2011
2-channel video installation, HD video, sound, 6:12 min
Retelling # 1 is a 2-channel video installation, with one image and one text projection. The text in the video consists of material from interviews with the artist´s parents, in which they describe the first asylum center they arrived to after fleeing the civil war in Bosnia. Along the physical descriptions of the place, the text describes actions their children performed in the described spaces. In the text, the characters are referred to as "you"
2013
HD video, 13;16 min, B&W print, sound
In "Citanje (Reading)" a voice (the voice of the addressee) is heard reading a letter. The letter is sent by the artist´s father and narrates his escape from Bosnia during the conflict in the 90s. The reader's voice is marked by mispronunciations, stuttering, slips and repetitions and his inability to properly speak his native language hints at the trans generational effects of historical violence.
2015
HD-video, sound, 16:12 min
In "Prevodenje (Translation)" a simultaneous translation is being performed for the camera. A conversation between the performer´s father and the performer is being listened to and translated from Bosnian to English and Norwegian. The struggle with the translation process becomes apparent on the translator´s body as he searches for words, gesticulates, tries to catch up with the ongoing conversation, corrects himself etc. The narrative deals with the history of the conflict in Ex-Yugoslavia, his father´s memories and the circumstances connected to his son´s name, Damir. The work deals with trans-generational transmission of trauma and remembering and forgetting across generations.
"Prevodenje (Translation)" was awarded BKH´s Photo Art Prize in 2015.
2015-2016
Video installation, dimensions variable, sound
In "Reenactment/Process" four young people read trial transcripts from the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia) The contributors are all originally from Ex-Yugoslavia, representing every ethnicity involved in the conflict in the early 90s. After each reading, the participants spontaneously engaged in longer conversations about the effect of the conflict and the various generational divides and frictions between their own generation and their parents´ relating to this history.
Participants are: Natasha Coralic, Miljan Rakic, Mario Selak & Damir Avdagic
Cinematography: Alexandra Spence, Lauren Branson
Sound: Abigail Collins, Nikita Gale
Assistance & Photography: Paul Mpagi Sepuya
2018
HD-video, sound, 23:38 min
In “Repriza/Uzvracanje (Reprise/Response)” 4 people in their mid-60s, originally from Ex-Yugoslavia, perform a transcribed conversation from the piece “Reenactment/Process” from 2016 in which four people in their mid-20s discuss the inter-generational frictions they experience between themselves and their parents, relating to the conflict in Ex-Yugoslavia.
The participants in “Repriza/Uzvracanje (Reprise/Response)” perform the transcribed conversation and react to the content, commenting on issues of responsibility, guilt, shame and and the legacy of communism in the wake of the conflict.
“Reenactment/Process” from 2016 and “Repriza/Uzvracanje (Reprise/Response)” from 2018 make up a body of work that stretches a historical time period between two generations and reflects on how the past echoes in the present.
Cinematography: Adrian Bara, Tetsugo Hyakutake, Liam O´Brien, Robert Herrera
Sound: Matthew Barnes
2019
Silk screen prints, series of 10 prints, 100 x 70 cm
“Transcripts/Scripts” consists of 10 silk screen prints of the documents read in the video piece “Repriza/Uzvracanje (Reprise/Response)” 2018
The manuscripts contain the printed dialogue between 4 members of the artist’s generation and the handwritten notes of the readers in “Repriza/Uzvracanje (Reprise/Response)” 2018 creating a layering of voices.
2021
HD-video, sound, 32 mins
In “Prolazi izmedju 1980-2021 (Passages between 1980-2021) Avdagic works with five people who came to Norway as child refugees in the 1990s. They perform testimonies from the period 1980–95 that chronologically trace the development of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia and which stem from members of their parents’ and grandparents’ generation. During the presentation, the participants interrupt their roles and alternate between languages. They look at the history they have in common and share their experiences regarding national, political and social affiliation.
Participants: Amila Suljević Melle, Aljoša Eraković, Nedin Mutić, Maja Dzafić, Lucija Leko
2024
Video installation, 24:58 min
Custom built vocal booth (plywood, metal, wooden fibre isolation, foam panels), microphones, microphone stand, custom-built stage (paper backdrop, backdrop stands), office chair, headphones, 4K video, sound
Prijenos (Overføring) takes form as a sculptural installation framing a documented performance developed together with three families who immigrated to Norway in the early 1990s. Each constellation consists of a mother and her (now grown-up) child. While the former spoke a self-experienced testimony from either before, during or after the Yugoslav Wars using the custom built vocal booth, the latter was given the task of simultaneously translating this story on the stage from Bosnian to Norwegian. This process was filmed and makes up the video in the installation.
The gesturing, the most miniscule of facial expressions, and the effects of the voice – produced in the dissonance of the subject speaking of itself through the mother’s voice, memories and language – captures the act of transmission and the resultant surfacing of the unconscious.
“Prijenos (Overføring)” means transmission in Bosnian and Norwegian respectively.
Documentation by Vegard Kleven
2026
Laser-milled plaster, silkscreen print, 49,3 cm x 19 cm, 22 panels
“Variacije (Variasjoner)” consists of 22 individual panels. Each panel contains one anecdote from Avdagic´s archive, spoken by individual members of the Yugoslav diaspora. The anecdotes weave into each other and make up a chronolgy, starting after WW2 and ending after the war in the former Yugoslavia. The anecdotes are transcribed into phonetic letters and laser-milled into cast plaster.
On the opposite side of each panel the anecdote is presented as a handwritten translation, translated by 22 individuals invited to listen to each their anecdote in Bosnian, and make a handwritten translation in Norwegian. “Varijacije (Variasjoner)” captures the transmission of historical testimony, language and sign system from one form into another.
“Varijacije (Variasjoner)” means variations in Bosnian and Norwegian respectively.
2026
C-print photograph, aluminum, 22 cm x 16,5 cm
HD-video, sound, 17:34 min
In “Nastavak (Fortsettelse)” a young woman is listening to and simultaneously translating a testimony provided by her grandparents from Bosnian to Norwegian. The account dwells on life in the former Yugoslavia in the years after World War II, revealing an undercurrent of longing for many of the things that were lost as a result of the wars of the 1990s, especially the spirit of solidarity and community. The testimony is brought into the present through the simultaneous translation provided by the granddaughter, implying a return to the values her grandparents speak about and emphasizing future generations´role in bringing about change.
“Nastavak (Fortsettelse)” means continuation in Bosnian and Norwegian respectively.
