Svetlana Mihalj

                                                                                Artist (1976-)

Svetlana Mihalj is a Serbian artist. She is noted for her political video installation “Borders”.

Synopsis

Svetlana Mihalj was born in Novi Sad, Serbia in 1976. Throughout her life, she has produced a variety of work ranging from drawings and paintings to installations and performance.

Early Life

Svetlana was born on March 8, 1976 in Novi Sad, Serbia. Her family lives in the small village of Kisač, which is close to Novi Sad. Svetlana witnessed the economic crisis, the war and the division of Yugoslavia into several countries in the early 90s and the NATO bombings in 1999. Some of these political happenings influenced her later artwork.

In 2000-2005 she studied Art Education and Slovak Language and Literature at the Pedagogic Faculty of Matej Bel University. In 2005-2011 she studied painting, digital art at the Academy of Fine Art. She graduated from the Studio of Intermedia with the diploma project “Borders” (2011). Both Universities are in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia.

Artistic Career

Svetlana had her first solo exhibition in Nitrianska Gallery in Nitra (Slovakia) in 2012 with her video installation “Borders”. Katarína Rusnáková, curator of the exhibition said about “Borders”: “…Multimedia installation, in which the “presence of the past” resonates, has a long duration and demands concentrated attention, reflection and empathy. In this work, where the significant meaning is played out by the individual, generational, public, cultural and national memory, the author managed to connect personal and political aspects with meanings exceeding to the wider socio-political contexts of the globalised world…”

In her latest artwork she is reflecting about everyday life and the addictions of society. Mihalj has taken part in several exhibitions in Slovakia and abroad. She now lives and works between Spain and Serbia.