Una Tomašević
Serbia
« RUSIN, Ruthenian - free person
Ruthenians arrived in Serbia in the 19th century, mainly from western Ukraine. Today, they consider Serbia their homeland. The city of Novi Sad is home to several thousand of them, and Ana is one of them. Ruthenians have a reputation for being particularly attentive to preserving their heritage without being virulent towards outsiders. Ana has a strong sense of freedom. Ruthenians are linked to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic or Orthodox Church. Ana does yoga. Most Ruthenians have a high level of education. Ana is studying psychology. They have their own alphabet. Ana would only wear orange tights if they were socially acceptable, and she wants to be a homeopath or a tattoo artist. They cultivate their identity. Ana has three jobs and a dog. Their language is similar to Ukrainian. Ana doesn't care much about her people's past. They're free, and she's free. »
@un_a_verse
ŠMRC, Varja Jovanović
Slovenia
« The term “šmrc” translates to “snort”, with the term wildly spreading across different Balkan countries.
I have spent almost three weeks in Zadar, a Croatian coastal town, where I came across a graffiti tag (the sign used to represent them, as a nickname or a word) – KOKA ŠMRC, which translates to “Cocaine sniff”, usually accompanied by other sociopolitical derogatory terms, phrases or tags. I found the term “KOKA ŠMRC” to be funny at first. Then, it got me thinking about how popular this specific drug is and how many people abuse it on a daily basis. It’s okey to experiment the so-called “recreational use,” and usually it happens over the weekend at the club. But what happened to those who, in the last few years, couldn't go to the club? Some of them, too used to the feeling of lightness and consumed by ever-increasing doses, started using it at home, which led to a whole new issue. »
