The work of Lala Raščić represents one of the most intriguing bodies of work from domestic and internationally recognized mid-career artists. The solo exhibition POČIMALJA – SHE WHO STARTS THE SONG at the National Museum of BiH in Sarajevo is an expanded version of her 2022 exhibition Smijeh Meduze (The Laughter of Medusa), produced by WHW and presented at Gallery Nova in Zagreb. Along with internationally exhibited works from the GORGO series, Sarajevo’s audience will have the opportunity to experience newly reproduced elements from the POČIMALJA – SHE WHO STARTS THE SONG project in a performative, audiovisual installation format, accompanied by a rich public program including a unique event of collective “tepsijanje” (a traditional Balkan practice of singing while rhythmically turning a copper tray): Summit of Tepsija Women. In the ambiance of the National Museum, blending ancient myth with local folklore, Raščić builds a visually poetic and semantically rich narrative of liberation and resistance—an exoneration from tradition.

The Sarajevo exhibition spans over two exhibition spaces within the National Museum. The POČIMALJA – SHE WHO STARTS THE SONG project (2022–) is displayed in the Ethnological Collection pavilion, while the GORGO series, focused on the ancient myth of Medusa, the decapitated ancient chthonic goddess with snakes for hair, is exhibited in the Natural Sciences pavilion in the room colloquially known as Zmijarnik (the Serpentarium). The centerpiece of GORGO is a video performance in which the artist dons a copper armor crafted by a female coppersmith. The concept centers on the premise of reuniting Medusa with her severed head. Drawing on mythological references, Raščić critiques the normalized violence in ancient myths. Alongside the video, artifacts and documentation re-mythologizing Medusa’s figure in her new empowered, vengeful form are exhibited.

The tactile interaction of copper and the body extends into the POČIMALJA – SHE WHO STARTS THE SONG project, which is based on the artist’s research into regional folk women’s musical practices—specifically tepsijanje, a practice of singing while manually rotating a copper tray, still performed mainly by women today. Originating from highly patriarchal environments, tepsijanje enabled women to publicly perform music. From folklore, Raščić borrows the term počimalja, referring to the woman who starts a song, with others joining in harmony. Through carefully crafted objects, images, collages, drawings, sound, and video elements, the exhibition setup creates a complex immersive installation, transforming the layered historical space of the National Museum of BiH into a kind of laboratory/Wunderkabinett. POČIMALJA – SHE WHO STARTS THE SONG is an innovative example of interpreting tradition through contemporary artistic language and methods. Raščić interprets tepsijanje as an authentic expression of repressed female subjectivity and a proto-feminist gesture. Her ongoing artistic research, which she calls “Exoneration of Tradition,” examines traditional forms and critically engages with folklore and folklorization as means of re-patriarchalization and neo-traditionalization of society, considering the evolution of traditional forms by liberating them from their normative cultural contexts.

While in folklore choreography, tepsijanje persists largely for its visual appeal and simplicity of performance, in POČIMALJA – SHE WHO STARTS THE SONG the artist focuses on the acoustic specifics of the practice, as well as the findings, previous research, and fieldwork of ethnomusicologists and folklorists, particularly the work of Austrian ethnomusicologist Franz Födermayr. Lala Raščić personally engages with the practice of tepsijanje in collaboration with Azra Pondro, a local tepsija performer, expanding her field of research in dialogue with musician Damir Imamović, ethnomusicologists Professor Iva Nenić, Professor Tamara Karača, Professor Marko Kölbl, sound technician Hrvoje Nikšić, programmer Branimir Štivić, and copper craftsman Nermina Beba Alić, among others. This type of transgenerational and transmedial connection between different actors within the artistic project positions Lala Raščić herself as a počimalja—the one who initiates the process of collaboration and joint work, which further evolves into a polyphony of voices from different participants. The exhibition’s activation is further achieved through a series of public events, including exhibition tours, a mini-conference, and a unique live performance.

A comprehensive catalog of the POČIMALJA – SHE WHO STARTS THE SONG project, summarizing the project and providing the first translations of rare texts on tepsijanje from German to local languages, is being prepared by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb.

PROGRAM SUPPORTERS:
Zagreb City Office for Culture and Civil Society
Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia  Austrian Ministry of Culture
Austrian Cultural Forum, Sarajevo
Association for Culture and Art Crvena, Sarajevo
KUD Baščaršija, Sarajevo

PROGRAM:

SATURDAY, October 12, 2024

12 PM: SUMMIT OF TEPSIJA WOMEN
Performance, 30 minutes

A unique musical and stage performance of collective tepsijanje with tepsija performers from Sarajevo and its surroundings. Everyone interested in making noise with us is invited to bring their copper trays.

Performers: Azra Pondro, Lala Raščić, Zerina Sadiković, Neira Kabaš, Lamija Kabaš

Director: Lala Raščić
Coordinator: Azra Pondro
Sound Design: Hrvoje Nikšić
Supported by KUD Baščaršija, Sarajevo

BREAK

1 PM: MINI-CONFERENCE

An informal roundtable discussion at a small table, with refreshing conversations on the themes of folklore, gender, and decolonization of knowledge in the context of the POČIMALJA – SHE WHO STARTS THE SONG exhibition.

Speakers:
Damir Imamović – Sarajevo University, Academy of Music, Sarajevo
Professor Marko Kölbl – University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna
Professor Iva Nenić – Faculty of Music, Belgrade
Introduction by Zanin Berbić – National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina

SATURDAY, October 26, 2024

This program is organized in collaboration with the Musicological Society of the Federation of BiH, as part of the 14th International Symposium Music in Society.

12 PM: GUIDED TOUR OF THE EXHIBITION
A tour of the exhibition led by the artist Lala Raščić and a guest.

BREAK

1 PM: CONVERSATION WITH THE ARTIST
Damir Imamović discusses the exhibition, process, and methods of Lala Raščić’s broader artistic practice with the artist, with an introductory word from the “godmother” of the POČIMALJA – SHE WHO STARTS THE SONG project, Professor Tamara Karača from Sarajevo University’s Academy of Music.

Lala Raščić is a multimedia artist born in 1977 in Sarajevo, living and working in Zagreb and Sarajevo. Raščić studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb and attended the postgraduate program at Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. She has been exhibiting regionally and internationally since 1998 in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Her work employs various patterns of material and immaterial culture in constructing narratives that manifest in video performances, live performances, audio-visual projects, installations, objects, and drawings. Her interests are focused on contemporary and historical storytelling practices and oral traditions. Her works inhabit the space between concept and theatricality, incorporating performances and programs during exhibitions.

Solo exhibitions include The Laughter of the Medusa, Galerija Nova, Zagreb (2022); The More Tongues You Silence the More They Talk, Roda Sten, Gothenburg (2021); GORGO, Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, USA (2019); Eumenides, Museo Lapidarium, Novigrad and Galerija Waldinger, Osijek (2018); Evil Earth, Tobačna 001 Cultural Center, Ljubljana (2015); How to do Things With Words, ŠKUC, Ljubljana (2014), and Whatever the Object, GfZK, Leipzig (2013).

Group exhibitions include Manifesta 14, Pristina (2022); Bigger Than Myself, MAXXI, Rome (2021), Not Fully Human Not Human at All, Kadist, Paris (2021); Exhibit A, MGML, Ljubljana (2019); Without Anesthesia, 54th Zagreb Salon (2019). Among other programs, Raščić has participated in residency programs at Q21, Vienna; Platform Garanti, Istanbul; KulturKontakt, Vienna; and Cité des Arts, Paris. She was a finalist for the Henkel Art Award (2014) and the Young Visual Artist Award Radoslav Putar (2006), and has received the Future of Europe Award, Leipzig (2013), the first purchase prize from T-HT and MSU, Zagreb (2007), and the Young Visual Artist Award Zvono for Bosnia and Herzegovina (2006).

She is a member of the Croatian Association of Artists (HDLU) and the Croatian Freelance Artists’ Association (HZSU). From 2009 to 2017, she was a member of the Good Children Gallery collective in New Orleans, and as a member of the organization CRVENA, she runs and manages the artist-in-residence program in her own studio in Sarajevo.

www.lalarascic.com