Danica Dakić

Works

First Shot
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2008, Videoinstallation

Against historic panorama Isola Bella wallpaper, depicting the utopy of paradisiacal island, two masked figures perform. The video documents a spontaneous performance of two residents from the »Home for the protection of children and adolescents« in the Bosnian village of Pazarić. It was shot during a light test on the first day of shooting Dakić’s related work Isola Bella* in this facility for the mentally and physically handicapped, not far from Sarajevo.

Isola Bella
,

2008, Videoinstallation

This work derives its title from a historic panorama wallpaper, created in 1842/1843, that depicts the utopy of a paradisiacal island. For two weeks, a wall-sized reproduction of this wallpaper and a piano turned the small stage at the »Home for the protection of children and adolescents« in the Bosnian village of Pazarić into a film set. The actors are 40 residents of this home, who wear Victorian paper masks printed with faces for the shoot. Yet they do not stage a play, they tell stories from their lives, sing and improvise on the piano turning this facility for the mentally and physically handicapped into a space between reality and a place they long for.

Danica Dakić, born 1962 in Sarajevo, is based in Düsseldorf. Her work has been shown in solo exhibitions at Lehmbruck Museum Duisburg (2017), Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main (2013) and Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2011) as well as group exhibitions at documenta 12, Kassel (2007), Istanbul Biennale (2009),
São Paulo Biennale (2014) and 1. and 2. Berliner Herbstsalon (2013, 2015).