Ben Uri Research Unit

Born: 1981 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Year of Migration to the UK: 1989

Biography

Artist Ana Čvorović was born in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina) in 1981. She later moved to Grude, a small town in Herzegovina. In 1989, as it became clear that Yugoslavia was collapsing, Čvorović and her family immigrated to the UK. The most traumatic moment for the family was the death of her younger brother, who had cerebral palsy and remained in a Bosnian hospital for disabled children during the war, while his parents were arranging for his care in the UK. Within months, the same hospital underwent a further tragedy during the war, when the staff fled, leaving the children alone for three days until the UN arrived. Čvorović subsequently underwent eight years of daily psychoanalysis through a charity—equating to one year of therapy for each year spent in Bosnia, she notes. This process has made Čvorović well-versed in introspection: it has helped her navigate artistic block and better manage anxiety. Channelling her early traumas into art provided a unique form of release. Regarding the migration experience she has stated: ‘Anyone moving to a new place will experience difficulties, because it’s hard for people to accept newcomers,’ (Čvorović quoted in Erizanu, 2020). Čvorović received her art education in England, studying for a BA in Fine Art Painting at the University of Brighton from 2000-3, followed by an MA in Fine Art Sculpture at the Royal Collage of Art in London, between 2011 and 2013.

With an oeuvre primarily focussed around installation, Čvorović regularly explores themes of migration and diaspora, with both trauma and therapy informing her work. Her art practice probes the mental undercurrents of places marked by migration, conflict, poverty, and the forces of globalisation. She examines the psychological and physical adjustments that occur as people shift from one locale to another, raising questions about belonging, structure, identity, and the idea of freedom. The memories of being uprooted during the early days of the Yugoslav civil war (1992-5) continue to resonate in her work, which now engages with the rapid emergence of global diasporas. Čvorović is interested in how the experience of displacement leads to a splintered self. This in-between state is often captured in her work, which invites viewers to wander through its contradictory spaces - where allure meets peril, comfort clashes with restraint, and motion turns into stillness. Drawing from both the personal and the historical, the pieces transform everyday household objects, loaded with the echoes of childhood, memory, and the unconscious. Her practice moves from small, private corners loaded with detailed imagery to the larger, more engulfing spatial gestures, aiming to express the tangled nature of our fragile human state.

Čvorović has held numerous solo and group exhibitions. In 2016, she participated in Unexpected: Continuing Narratives of Identity and Migration at Ben Uri Gallery, which explored themes of displacement, loss, memory and identity though the unexpected juxtaposition of works from the permanent collection alongside new works by contemporary artists, in conjunction with Counterpoints Arts (an arts organisation working with refugees). Taking her own refugee experience as the starting point, her 2020 exhibition Borders Unfold at PiArtworks in London sought to continue the discussion around children’s refugee stories. While the displays dealt with difficult histories and childhood experiences, it was, nevertheless, also permeated with a sense of hope. Other group exhibitions dealing directly with themes of migration and movement include the 2023-24 exhibition Here, but somewhere else at the Škuc Gallery in Ljubljana. Taking inspiration from bell hooks’ writing on belonging, the exhibition tackled issues of movement, displacement, and belonging, through the works of seven artists. Each artist explored the fluid nature of identity and place, weaving personal and collective stories of those who cross borders. Their pieces offered a mix of local and regional views, forming intimate maps of belonging, be it chosen, enforced, or imagined.

Čvorović's career has been supported by several important grants and awards, including: Arts Council England (2018-19), Leathersellers Scholarship (2021), and the Arthouse Jersey Commission (2023), alongside residencies in Ljubljana, Jersey, Lebanon (supported by the UK charity Foundation for Art & Psychoanalysis), and New York. Čvorović has taught part-time at the University of Essex since 2023 and at North Bridge House Schools. Ana Čvorović lives and works in London, England. Her work is not currently represented in any UK public collections.

Related organisations

Royal College of Art (student )
University of Brighton (student )

Selected exhibitions

Here, but somewhere else (group show), Škuc Gallery, Ljubljana (2023)
No Place Like Home (group show), Arthouse Jersey, Jersey (2023)
E70-E75 (group show), The Koppel Project, London (2022)
Ana Čvorović (solo exhibition), Ballon Rouge Collective, Brussels (2021)
Borders Unfold (solo exhibition), Pi Artworks, London (2020)
Borders Unfold (group show), Sculpture Space, New York (2018)
Strike Site (group show), BACKLIT Gallery, Nottingham (2018)
Refuse: Refuge: Re-fuse (group show), The Koppel Project, London (2016)
Part of Us (group show), Central St Martins, London (2016)
Unexpected: Continuing Narratives of Identity and Migration (group show), Ben Uri Gallery, London (2016)

Ben Uri archive

Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Ana Čvorović ]

Ben Uri Research Unit

for the study and digital recording of the Jewish, Refugee and wide Immigrant contribution to British visual culture since 1900.

Ana Čvorović artist