Rethinking Art's Histories “I am Jugoslovenka!

Coining the term “Jugoslovenka” to designate the unique history of Yugoslav women’s resistance to patriarchy during and after socialism, this book shows how Yugoslavia’s anti-fascist, transnational and feminist legacies manifest in performance, conceptual, video and activist works. This book reveals how feminist performance politics in art and culture were central to socialist Yugoslavia and traces a feminist legacy through the contemporary, post-socialist era. Using the term “Jugoslovenka” to encompass multiple generations of women who lived under or were born during Yugoslav socialism, it bridges decades of nation-building and violent rupture. Presenting analyses of well-known feminist artists like Sanja Ivekovic alongside controversial figures such as Marina Abramovic and Vlasta Delimar, and highlighting the feminist legacies of superstar music icons Lepa Brena and Esma Redžepova alongside contemporary artists such as Tanja Ostojic and Selma Selman, the book offers an essential insight into Yugoslav feminist performance politics. Ultimately, “I am Jugoslovenka!” introduces a starkly divergent narrative of socialism, one that reveals a vibrant Yugoslav feminist cultural production centered on questions of gender and sexuality—political commitments that shaped feminist, lesbian, and anti-nationalist movements from the 1980s to today. Winner of the Barbara Jelavich Book Prize 2023“I am Jugoslovenka” argues that queer-feminist artistic and political resistance were paradoxically enabled by socialist Yugoslavia’s unique history of patriarchy and women’s emancipation. Spanning performance and conceptual art, video works, film and pop music, lesbian activism and press photos of female snipers in the Yugoslav wars, the book analyses feminist resistance in a range of performative actions that manifest the radical embodiment of Yugoslavia’s anti-fascist, transnational and feminist legacies. It covers celebrated and lesser-known artists from the 1970s to today, including Marina Abramovic, Sanja Ivekovic, Vlasta Delimar, Tanja Ostojic, Selma Selman and Helena Janecic, along with music legends Lepa Brena and Esma Redžepova. “I am Jugoslovenka” tells a unique story of women’s resistance through the intersection of feminism, socialism and nationalism in East European visual culture."