Lana Čmajčanin is a contemporary artist from Bosnia and Herzegovina, born in Sarajevo in 1983. She earned a master’s degree in sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of Sarajevo and pursued doctoral studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Čmajčanin lives and works between Sarajevo and Vienna. She is also a co-founder and member of Crvena, an arts and culture organization.
Her artistic practice spans installation, video art, performance, photography, and sound installation. Čmajčanin’s work explores the connections between history, collective memory, and political and social power structures. She focuses particularly on the aftermath of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, systemic violence, nationalism, and the role of women in society. Drawing on historical documents, maps, and archival materials, she examines how territorial borders and political narratives shape identity and collective memory.
Čmajčanin’s work has been featured at major international art institutions and events, including the 58th Venice Biennale (2019), the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (2015), the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow (2015), the Pera Museum in Istanbul (2016), and the Autostrada Biennale in Prizren (2019). In 2013, she received the Special Award at the 54th October Salon in Belgrade. Her works are held in international collections, including those of the Wien Museum in Vienna and the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.
In 2024, Čmajčanin joined Reporting House in Prishtina with her installation Don’t Dream Dreams, curated by Gazmend Ejupi. The work explores the relationship between Bosnia and Herzegovina’s history, international intervention, and Western diplomacy, examining how structures of power have shaped the region’s historical memory and collective experience.