Thought I'd write a bit of a background to the project. The whole idea for it came whilst I was filming for my other project Radionica. One of the women I filmed said that her mother travelled “all the way” to Zagreb to choose an outfit in which she will be buried. Intrigued, I set out to research it further and it has slowly revealed itself to be a custom that still some (and mostly) women are practicing. I knew that project will be a challenge on so many levels, finding participants, then filming them and photographing such intimate belongings and many more…But I guess it is the challenge that makes it so enticing and an inner need to further explore what is behind the idea. The whole project for me is about intimately engaging with lives of women whose identities have been shaped by turbulent historical, political and cultural currents. The ritual in a way serves as a form of a window into exploring questions related to social and cultural construction of death and dying and through that questioning our relationship to living.
The project is also in some respect a continuation of Graduation Dresses series of photographs, whereby I photograph young women in their personal spaces wearing their graduation dresses, all of which have been made by my mother (who runs a sewing business from her flat in Bosnia) and all the dresses are based on an image of a dress from haute couture designer or a celebrity.
During my first journey in Autumn 2006, I met, recorded interviews and photographed eleven women and the clothes in which they wish to be buried. One of the women I photographed is shown in the previous post, Liza from Donja Vrba, a small village next to Slavonski Brod, in Croatia (where I was born).
I will write more on the previous reasearch trip another time as my mind is firmly fixed on tomorrow's or rather today's journey. In the last week I have been buying some touristy presents in one of those touristy shops on Oxford street. My cousin in Croatia last time advised me that it would be nice if I could get a small something to give as a present to women I photograph (apart from the coffee and a sweet which I usually bring), like the fridge magnets or after eight mints. So, I just can't resist but upload an image from one of the fridge magnets I bought, true piece of London, and of course via China! Then I also bought some Earl Grey tea, and that is also from China. What about dark chocolate and mint combination?
