This month is a good one for Vukašin Nedeljković. His baby will be born at the end of March, and his work will be presented at one of the most pre-eminent visual art shows in Ireland, Limerick’s ev+a exhibition.
Last year, the talented visual artist received first prize in the renowned Claremorris Open Exhibition, and he has also showcased his work in Belgrade, Paris, Vienna, Baden and London.
“It is great that my video about asylum seekers from the small town of Ballyhaunis is recognised internationally by such a curator as Lizzie Carey-Thomas from the Tate Modern,” he says.
The only downside is that the film tells his own painful story.
“I was born in Yugoslavia in a wealthy family and I had a great childhood there… Holidays abroad, good education, art college,” recalls Nedeljković. But his dream life was ruined when the war started.
For 10 years, Nedeljković used his art to fight against Slobodan Milošević’s regime, for which he was imprisoned on a number of occasions. After giving a controversial speech on Serbian radio, he felt his life was in danger. “I made a mess in politics,” he says.
In 2005, he was invited to Westport to show work about living in a country affected by war.
“When my tourist visa expired I decided to stay in Ireland as it wasn’t safe for me at home,” he explains. “In April 2006 my asylum process started. My reality now is Ballyhaunis, a small rural town in Ireland, and living on €19 per week. I’m not allowed to work. What can I do?”
Nedeljković’s video piece, Asylum Seekers, presents the stories of nine people living in his asylum seeker hostel.
“It is very important to speak out about our life here because the average Irish person doesn’t know much about the asylum process,” he says. “Many think that we came here to take social welfare money or to take their jobs. It is very obvious in small towns.”
Nedeljković is grateful for having a roof over his head and living in safety, but he criticises the direct provision system. “It institutionalises and ghettoises people. There are no facilities there, no money to do anything.
“At my appeal I was asked, do I suffer from objective or subjective fear. It was very upsetting. My mother passed away last year. Her last words to me were not to come back to Belgrade.
“I’m her only child and I couldn’t go to her funeral.”
