Artistic expression as a path to inclusion
Original article was published here.
Vulnerable groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia often live on the margins of society due to underdeveloped support systems. But there are initiatives in Zenica and Novi Sad that help their integration into the community through art.
Wednesday is the favourite day of the week for Sandro Valentic from Zenica. On Wednesdays, this thirty-seven-year-old goes to the “Zvijezda” association, where he enjoys painting with an iron and hanging out with his friends from the association. Sitting at a table scattered with extension cords, napkins and boxes with parts of crayons, Sandro draws strokes with a small travel iron on white cardboard, painting it with melted wax, and then excitedly shows off the colourful pictures he painted in just a few seconds.
“I like painting nature and water the most… in red, yellow and blue,” he says.
Sandro suffers from cerebral palsy, epilepsy and diabetes. Those diseases, along with other accompanying health problems, made it impossible for him to study and work, and thus made it difficult for him to socialise outside his home. For Sandro, the “Zvijezda” association, which brings together children and youth with developmental disabilities and their parents, is one of the few places where he can participate in social activities adapted to their needs.
People with developmental disabilities are very often exposed to marginalisation and discrimination, as indicated by numerous studies in Bosnia and Herzegovina: due to the numerous obstacles they face in everyday life, they live lonely lives outside of social events. Institutional support programs aimed at this group are often underdeveloped, lack adequate financial resources and are not implemented continuously.
In “Zvijezda”, on the other hand, Sandro, together with Dada, Djana, Samra, Alma, Cerima and other peers from the association, has been “painting with an iron” for eight years already, selling his paintings and donating the money from the sales to purchase materials for painting workshops. Like Sandro, most members of the association are in their thirties and forties.
“Painting with an iron” is the slang name for “encaustic”, an ancient painting technique that involves using a heated flat object as a tool to paint with melted wax.
This forgotten technique became popular again during the nineties of the last century, when it was adapted to the modern age: instead of stone surfaces, small electric clothes irons are used for painting.
Zdena Saric, a painter from Zenica, uses the modern version of encaustic in her work with different groups: elderly people, children, women and people with different types of disabilities. There are multiple therapeutic effects of encaustic and are applicable to different groups, she believes.
Saric began her cooperation with the association “Zvijezda” in 2016 during an experimental program organised by the then Zenica Cabaret Club, not expecting that it would grow into a lasting friendship and mutual enjoyment.
Although most of the participants in the encaustic workshops in the “Zvijezda” association have intellectual and physical disabilities that make it difficult for them to coordinate work with their hands, Saric says that they paint with irons relatively easily. For work, she uses small, light travel irons that do not tire the hands and are easy to manoeuvre on paper.
“As for painting, I knew tempera, watercolours and coloured pencils. I could never have guessed that you could paint with an iron,” says Josip Valentic, Sandro’s father and president of the “Zvijezda” association. Valentic explains that the first encounter with encaustic was an unusual experience for the parents themselves: “Despite the fact that we were there and watched them paint, we could not believe that our children could paint such pictures”.
Encaustic is a technique that enables quick realisation of a painter’s vision, because by melting wax paint on paper and making brush strokes with an iron, fantastic abstract forms and motifs of nature can be obtained in a very short period of time.
This is one of the reasons why Sandro and his company enjoy encaustic more than other, more classical techniques such as painting with watercolours or temperas, which they tried before.
“It makes me happy to see them happy and excited as much as they look forward to our gatherings”, says Saric, adding that painting helps this group to express their feelings, improve motor skills and boost self-confidence.
In addition, these workshops influence the greater visibility of people with developmental disabilities and their needs in the local community.
The first exhibition of their works was organised as part of the Cabaret WinterFest in Zenica in December 2016. Apart from the paintings themselves, Sandro and his friends framed their paintings with the same zeal and dedication as when they paint. The last in a series of exhibitions was held in January this year in cooperation with the association Nas most Zenica, in which gallery in the city centre a permanent exhibition of their works was set up. Sandro’s paintings were among the best sellers, which makes him and his family proud and happy.
Exhibitions are rare occasions when these young people get public attention. Money from the sold paintings from all exhibitions is invested in the work of the association.
“Their happiness is great when we organise exhibitions, and even greater when they attend exhibitions and sell their paintings. They feel that they contribute to the work of the association, and also that they are important in society,” says Valentic.
“Unfortunately, inclusion in our society is not at an enviable level. But in ‘Zvijezda’, inclusion is not an illusion,” concludes Saric.
Art available to absolutely everyone
About three hundred kilometres north-east of Zenica, in Novi Sad, there’s a School for Special Education “Milan Petrovic” painted in red and yellow colours. This is a factory of drawings, sculptures, new skills, beautiful memories and constructive socialising.
It’s the end of the shift and happy faces greet each other in the yard. A little tired, artist Dejan Jankov welcomes us in front of the entrance. His task is to bring together that which does not sufficiently come into contact, and from whose cooperation understanding is born.
“When I was a student, I knew that there are people who are different in some sense. Only when I entered into coexistence, I was able to get a complete picture of life,” this sculptor begins his story.
Jankov is one of the founders of the Inclusive Gallery, whose goal is to make art accessible to absolutely everyone, regardless of differences. It was created 12 years ago within the project “On the same task,” when art students and academic artists ‘crossed’ brushes with the users of the school.
“It was a fusion of a specific sign language – one from the history of culture and civilization and users who used some of their own symbols,” he recalls.
Art programs can be an important tool for building an inclusive society, says psychologist Miroslava Marjanovic. They can serve as a bridge that brings together different people and promotes mutual understanding and respect.
“Very often the themes of social justice, equality and inclusion are presented through theatre or films. Art programs that include works by artists from different ethnic, cultural, socioeconomic backgrounds and people with disabilities or other marginalised communities can contribute to greater visibility of these communities in society,” Marjanovic says.
Dejan Jankov says that as much as 60% of the engagement of users of School for Special Education “Milan Petrovic” takes place in workshops, which are organised around visual sensations. He notes that what they create is mostly related to their emotional life.
“They describe their emotional life most often through drawings. It’s a phenomenon,” this artist admires.
Art has always been used to express emotions and our inner states, which are sometimes difficult to explain and which we do not know how to verbalise, explains Miroslava Marjanovic.
Painting, writing, music or other forms of artistic expression can act as a form of art therapy, helping young people relax, reduce stress and improve their mental health.
“Participating in artistic activities enables young people to develop their skills and talents, which can result in an increase in self-confidence and self-respect,” says this psychologist.
An inclusive gallery is a concept. It occupies physical as well as virtual space. The physical part of the gallery is mobile, so it can be loaded into a truck and taken to places that ‘cry out’ for creativity. Both are accessible to people whose senses function differently. The navigation on the site is adapted for people with impaired vision and the works of art have an audio description.
But the question arises – what can be an accessible work of art? Jankov speaks about a man with impaired vision who can distinguish colours based on the heat they emit.
“If we, as artists, start thinking in that direction – that’s progress. Then art does not remain in the domain of only one sense – sight,” says Jankov.
And that’s why the Inclusive Gallery initially focused on tactility – sculptures, comics, stories in braille. In order to spread this concept, they created an open call for students of the Academy of Arts and New Art Media in Novi Sad, for an accessible work of art, where they are the most accessible to everyone, receiving support to be realised. This symbiosis lasts five years.
Jankov explains that a work of art is a personal experience of the author, but it can also deal with the history of civilization, architecture and the entire cultural heritage. Then it is not only a visual work, because in addition to aesthetic and ethical value, it also gains an educational value.
However, the task of art is not to fill the holes in the social protection system. It can contribute to increasing the visibility of marginalised groups, thus their greater integration into society, but that should not be its only goal.
“Art can be an important part of a broader social protection system, but it is not a substitute for comprehensive social programs that are necessary to ensure the well-being of all members of society,” concludes Miroslava Marjanovic.
Authors: Lidija Pisker, Sanja Djordjevic
