She set off for Mexico, towards the home of the ancient Mayan and Aztec civilizations. Is there such a thing as coincidence in life? Maybe not. She is Maja, and she went to the civilization of the Mayans. The Mayans believed that everything returns, that everything repeats. She set out from the West of Europe, following the ancient footsteps to the Pyramid of the Sun, to the place where the Aztecs designed their pyramids according to the movement of the stars and the moon, tracking time. Yes, that’s where our Maja headed, driven by creative energy and a bright spirit eager to explore the different. She embarked and stayed for a long time.
Mexico is also the largest producer of tequila, and a true Mexican tequila would surely delight any of us on this journey of exploration, so we believe this trip was quite a challenge for Maja. And, if we also know that Mexico is one of the largest producers of coffee, it’s no surprise why someone would stay in Mexico with a good tequila and the special aroma of real coffee.
Ipak naša Maja Simišić nije toliko razmišljala o kafi i tekli, nju su zanimala beauty pravila po kojima neko bira najljepšu ženu i nameće pravila koja bi žena trebala da ispoštuje da bude najljepša na svijetu. Prastara potreba žene: Ogledalce, ogledalce. Ko je naljepši na svijetu ?
E Maja je krenula iz Holandije, iz Amsterdama da istraži Miss Universe prestižni međunarodni izbor za ljepotu a mi vjerujemo da joj je istraživanje bilo lakše uz tekilu. Ipak, moramo napomenuti da je Maja istražujući svoje korijene u Bosni i Hercegovini i ukazujući na klasne probleme i pitajući se može li Bosna da bude opet seksi kao nekad napravila je izložbu Make Bosnia Sexy Again kojom je oslobodila svoje strahove ukorijenjene stavovima o životu žene na našem prostoru. Borila se sa onim što je ženi na našem prosotu nametnuto od malena i ovom izložbom oslobodila se svojih trauma. Njena postavka Make Bosnia Sexy Again u Galeriji Vagon bila je predstavljena publici tokom avgusta i septembra 2023. godine.
While exploring the cities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Maja named her research “Miss Diaspora,” and the people she spoke to on her travels truly believed there was a "Miss Diaspora" competition. Then Maja realized that she had to create that beauty contest. To understand how this competition works, she headed straight to a country that has had a significant impact on the history of the "Miss Universe" competition, a country where their representatives have won this title several times. Mexico has a strong tradition in the "Miss Universe" competition, and the Mexican audience is very passionate in supporting their contestants.
In Mexico City, she spent two weeks following the competition, then continued her journey to Veracruz, Oaxaca, and Chiapas. Simply put, she traveled through Mexico from top to bottom. This journey led her to stay on Mexican farms, exploring life, people, and finding inspiration for her own work. This is the life of Maja Simišić, in which she truly delights.
Talking with Maja about Mexico, their lives, and the art scene, she told us that living in Mexico is incomparable to Europe. In the following text, we reveal why.
MEXICO
Govoreći o razlikama Maja se prvo osvrnula na odnos muškaraca prema ženama.
“One big difference I noticed between Mexico and Europe is how men treat women. In Mexico, men are real gentlemen. They open car doors, store doors, they are generally more considerate toward women than in Europe. They behave gentlemanly every day, not just when they go out with a girl or woman on a date or for coffee. Simply, in Mexico, there are many well-mannered men. Also, if they like you, they won’t be shy; they are direct. They will immediately ask if you have a boyfriend and confess that they like you. That was something completely new for me, especially after so many years living in the Netherlands, where everyone is much colder emotionally,” Maja told us.
U Meksiku je sasvim normalno da nedjeljom ljudi ponesu zvučnik i da na ulicama plešu i pjevaju.
“Dancing is a very important part of their lives, especially salsa, but also other Latin American dances. It was all new to me. I was surprised when I came and saw so many people dancing. I asked if it was a wedding, but the answer was no. People simply meet on the street and dance. It’s really beautiful,” Maja explained.
However, like any other country in the world, Mexico also has its share of problems, or as they say, the other side of the coin. On that other side is a significant class divide among people. As Maja shared with us, in Mexico, there are many wealthy people who send their children to study in America and simply have a lot of money.
“On the other hand, there are many poor people I saw on my travels, which isn’t as visible in Mexico City, but in rural areas. In these rural areas, there are families with many children, but they don’t have the money to send them to school, or it’s not part of their culture to send them to school. And so, those children don’t learn to read and write, because in the countryside, they consider it unnecessary. If you’re going to work on the farm, you don’t need it. What you need is to not be afraid of animals and to accept a survival style. I saw this firsthand on the farms where I volunteered,” she said.
Continuing to talk about her experience on the farms and in the Mexican villages, Maja said she found the countryside very relaxing.
“I chose the farms because it’s a way of traveling that’s authentic, unlike touristy trips where you go from city to city and don’t meet the people who live there or experience the culture of the city, only other tourists. That’s terrible to me. I like to stay in one place for a longer period and meet the people who live there and talk to them,” Maja explained.
Everything Maja does in her private life sparks inspiration for her new works, and whether she wants it or not, this inspiration simply happens. Maja is currently preparing for a residency in Iceland, which she will undertake in September, where she will explore — Working with long nails.
"On a farm in Mexico, I learned how to milk a goat, which I would love to continue doing in Iceland as part of this art project. Generally, interactions with people who live on farms are pleasant. You learn a lot of things, such as milking cows and goats, but also a lot about plants. Their everyday life is mostly very hard. They wake up at 6 a.m., because by noon the sun is too strong to work. Then, they take a break and continue working in the evening. These work habits are something I would like to continue," she added.
Speaking about the themes she plans to bring from the Mexican farms to her work, she will establish a parallel between rural and urban life, with a special focus on the project — Working with nails.
"It’s a huge inspiration for me because the project deals with the practicality of beauty standards. The real question is: How practical are artificial nails in daily life? So far, I’ve worked on how practical these nails are in everyday work in the city, and now I want to focus on the question: How would this big beauty standard, like artificial nails, function in the countryside? Is it practical in rural work? Is it even possible? This is a concrete topic related to farms that really inspired me," Maja told us.
THE ART SCENE OF MEXICO
Prema riječima naše konceptualne umjetnice umjetnička scena u Meksiku je skroz luda i raznolika. Čak je umjetničku scenu Miksiko Sitija uporedila sa srpskom scenom u Beogradu jer je pronašla dosta sličnosti.
– Dosta me njihova scena podsetila na srpsku. Velika razlika Meksika i Srbije u odnosu na Holandiju je da u Holandiji postoje i privatni i državni grantovi za koje jedan umetnik može da se prijavi. Od tih grantova umetnik u Holandiji može da živi. Holandija takođe, daje i grantove koji se odnose na projekte koje treba da uradiš da bi dobio novac. U Meksiku to ne postoji kao što ne postoji ni u Srbiji, ali to idalje ne sputava umetnike da stvaraju. To je teži način bivstvovanja, ali je jako zanimljivo da ljudi uvek mroaju da stvaraju sa novcem ili bez njega oni stvaraju. Sasvim drugačija priča je u Holandiji. Tamo umetnici čekaju da dobiju pare da bi nešto stvorili i često neće da rade ako nemaju nikakav iznos novca za to. U jednu ruku to je fer s te biznis strane, ali s druge strane tu je dosta umetničke slobode sputavano, jer konstantno čekaš novac i te prijave za grantove. Ti onda to pišeš tako da bi se to svidelo tim ljudima koji će ti dati novac umesto da budeš iskren. To je velika razlika-objasnila je Maja.
Talking about art in Mexico, she told us that the most interesting themes and styles of modern artists deal with colonial topics. This is very interesting because Mexico has art from before the arrival of the Spaniards and art from after their arrival.
"There are the pre-Spanish Mayan and Aztec cultures, which were mind-blowing in a positive sense. There’s the art from after the arrival of the Spaniards who colonized Mexico and brought their style, trying in the worst possible way to destroy their culture, people, and language. It's very interesting and sad. Many artists focus on those styles and the aesthetics that existed before colonization," Maja said.
We also learned from Maja that Mexico City has a lot of private art museums, which are used for money laundering. According to her, these museums are beautiful, with very high-quality works, and no one would ever suspect that they are private museums.
"However, it turns out that in Latin America, it's normalized for rich people to build a museum and launder money through art. I find that very interesting," she said.
Mexico is famous for street art, murals that were popular during the time of Frida Kahlo and her Diego.
"Murals were already popular back then, and there are still many artists doing murals in Mexico City. They use spaces to express their creativity, which is beautiful. I think people view art similarly to how it's seen in Serbia and Bosnia, where there are many people in the industry who will attend openings. But it's the same circle of people, and there aren't many people at exhibition openings who work in other fields. I think that's the same everywhere in the world, where art is still something abstract, and people don't have time for it," Maja concluded.
Maja’s experience is truly unique and certainly valuable to us. We eagerly await the continuation of her story in Miss Diaspora and her research on Working with Nails in Iceland.
