Lana Čmajčanin observes and witnesses. In her work - 20.000, she addresses the problem of war rape and the problem of social ignorance and social marginalization of women who survived rape.  Music-stands she exhibits bring a sad melody to binary notes, which count one to twenty thousand, a number which does not end but stays rather indefinite - as indefinite as the silence is. She dedicates her work to all the women who spoke out, but speaks for those who cannot. The voice of the survivor is the voice of the silent ones. Lana warns to inconsistency of institutional justice and inability to claim reparation, along with a thought whether any reparation could be satisfying in afterlife or rape. 

Voices we hear, or the speaking numbers, are voices of victims prior to, or after the crime – “The room went into a complete dark”, making us imagine the horrifying scene that have happened, before or after the light went off. She makes us imagine the unimaginable; however, the survivor needs no imagination when she speaks: “I would have recognized him in twenty years.” How could she forget her torturer? As long as she lives, her torturer lives in her. Likewise, the torturer lives in her surrounding, her family and her country. 

Extract from Archaeology of Body/ Anthropology of Violence exhibition catalogue

Curated by Andreja Dugandžić
Exhibition catalogue, Sarajevo, 2012
Bosnian/English

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