ARTIST PROFILE

Driton Selmani

  • Kosovo (b. 1987 in Ferizaj)
  • Currently in Prishtina and Doganaj, Kosovo.
  • Visual Artist Arts University Bournemouth UK
My country on my back

My country on my back

  • 2012
  • 6 Handcrafted knives, 6 Helium balloons, 400 cm wide, variable heights Installation view: Exchiesetta, Polignano a Mare

  • Selmani’s black balloons, hung in a state of suspension casts a shadow over collective rites, celebrations and childhood games / Laura Perrone - Flash Art

  • Img 9668 20ok
  • Img 9700 20ok
  • Img 5981 20copy
  • Eye to Eye - thumbnail Not only our homes have been burned, our souls too  - thumbnail Red Tape - thumbnail They say you can't hold two watermelons in one hand - thumbnail Untitled Union - thumbnail Raw and the Cooked - thumbnail Wanderlust - thumbnail My country on my back - thumbnail Off - thumbnail The importance of being a fairytale - thumbnail Romeo - thumbnail Call it fate, Call it Karma! - thumbnail Archaeology of Capitalism - thumbnail Deaf - thumbnail I, Why, Why ? - thumbnail Tell me where I am from? - thumbnail Mixed Principalities - thumbnail

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    Selected Works | 2012 - 2018

Selmani approaches the idea of perceived reality by deconstructing formations of social, political and cultural topics that have been embodied around him. At a young age, he was told to worship a country that no longer existed, which caused him to form a basis of scepticism towards any supposedly given reality. He later used this as a beneficial tool to reconstruct his beliefs into visual artefacts. In 1999, old simulacra have been replaced by new simulacra; the ornaments of a previous space have been refurbished in order to unfold with new meanings but also new uncertainties. Selmani confronts himself as a spectator of this “on-going event”, but rather positions himself as an actor, enacting his performances based on his personal histories, beliefs and doubts.