Selma Selman: I believe art is powerful enough to have an impact on people’s lives
An artist dividing her life between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United States discusses the importance of education.
Yes, there's a big chance for activism and art to be effective.
Even at a young age, us women are taught that we're inferior and that we should marry rich men.
“Balkan” 2016. Photo: Selma Selman’s private archive.
The plan is also to set up IT workshops for girls, where they’ll be taught design and coding. In addition, one of our scholars is to enroll at university this year, which is a great success; I used to be the only Roma woman in Bihać with higher education. There you go, we’ve made progress!In addition, one of our scholars is to enroll at university this year, which is a great success; I used to be the only Roma woman in Bihać with higher education. There you go, we’ve made progress!Moreover, we have a girl who has already gotten into art secondary school and wants to apply to the Art Academy in Banja Luka. We have ten more girls, all very good students, who will be finishing their primary school in two or three years.This means that — starting from 2023 — we can expect a large number of girls in secondary schools and later on at universities.
Dalibor Tanić
Dalibor Tanić is a journalist and activist. He runs the website Udar, dedicated to issues related to the lives of Roma communities. Surrounded by young Roma people, he is building the platform for the new generation. As a journalist, he has published for various media, including the online magazine Žurnal in Bosnia, and he has won awards for his investigative journalism work.
This story was originally written in Serbian.