Galerie Tanja Wagner presents the solo exhibition In The Darkened Rooms, by Šejla Kamerić, opening during Gallery Weekend Berlin .
Pain, longing, control, and resistance intertwine in In The Darkened Rooms , a profound exploration of the inseparable connection between the political and the deeply personal.
Expanding on her series Rose Garden and Hooked —the latter was shown at Manifesta 14—Kamerić presents a new installation of three traditionally hand-crafted black crochet objects made by women in Sarajevo. While handcraft has traditionally been associated with femininity and domesticity, Kamerić’s works serve as universal relics of untold life stories. They carry memories and secrets, embodying both resistance and escape from repressive socio-political conditions and standing as an antidote to the patriarchal hyper-capitalism of the present.
Her series Thorn (Bitch) , (2021/2025), composed of analog instant prints, serves as both documentation and trace—capturing fleeting, intimate moments that weave a narrative throughout the space. These new small-format instant images depict close-ups of the artist’s body interacting with thorny branches against the bare skin of her thighs. They are simultaneously implicit and explicit, demanding physical proximity for closer inspection. In stark contrast, a dark strip of color rises from the floor like a protective barrier, shielding against voyeuristic intrusion, reminiscent of the oversized dirt guards found in public buildings.
The imagery explores the ambivalence of intimate, secret pleasure within the context of sexual self-determination, juxtaposed against the historically ingrained societal repression of female sexuality. Mythological figures such as Lilith have, since the dawn of humanity, embodied the fear of unrestrained female empowerment—stigmatized as abnormal, demonic, or dishonorable. The medium of the selfie as a means of self-determination, reclaiming the narrative surrounding the female body, runs like a red thread through Kamerić’s entire oeuvre—a visual language that was denied to women in the public sphere for centuries. In doing so, she creates a universally resonant image of the female body as a subject, one that, both socially and privately, bears the traces of human existence in all its ambiguity. Accompanying these images are brass sculptures, a new body of work, reminiscent of thorn branches, that extends the narrative into three-dimensional form, further deepening the tension between intimacy and exposure, fragility and defiance.
In a presence of increasingly repressive societal structures and a bleak future, Kamerić directs our gaze toward female—and thus universally human—life stories: narratives of intimacy, voyeurism, sexual self-determination, and the emotional toll of endurance.
As one of the most important feminist voices of her generation, Šejla Kamerić, born in Sarajevo in 1976, has gained international acclaim for her multidisciplinary approach, encompassing film, photography, objects, drawings, and installations. Her solo exhibition EX YOU recently opened at Fotografiska Berlin, presenting both new and iconic works. On view through August 17, 2025, the show enters a compelling dialogue with her concurrent exhibition at Galerie Tanja Wagner.
Her works are held in prestigious collections such as the soon to be opened Fenix Museum in Rotterdam, TATE Modern in London, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville in Paris, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Vehbi Koç Foundation Contemporary Art Collection in Istanbul, MACBA Barcelona, MMCA-Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul, Korea, Contemporary Art Museum in Zagreb, Kontakt Collection in Austria, and ArtTelekom in Germany.
A selection of her recent solo exhibitions includes: 2025: FC – Francisco Carolinum, Linz; 2024: Museum of Contemporary Arts of Montenegro, Podgorica; Cukrarna Gallery, Ljubljana; Campo Santo Stefano, Venice. 2023: Contemporary Art Gallery, Subotica. 2022: Kunsthaus Dresden Robotron Kantine, Dresden; TATE Modern, London; 2021: KRA Center for Contemporary Culture, Bihać; Realstage Association, Sarajevo; 2018: Fondazione Adolfo Pini, Milan; Kibla, Maribor and GAK Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst, Bremen; 2015: ARTER Space for Art, Istanbul; National Gallery of Kosovo, Prishtina.