[September 27th 2024
4pm
Trixie Gallery]
Maja Simišić’s solo show “To Be Doggo”, showcases a video artwork as its main focus, but it also sets up an immersive installation in which the visitor is invited to participate in unusual situations. In her varied artistic practice she uses humour, and exaggerates real-life scenarios, as to showcase certain absurdities of individual and social dependency, bureaucracy, and human rights. For this work the artist interviews families who live in the Netherlands and have adopted dogs from non-EU countries, immersing herself in the daily life of a dog as a vehicle to examine institutional power dynamics. Through this satirical exploration, "To Be Doggo" challenges legal norms and sheds light on the complex, often frustrating world of migration laws, all while offering a fresh perspective on identity and belonging.
About the artist:
Maja Simišić is a multimedia artist focusing on everyday battles, and finding ways to turn them on their head. The model she uses to overthrow existing gender and class struggles in her work is built by analysing the expectations put on us by modern societal structures and historical narratives.
As a female from the Balkans, living and working in the western world, her artistic practice is deeply influenced by, on the one hand, the perception of the eastern European in western society, and on the other, the way in which people in the Balkans are raised, their fundamental beliefs, and the role of women in both these contexts.
Maja carries heavy subject matters with lightheartedness and humour specific to her character. Extremely individualistic in nature, rooted in identity and identity politics, Maja asks her audience to question what is right in front of them. With a pinch of absurdity and a whole bunch of satire, she helps us see that all our realities are connected and that we need understanding and a certain willingness to accept differences in order to make an actual change.
Her methodology of choice is the practice of restroying.
She seeks to escape this great Kafkaesque machine of oppression by building a fortress of collective imagination.
Synopsis
In "To Be Doggo," Maja, a non-EU citizen, embarks on an unconventional journey to obtain a Dutch passport by exploring the possibility of becoming a dog and getting adopted by a Dutch family. Inspired by a real-life experience where a friend's dog held more rights than she did, Maja delves into the absurdities of identity, bureaucracy, and human rights. As she interviews Dutch families who have adopted dogs from non-EU countries and immerses herself in the daily life of a dog, Maja humorously investigates whether legally identifying as a dog could be her ticket to European citizenship. Through this satirical exploration, "To Be Doggo" challenges societal norms and sheds light on the complex, often frustrating world of migration laws, all while offering a fresh perspective on identity and belonging.
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