Works exhibited at School of Waters
SUMS

Atlantis Carpet#2: Snake-sex-cult, enjoyment, and a fish (2019)
Carved carpet, Past Life Therapy Book, video, monitor arms, speakers 200 x 770 cm

PLT Atlantis Machine (2021)
Aluminium, wood, clay, stone, wheels, 100 x 165 x 90 cm

Satellite antennae (2021)
Carpet, double monitor arm, plexiglass, open call, artificial stone, wood, 50 x 50 x 60 cm

About the artist

Vanja Smiljanić (1986, Serbia) is a visual and performance artist living and working in Cologne. She recieved her Postgraduate Master in Artistic Research from A.pass, Brussels (2015), an MFA from the Dutch Art Institute (2012) and Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln (2019) and a degree in Fine Arts from the Faculdade de Belas Artes de Lisboa (2009). In her practice she often utilises the model of performance-lecture as a way to bridge fictitious and experiential universes, comprising technical apparatus, diagrams and sci-fi povera sculptures. Connecting otherwise unparalleled reality systems, Vanja's work attests the foundation of ideologies as alienated regimes, recurring to her own body as a vessel for narration, often shifting between the position of oracle and storyteller.

She has shown her work in various festivals and institutions including: HMKV Dortmund; Schauspiel Köln; Drodesera Performance Festival; Kunsthalle Düsseldorf; Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea Milano; New Talents Biennale Cologne; Parkour, Lisbon; de Appel, Amsterdam.

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Fig. 1. Vanja Smiljanić, performance documentation, Waves of Worship (WOW), 2016, Solo performance, 50:36 min. Drodesera Performance Festival, Dro.
Photo by Andrea Pizzalis, 
Courtesy of the artist

Fig. 2. Vanja Smiljanić, film still, Orion Debacle, 2019, Experimental documentary, 29:04 min, colour, sound, 16:9, 
Courtesy of the artist

Fig. 3. Vanja Smiljanić, film still, Labyrinth Inception (2020), Video performance (WIP).
Courtesy of the artist