Nihad Nino Pušija
born 1965 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
lives and works in Berlin
For the last twenty two years, I have consciously chosen to live and photograph in Berlin. There is no other metropolis in the world in which two divided halves are trying so hard to grow back together again.
Nowhere else can you find such a division, and merging of East and West block. In this time and place of transition, I have the unique opportunity to move around as an artist,
exploring Berlin's microcosms, like its streets, food stands and even park benches, as they change.
Through my eyes, as a foreigner, and with the tool of artistic photography, the faces of the inhabitants become projections of the events.
Photography is used as a medium to (re)gain one's identity and self-image. This is true for the subjects I capture, as well as for my own experience and role within this societal process of transition. It becomes increasingly important for me to find strategies and approaches to communicate my own experiences as part of the whole and make them heard.
People and their unique personal stories are at the center of attention in portrait photography series at the turn of this century. These photographs of individuals become defining documentaries for whole groups of people.
It is my artistic goal to seek out microcosms, here, where I live and work, capturing the small changes and holding on to the unassuming, so that the resulting series of photographs will defy the vague generalizations of my surroundings and daily life.
This stage of exploration and its body of work will only be complete when I cease to live in Berlin.
Nihad Nino Pušja
STUDIES & PROJECTS
since 1992
Project work in Berlin: Cultural Office Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg; The New Society for Visual Arts (NGBK); Museum of European Cultures; The Allianz Cultural Foundation Berlin
Main topics: life in South-East Europe, refugee situation, conflict resolution, integration and life of Roma in Europe
since 1988 Freelance photographer
2002 - 2003 cimdata.de, Academy for Digital Media
1994 - 2000 project leader of "Zyklop foto fabrik" (Cyclop photo factory), a group of young artists and students who had to abandon their studies because of the war in former Yugoslavia
1988 - 1992 art photo-projects and studies in England, Belgium, Italy and USA
1986 - 1988 trainee photo-journalist and photo-illustrator for the Bosnian independent daily newspaper "Oslobodjenje" in Sarajevo
1985 - 1986 commencement of journalism at University of Sarajevo
EXHIBITIONS (selection)
2016
"Parno Gras", Galerie Kai Dikhas, Berlin
"Von Hier zu Mir", Bulgarisches Kulturinstitut Berlin (GER)
"The Journey / Drom", Studio Я, Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin (GER)
2015
"Parno Gras", Theater Essen (D)
"Have a look into my life", Kulturforum Bukarest (ROM)
"Have a look into my life", Galerie Duplex 100m2, Sarajevo (BiH)
2014
Parno Gras, 61Paris, Paris (FRA)
STOPPING PLACES IV, Galerie Kai Dikhas, Berlin (GER)
EIGEN.BILD, Galerie Kai Dikhas, Berlin (GER)
"Have a look into my life", Médiathèque Matéo Maximoff, Paris (FRA)
"Have a look into my life", Aubette, Strasbourg (FRA)
"Have a look into my life", Médiathèque Matéo Maximoff, Paris (FRA)
"Have a look into my life", GrazMuseum, Graz (AUT)
"Sarajevo via Berlin via Sarajevo", Studio Я, Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin (GER)
2013
„Roma Renaissance“ Gallery Kai Dikhas, Berlin (GER)
"Parno gras" Gallery Collegium Artisticum, Sarajevo (BIH)
2012
"Gypsy Revolution" Kallio Kunsthalle, Helsinki (FIN)
"An die Grenze gehen" (Catalogue) Instituto Cervantes, Berlin (GER)
"Void" (Catalogue) Gallery BWA Sokół, Nowy Sącz (POL)
"Reclaiming identity" Akademie Graz, Graz (AUT)
"Roma è Roma" (Catalogue) Gallery Kai Dikhas, Berlin (GER)
"All we are / Sa, so amen sam" Wilder Mann, Graz (AUT)
"Romaism - Constructing Roma Cultural History" Gallery8 - ERCF, Budapest (HUN)
"Duldung Deluxe" Passport, Centre Culturel Français Freiburg (GER)
2011
"Call the Whitness" (Catalogue) Roma Kunst Pavillon, La Biennale di Venezia (I)
basis voor actuele kunst BAK, Utrecht (NL)
"Reconsidering Rroma" (Catalogue) Kunstquartier Kreuzberg, Berlin (GER)
2010
"Duldung Deluxe" ECCHR, Berlin (GER)
2009
"Bring an object!“ (Book) Museum of European Cultures, Berlin (GER)
"Parno gras" Slovenski etnografski muzej, Ljubljana (SLO)
2008
"Die vergessenen Europäer" (Catalogue) Kölnisches Stadtmuseum, Cologne (GER)
"Parno gras" Etnografski Muzej, Zagreb (HR)
"Paradise Lost" (Catalogue) Museum Kampa, Prag (CZ)
2007
"Paradise Lost" (Catalogue) Roma Art Pavilion, La Biennale di Venezia, (I)
2006
"Roma und Gadje" Kortárs Roma Galéria, Budapest (HU)
2005
"180°" (Catalogue) Schwartzsche Villa, Berlin (GER)
2004 – 2006
"We are what we are" aspects of Roma life in contemporary art (Catalogue)
Minoriten Galerien, Graz (AUT); Galerija ŠKUC, Ljubljana (SLO); Galéria Jána Koniarka, Trnava (SK); Center for Contemporary Central European Art, Usti nad Labem (CZ); Galeria Nouâ, Bucharest (RO)
2004
"Quo Vadis" solarised portraits, National gallery of Bosnia und Herzegovina, Sarajevo (BIH)
"Transit" life of gypsies from Bosnia in Rom, Camp Casillino 900, Roma (I)
2003
"cimdata.de" solarised portraits, Galerie 35, Berlin (GER)
"Representation du Travail/Travail du Representation" portraits, Centre de la Photograghie, Geneve (CH)
2002
"Fotografische Impressionen" (Catalogue) Museum Europäischer Kulturen, Berlin (GER)
"Zwischen Himmel und Erde" (Catalogue) Hochschule für Künste, Bremen (GER)
2000 - 2001
"Heimatkunst" portraits on photo linen-textile fabric (Catalogue) Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (GER); Kulturverein, Rottenburg (GER)
"Sarajevo Self Portrait" - life of refugees and gypsies from Bosnia in Berlin and Germany (Book) The Dayton Art Institute, Dayton (USA); Museet für Fotokunst, Odense (DK); Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (NGBK), Berlin (GER)
2000
"Futura Existentia", solarised portraits Gallery KunstRaum, Berlin (GER)
1999
"Integration" portraits on photo linen-textile fabric, Gallery KunstRaum, Berlin (GER)
"Formen sind Begriffe - Begriffe sind Formen", drag portraits, Gallery Nagornaja, Moskow (RUS)
1996 – 1999
"Komparsen", portraits of film prisoners (Catalogue, 1. part of "Konstruktion des Raumes") Gallery Brotfabrik, Berlin (GER); Gallery INA, Zagreb (HR); Gallery Novi hram, Sarajevo (BIH)
1997 – 1998
"Duldung", life of gypsies from Bosnia in Berlin, Cyclop photo factory, exhibition project supported by New Society of Fine Art (Catalogue) Gallery der Neuen Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (NGBK), Berlin (GER); Gallery Collegium Artisticum, Sarajevo (BIH)
1995
"Queens", drag portraits, exhibition and performance at Moabit florists, Berlin (GER)
1994
"Ave Maria", photos of found objects at Hamburg harbour, Gallery Franz-Mehring, Berlin (GER)
"Hotel Europa" photobiennial, Salon Futura, Fotobiennale, Rotterdam (NL)
"Raumeroberung" Cyclop photo factory exhibition and performance, Gallery Süd-Ost Europa Kulturzentrum, Berlin (GER)
1993
"Strano-Fremd-Obcy", homage exhibition and performance; organiser "Aliens with us" Kulturamt Schöneberg, Berlin (GER)
1992
"Aus der Hölle ins Ungewisse" life of refugees from Bosnia in Berlin and Germany, Travelling exhibition: Berlin, Hamburg, Bielefeld, Lübeck, Köln, Kiel, and 14 others (GER)
1991
"NOB" Galerija Kamernog Teatra, Sarajevo (BIH)
1988
"Nino Fotografija", Crvena Galerija, Sarajevo (BIH)
Publications
"Have a look into my life"
"Šta ima?"
lives and works in Berlin
For the last twenty two years, I have consciously chosen to live and photograph in Berlin. There is no other metropolis in the world in which two divided halves are trying so hard to grow back together again.
Nowhere else can you find such a division, and merging of East and West block. In this time and place of transition, I have the unique opportunity to move around as an artist,
exploring Berlin's microcosms, like its streets, food stands and even park benches, as they change.
Through my eyes, as a foreigner, and with the tool of artistic photography, the faces of the inhabitants become projections of the events.
Photography is used as a medium to (re)gain one's identity and self-image. This is true for the subjects I capture, as well as for my own experience and role within this societal process of transition. It becomes increasingly important for me to find strategies and approaches to communicate my own experiences as part of the whole and make them heard.
People and their unique personal stories are at the center of attention in portrait photography series at the turn of this century. These photographs of individuals become defining documentaries for whole groups of people.
It is my artistic goal to seek out microcosms, here, where I live and work, capturing the small changes and holding on to the unassuming, so that the resulting series of photographs will defy the vague generalizations of my surroundings and daily life.
This stage of exploration and its body of work will only be complete when I cease to live in Berlin.
Nihad Nino Pušja
STUDIES & PROJECTS
since 1992
Project work in Berlin: Cultural Office Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg; The New Society for Visual Arts (NGBK); Museum of European Cultures; The Allianz Cultural Foundation Berlin
Main topics: life in South-East Europe, refugee situation, conflict resolution, integration and life of Roma in Europe
since 1988 Freelance photographer
2002 - 2003 cimdata.de, Academy for Digital Media
1994 - 2000 project leader of "Zyklop foto fabrik" (Cyclop photo factory), a group of young artists and students who had to abandon their studies because of the war in former Yugoslavia
1988 - 1992 art photo-projects and studies in England, Belgium, Italy and USA
1986 - 1988 trainee photo-journalist and photo-illustrator for the Bosnian independent daily newspaper "Oslobodjenje" in Sarajevo
1985 - 1986 commencement of journalism at University of Sarajevo
EXHIBITIONS (selection)
2016
"Parno Gras", Galerie Kai Dikhas, Berlin
"Von Hier zu Mir", Bulgarisches Kulturinstitut Berlin (GER)
"The Journey / Drom", Studio Я, Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin (GER)
2015
"Parno Gras", Theater Essen (D)
"Have a look into my life", Kulturforum Bukarest (ROM)
"Have a look into my life", Galerie Duplex 100m2, Sarajevo (BiH)
2014
Parno Gras, 61Paris, Paris (FRA)
STOPPING PLACES IV, Galerie Kai Dikhas, Berlin (GER)
EIGEN.BILD, Galerie Kai Dikhas, Berlin (GER)
"Have a look into my life", Médiathèque Matéo Maximoff, Paris (FRA)
"Have a look into my life", Aubette, Strasbourg (FRA)
"Have a look into my life", Médiathèque Matéo Maximoff, Paris (FRA)
"Have a look into my life", GrazMuseum, Graz (AUT)
"Sarajevo via Berlin via Sarajevo", Studio Я, Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin (GER)
2013
„Roma Renaissance“ Gallery Kai Dikhas, Berlin (GER)
"Parno gras" Gallery Collegium Artisticum, Sarajevo (BIH)
2012
"Gypsy Revolution" Kallio Kunsthalle, Helsinki (FIN)
"An die Grenze gehen" (Catalogue) Instituto Cervantes, Berlin (GER)
"Void" (Catalogue) Gallery BWA Sokół, Nowy Sącz (POL)
"Reclaiming identity" Akademie Graz, Graz (AUT)
"Roma è Roma" (Catalogue) Gallery Kai Dikhas, Berlin (GER)
"All we are / Sa, so amen sam" Wilder Mann, Graz (AUT)
"Romaism - Constructing Roma Cultural History" Gallery8 - ERCF, Budapest (HUN)
"Duldung Deluxe" Passport, Centre Culturel Français Freiburg (GER)
2011
"Call the Whitness" (Catalogue) Roma Kunst Pavillon, La Biennale di Venezia (I)
basis voor actuele kunst BAK, Utrecht (NL)
"Reconsidering Rroma" (Catalogue) Kunstquartier Kreuzberg, Berlin (GER)
2010
"Duldung Deluxe" ECCHR, Berlin (GER)
2009
"Bring an object!“ (Book) Museum of European Cultures, Berlin (GER)
"Parno gras" Slovenski etnografski muzej, Ljubljana (SLO)
2008
"Die vergessenen Europäer" (Catalogue) Kölnisches Stadtmuseum, Cologne (GER)
"Parno gras" Etnografski Muzej, Zagreb (HR)
"Paradise Lost" (Catalogue) Museum Kampa, Prag (CZ)
2007
"Paradise Lost" (Catalogue) Roma Art Pavilion, La Biennale di Venezia, (I)
2006
"Roma und Gadje" Kortárs Roma Galéria, Budapest (HU)
2005
"180°" (Catalogue) Schwartzsche Villa, Berlin (GER)
2004 – 2006
"We are what we are" aspects of Roma life in contemporary art (Catalogue)
Minoriten Galerien, Graz (AUT); Galerija ŠKUC, Ljubljana (SLO); Galéria Jána Koniarka, Trnava (SK); Center for Contemporary Central European Art, Usti nad Labem (CZ); Galeria Nouâ, Bucharest (RO)
2004
"Quo Vadis" solarised portraits, National gallery of Bosnia und Herzegovina, Sarajevo (BIH)
"Transit" life of gypsies from Bosnia in Rom, Camp Casillino 900, Roma (I)
2003
"cimdata.de" solarised portraits, Galerie 35, Berlin (GER)
"Representation du Travail/Travail du Representation" portraits, Centre de la Photograghie, Geneve (CH)
2002
"Fotografische Impressionen" (Catalogue) Museum Europäischer Kulturen, Berlin (GER)
"Zwischen Himmel und Erde" (Catalogue) Hochschule für Künste, Bremen (GER)
2000 - 2001
"Heimatkunst" portraits on photo linen-textile fabric (Catalogue) Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (GER); Kulturverein, Rottenburg (GER)
"Sarajevo Self Portrait" - life of refugees and gypsies from Bosnia in Berlin and Germany (Book) The Dayton Art Institute, Dayton (USA); Museet für Fotokunst, Odense (DK); Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (NGBK), Berlin (GER)
2000
"Futura Existentia", solarised portraits Gallery KunstRaum, Berlin (GER)
1999
"Integration" portraits on photo linen-textile fabric, Gallery KunstRaum, Berlin (GER)
"Formen sind Begriffe - Begriffe sind Formen", drag portraits, Gallery Nagornaja, Moskow (RUS)
1996 – 1999
"Komparsen", portraits of film prisoners (Catalogue, 1. part of "Konstruktion des Raumes") Gallery Brotfabrik, Berlin (GER); Gallery INA, Zagreb (HR); Gallery Novi hram, Sarajevo (BIH)
1997 – 1998
"Duldung", life of gypsies from Bosnia in Berlin, Cyclop photo factory, exhibition project supported by New Society of Fine Art (Catalogue) Gallery der Neuen Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (NGBK), Berlin (GER); Gallery Collegium Artisticum, Sarajevo (BIH)
1995
"Queens", drag portraits, exhibition and performance at Moabit florists, Berlin (GER)
1994
"Ave Maria", photos of found objects at Hamburg harbour, Gallery Franz-Mehring, Berlin (GER)
"Hotel Europa" photobiennial, Salon Futura, Fotobiennale, Rotterdam (NL)
"Raumeroberung" Cyclop photo factory exhibition and performance, Gallery Süd-Ost Europa Kulturzentrum, Berlin (GER)
1993
"Strano-Fremd-Obcy", homage exhibition and performance; organiser "Aliens with us" Kulturamt Schöneberg, Berlin (GER)
1992
"Aus der Hölle ins Ungewisse" life of refugees from Bosnia in Berlin and Germany, Travelling exhibition: Berlin, Hamburg, Bielefeld, Lübeck, Köln, Kiel, and 14 others (GER)
1991
"NOB" Galerija Kamernog Teatra, Sarajevo (BIH)
1988
"Nino Fotografija", Crvena Galerija, Sarajevo (BIH)
Publications
"Have a look into my life"
"Šta ima?"