Zgodilo se je čisto blizu nas at Match Gallery

Zgodilo se je čisto blizu nas (“It happened very close to us”) is an exhibition of the 30th anniversary of the arrival of migrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Slovenia, exhibited at Match Gallery, Ljubljana. The exhibition and parallel events were coordinated by Divja misel. The show and the visual communication were designed by Alja Herlah and Sara Badovinac (studio Pra Pra), using typeface Wesna (Type Salon) and Inter (Rasmus Andersson). We can notice the modification of Wesna: its more expressive S was altered to be more neutral.

“Gradually, I realise I am a refugee. A person without documents and without a face, with no present and no future. A person with a heavy stride and a broken body, a flower of evil, alien and scattered as its pollen. I no longer have a name, I am no longer tall nor short, no longer a son or a brother. I am an oblivion-soaked dog in a long, morningless night, a tiny scar on the face of the world.” – Velibor Čolić, Manual of Exile (Goga, 2020)

Curator Tina Popovič on the exhibition:

On the 30th anniversary of the beginning of war and the arrival of BiH migrants to Slovenia, we are addressing our shared, yet poorly known experience with the help of personal memories of migrants as well as the people who helped welcome them. The exhibition, which assembles personal memories of 45 individuals with selected media reports and other docu-mentation, is divided into two parts.

Stories about the leaving of homes, arrivals to Slovenia and the unusual life in exile, which from expected weeks inconceivably expanded to years, are presented at the Match Gallery. Some of the exiles grew up here, others grew old, some made Slovenia their home, others just passed it on their way.

Collected memories encourage us to reflect on our actions and our attitude towards those people who all over the world are being forced to leave their homes.