YOU, WHO CAN FLY – ŠEJLA KAMERIĆ
Exhibition text
Presented as a multilayered ensemble, the exhibition YOU, WHO CAN FLY – ŠEJLA KAMERIĆ brings together two major bodies of work—self-portraits and textile-based pieces—alongside newly produced installations conceived specifically for this presentation in Linz. Through these interwoven works, Kamerić explores themes of gender, memory, trauma, agency, and resilience. Born in 1976 in Sarajevo—then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and now the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina—Kamerić’s experiences of historical and political upheaval have profoundly shaped her artistic practice. This exhibition, showcasing her multifaceted body of work, not only reflects her personal history but also engages with broader political and societal questions, offering a profound meditation on identity, displacement, and the forces that shape both individual and collective experience.
Self-portraiture is a central thread throughout Kamerić’s artistic career. From the very beginning, she has explored her own identity through photography, using her body as both subject and medium. In doing so, she asserts her own narrative, challenges imposed identities, and actively engages with themes of self-representation, resistance, and empowerment—particularly in response to historical and societal structures. Her work is deeply informed by personal and collective histories of conflict, displacement, and gendered oppression.
In the exhibition,”Behind the Scenes I” (2019) is presented as a large wallpaper work, showing the artist posing for a fashion magazine in a transparent camouflage bodysuit. What makes this image exceptional is that it was taken during the Siege of Sarajevo, which lasted from April 5, 1992, to February 29, 1996. This work is shown alongside “June is June Everywhere” (2013), a large-scale photo installation that can be interpreted as an abstract self-portrait. Hundreds of hand-printed black-and-white photographs, developed by the artist herself in the darkroom, capture bullet holes on the exterior walls of the room where she once slept, exactly where her head rested.
The title of the exhibition YOU, WHO CAN FLY draws on the myth of Lilith, connecting it to works such as “We Come with the Bow” (2018), ”Smile with the Ring” (1999-2025), “Embrazada” (2015), and more recent pieces like “Mother is a Bitch” (2022). In this series, Kamerić explores the complex image of women and their relationship to self-empowerment. By critiquing the archetypical roles imposed on women—mother, witch, and bitch—she challenges the contradictory societal expectations placed upon them. Through her self-representation, she reclaims and redefines these roles, transforming them into symbols of feminist liberation. The series interrogates how women’s identities have been shaped by societal labels, offering a reimagined interpretation that transcends conventional constraints. These themes resonate throughout the artist’s textile works and immersive installations featured in the exhibition. The cycle of female exploitation is a focal point, particularly in the *Keep Away from Fire* series (2018-2025), which highlights the exploitative and dehumanizing conditions under which cheap clothing is produced, often by women who manufacture the fashion sold to those fed the ideal of consumption. Empathy, one of the most profound and complex expressions of human emotion, serves as the fundamental basis of Kamerić practice. She recognizes that all individuals are entangled in the intricate webs of economic, political, and social power, and bound by ingrained systems of cultural, religious, and gender-based prejudice. The oversized crocheted doilies in “Hooked” (2010-) symbolize these entanglements, their web-like structure evoking both constraint and continuity. A red ribbon, both symbolic and visual, weaves through the exhibition as a unifying motif. This thread ties together the various layers of meaning explored in Kamerić’s work, linking themes of power, identity, and survival.
The exhibition *YOU, WHO CAN FLY* creates a dynamic, immersive space that invites viewers to critically engage with the complex relationships between violence, powerlessness, freedom, exploitation, and self-determination. It challenges the audience to reflect without bias, encouraging those who are willing to transcend both internal and external limitations to discover
their capacity to ‘fly.’