“FAIRY-TALE ABOUT MIHAILO” CYCLE
- Taraxacum officinale L “1,2,3,4,5,6”
BOOK-BED (Love)
mixed media
190 x 150 x 20 cm
edition: single copy
1998/2016/2017
- “Young Man and Dandelion Flower”
BOOKS-MINIATURES (Young Man and Dandelion Flower, or The End that Was Not)
mixed media
six mini books, dimensions for each 10 x 7 cm
edition: single copy
1998/2016/2017
The work was exhibited at the 56th October Salon, The Pleasure of Love, in 2016.
FAIRY-TALE ABOUT MIHAILO
Once upon a time there were a Young Man and a Dandelion Flower.
They were sincerely and deeply in love with each other.
They thought the greatest misfortune and obstacle to their love was their not being of the same kind.
Both at a certain point wished to be like the other.
By some incomprehensible magic their wishes came true.
The Dandelion Flower became a young woman,
and the Young Man became a dandelion.
Regardless of everything, the sun was still shining,
and winds kept blowing.
Nena Skoko Snežana
The greatest love stories are tragic… This work transcends touch – from the metaphor of the love bed, through walking a tightrope that forms a connection, to the touch that disappears like dandelion seed. These books can be leafed through, touched by hand, as well as by the whole body. Complete surrender in impossible circumstances turns lovers into clowns or tragic characters, and these two opposites are represented through the oxymoron of the most direct corporeality and delicately confined spirituality.
Ivana Podnar
Fairy-Tale about Mihailo
The topic I deal with is LOVE, my love story, partly real, mysterious, irrational, possible and impossible fairy-tale with a lesson. The topic is considered through five segments, five books which deal with the encounter, the kiss, love, parting, and the end respectively. Two of the books are presented here:
BOOK-BED (Love)
The yellow blanket with which I covered myself is also the cover of this book. Book pages are made of five blankets, which I wove and decorated with pom-poms, while the sixth page is a bed cover with Mihailo’s love letter printed on it. Counting from one to six was an expression of love for Mihailo and me.
BOOKS-MINIATURES (Young Man and Dandelion Flower, or The End that Was Not)
The leaves of mini books are made of parachuting dandelion seed and easy to tear apart and destroy. The impossibility of love and the end of Mihailo’s life made my love story develop towards a not merely unlovely ending, but also a tragically unhappy one. Common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is genus of weed. I don’t know if it can be uprooted.
Nena Skoko Snežana, excerpts from the 56th October Salon catalogue
© Cultural Centre of Belgrade, October Salon Collection and the artist
Purchase Contract: III-5-280/08.10.2021.
Inventory No.
Photo: 56th October Salon exhibition, courtesy of the artist
Selected Bibliography:
56th October Salon, The Pleasure of Love. Belgrade Cultural Centre, 2016.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nena Skoko Snežana (1960, Zemun, Serbia) completed her BA and MA studies at the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade, Department of Textile Design. She received further education from professor Kirsti Rantanen at the University of Industrial Arts in Helsinki, during the student exchange programme organised by the Yugoslav and Finnish Ministries of Culture in 1989; at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan, where she studied under the mentorship of Magdalena Abakanowicz and Anna Goebel, with the scholarship from the Polish Ministry of Culture (1991-1993); at Goldsmiths in London, in 1994, where as a visiting graduate she worked with professor Janis Jefferies; in New York, where in 1999 she participated in the CEC ArtsLink residency programme’s workshop for papermaking by hand, Dieu Donne Papermill. She founded and led the LOOM art workshop (Lavatorium of Artistic Thoughts, 1995-1998), dedicated to research and education in the field of visual arts. She founded the independent art association Punctum for Art Experiment in 2000, gathering a large number of associates – artists from the country and abroad. Since 1989, she has been participating in exhibitions and organising numerous workshops, presentations, and lectures in the country (Belgrade, Zrenjanin, Kragujevac, Gornji Milanovac, Kruševac, Novi Sad, Banja Koviljača, Vranje, Bogovađa, Sjenica, Subotica, Niš, Raška, etc.) and abroad (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Macedonia, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, the Netherlands, Italy, Morocco, Russia, England, Denmark, USA, Finland, etc.). She is a member of ULUPUDS (The Applied Artists and Designers Association of Serbia) since 1985 and ULUS (Association of Fine Artists of Serbia) since 1999. She has been a freelance artist since 1992. She received the distinguished artist recognition in 2005. Nena Skoko Snežana’s works are collected in the Museum of Applied Arts in Belgrade, Telenor Company, Imago Mundi Luciano Benneton Collection (Serbia Reconsidered, Contemporary Artists from Serbia), Atelier 61 in Novi Sad, and the Museum of Jean-Lurçat and Contemporary Tapestry in Angers, France (Musée Jean-Lurçat et de la tapisserie contemporaine).