Tanja Ostojic
Encyclopedia
Tanja Ostojić is a Serbia
n feminist performance art
ist.
's L'Origine du monde
. Ostojić's version displayed her own crotch, clothed in blue underwear complete with EU stars. The image was meant as an ironic suggestion that foreign women are only welcome in Europe when they drop their underwear.
Along with other works from an ongoing art exhibition, this poster was selected to publicly promote Austria
's presidency of the Council of the European Union
. Vienna
's Kronen Zeitung
newspaper turned this selection into something of a scandal, expressing its outrage over state-funded pornography
and its concern for Austria's world image. Anxious politicians of all parties quickly joined in, resulting in the poster being taken down. Since then, the picture - which had already been shown several times without a title in 2005 - has been informally known as the "EU Panties" .
. From 2000 to 2003, she publicly addressed this issue in an online performance piece, "Looking for a husband with a EU passport", in which she presented herself naked and with a shaven head, possibly reminiscent of a prisoner from socialist times. This led to an actual marriage to an artist from Cologne
, from whom she then separated in 2005, again as an online performance.
At the Venice Biennale
in 2001, her performance "I'll Be Your Angel" involved her following around the independent curator
and art historian
Harald Szeemann
- who had at his disposal a significant budget - for days, all the time simply smiling fondly at him. The one-time "great subversive" Szeemann did not see the funny side of this, however, and made sure she was excluded from all his projects.
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n feminist performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
ist.
The "EU Panties"
In December 2005, Ostojić became well known in Europe as a result of the "EU Panties" poster, a satire of Gustave CourbetGustave Courbet
Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet was a French painter who led the Realist movement in 19th-century French painting. The Realist movement bridged the Romantic movement , with the Barbizon School and the Impressionists...
's L'Origine du monde
L'Origine du monde
L’Origine du monde is an oil-on-canvas painted by French artist Gustave Courbet in 1866. It is a close-up view of the genitals and abdomen of a naked woman, lying on a bed with legs spread...
. Ostojić's version displayed her own crotch, clothed in blue underwear complete with EU stars. The image was meant as an ironic suggestion that foreign women are only welcome in Europe when they drop their underwear.
Along with other works from an ongoing art exhibition, this poster was selected to publicly promote Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
's presidency of the Council of the European Union
Presidency of the Council of the European Union
The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is the responsibility for the functioning of the Council of the European Union that rotates between the member states of the European Union every six months. The presidency is not a single president but rather the task is undertaken by a national...
. Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
's Kronen Zeitung
Kronen Zeitung
The Kronen Zeitung, commonly known as the Krone, is Austria's largest newspaper. According to a Österreichische Media-Analyse study, the average daily readership is 2,970,000 , which corresponds to 43,7% of all newspaper readers...
newspaper turned this selection into something of a scandal, expressing its outrage over state-funded pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
and its concern for Austria's world image. Anxious politicians of all parties quickly joined in, resulting in the poster being taken down. Since then, the picture - which had already been shown several times without a title in 2005 - has been informally known as the "EU Panties" .
Earlier activities
Ostojić's grand theme is the "arrogance of the EU" with regards to the integration of south-eastern Europe into the union. For south-east Europeans, and particularly women, becoming resident in the EU is often only possible through marriage, which Ostojić depicts as a form of prostitutionProstitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
. From 2000 to 2003, she publicly addressed this issue in an online performance piece, "Looking for a husband with a EU passport", in which she presented herself naked and with a shaven head, possibly reminiscent of a prisoner from socialist times. This led to an actual marriage to an artist from Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, from whom she then separated in 2005, again as an online performance.
At the Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
in 2001, her performance "I'll Be Your Angel" involved her following around the independent curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
and art historian
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
Harald Szeemann
Harald Szeemann
Harald Szeemann was a Swiss curator and art historian.-Life:Szeemann was born in Bern. He studied art history, archaeology and journalism in Bern and Paris, and in 1956 he began working as an actor, stage designer and painter, as well as doing one-man shows. He started creating exhibitions in 1957...
- who had at his disposal a significant budget - for days, all the time simply smiling fondly at him. The one-time "great subversive" Szeemann did not see the funny side of this, however, and made sure she was excluded from all his projects.
Quotation
(Translated from the German Wikipedia article): "If the image of a woman's body can be seen as a political statement when it comes to the EU presidency, then what about the reality of south-eastern European women who in the year 2006 are still being sold as commodities in the EU? Over here the fictitious woman lies in an apparently lascivious pose in the picture, and over there the real woman stands on the corner or is confined to a brothel. It is a paradoxical image."
External links
- Curriculum Vitae from Brooklyn MuseumBrooklyn MuseumThe Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
.