nada /Balkan Song

Nada Miljković’s Балкан Песма

Balkan Song presents an endurance performance piece and multi-channel video installation as the means to explore Sevdah, a musical tradition and emotion about the pain from separation of love. Balkan Song inspires the participants to reflect on identities, gender and agency. The performance will take place on May 29, 2009 at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. This piece is accompanied by a video installation at the Museum as well.

Nada Milkjovic is an activist artist researching and exploring new media forms that inspire understanding and tolerance across diverse cultures. She works in digital print, video, net-art, radio and performance. She is currently developing an interactive performance and video piece that searches for identity through musical traditions and inspires the participants to reflect upon gender and agency.

Here's the little part of Balkan Song that will be making its world premiere May 7th, 2009 at the Del Mar at 5:15pm Eva on Marriage.

Sevdahlinke, songs of Sevdah, are meant to evoke the pain from the separation of that which you love, whatever that may be whether a person, god, homeland, anything.

Everyday more and more can be found on the net on about sevdah and karasevdah (black longing for love). I just found this blog by Silvana Mondo and Sevdalinke

Traditionally when performed by women, Sevdahlinke was sung by the women forced into marriage similar to slavery.

Even though these songs are hundreds of years old, they are still sung today (mostly in a pop way). I keep thinking of Maya Angelou's I know why the caged bird sings . These are the songs the caged bird sang,_ Sevdah.

Forced marriages are still happening today and transcends physical and cultural borders. Here's a link about a father in the City of Greenfield who just last week was accused of taking a dowry for his 14 year old daughter who then was "kidnapped" or as referred to in some Mexican traditions "me la robo", The practice or custom, as quoted from the Sentinel article, whereby a man decides he wants a young woman for his wife, kidnaps or "robs" her, consummates the union, then asks her parents for permission to marry her. Because of the cultural taboos surrounding virginity, permission is almost always granted.

The following links are various stories of women, young girls, sold into servitude under the name of marriage. After the story of a British Doctor was lured to Bangladesh by her biological family and was kidnapped at the airport and forced to marry got into the media, in 2008, Great Britain created a new Law against forced marriages that pressures foreign countries to give up these women and send them back to British territory. This new British law has seen over 1300 cases in the first nine months of existence.

One unfortunate aspect of forced marriages is that many times it is with prepubescent young girls such as Nujood Al of Yemen who are forced to sex. The reason so many women around the world die in childbirth is because their bodies were too young. Here's a link to the Arab Media Community where they speak of the 60 million underage girls forced into marriage.

This is a picture of Nujood and

Here's what the Stop Violence Against Women have to say about the Britain's Forced Marriage Act: Global Scourge. Here's a bill introduced in the US that is similar to the British law HR3175International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2007. This bill was introduced by Representative Betty Mc Collum (D-Minn.) July 25, 2007 and has yet to be debated on the floor of the Senate. This information was found at Feminist Daily News. Time recently (Dec.28, 2008) had an article on "The Best Way to Curb Forced Marriage The Commission on the Status of Women UN data

Here's another case of an underage marriage that has been annulled in Saudi Arabia. Here's what the Crossroads Arabia and the Saudi Gazette have to say about it.

Here are the deliverables needed for Balkan Song: such as the abstract, project description, artistic statement, conceptual statement, Abstract, Proposal, , budget, schedule, Bibliography, biography, schedule and budget. Here's my CV

While in Serbia and Croatia doing field work on Sevdah, I spoke with the violinist of this band Macak Misa Bend doing Mito Bekrijo.

There are three songs that I will sing. For the lyrics click on the song: Mito Bekrijo, Moj Dilbere and Kad Ja Podjoh Na Benbasu.

The following is an image of the booklet that I'm making of the performance happening on May 29th, 2009 at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History from 1-4 pm.

Here's a 100 word synopsis: Nada Miljković’s Balkan Song, performance and multi-media installation, explores Sevdah, a musical tradition and emotion about the pain from separation of love. In the Balkans, Sevdah is a tradition sung by those forced into marriage in an extreme patriarchal society, a culture that objectified women as commodity. Sevdahlinke, sevdah songs, are of songs of slavery. Through experiencing the endurance piece and/or video documentation, Balkan Song inspires the participants to reflect on identities, gender and agency in the past and present.

Here is my thesis that begins with the abstract.