Tell Me the Story of Your Life Without Once Touching Mine
Art installation at Expo Osaka 2025
Introduction
As part of the Japanese-Serbian Film Festival program, and in celebration of Expo 2025’s theme Connecting Lives, I invite visitors to cross the threshold from observer to co-creator of a living work of art in my installation, ‘Tell Me the Story of Your Life Without Once Touching Mine.’
The installation transforms a landscaped bench outside the Serbian Pavilion into a shared canvas where stories, imagination, and nature intertwine. Each contribution becomes part of a larger fabric, reminding us that art is a universal language — one that transcends borders and opens new possibilities for a more connected and inclusive future.
Background
Born in Yugoslavia and shaped by the war and the breakup of my country, I began a nomadic journey that has lasted more than three decades. Questions of belonging and identity continue to guide my art and my way of living. Always moving, I’ve learned that life deepens when we bring our stories together, each encounter becoming part of a greater whole.
In today’s increasingly divided world, remembering this interconnectedness feels more urgent than ever—between people, cultures, and the natural world itself. That belief is at the heart of this installation.
Its title and spirit draw from a poem by Pavi Mehta, which reminds us that “there are no borders” and that “everything flows into everything else”. The work unfolds on a bench—a simple, universal place where people sit, pause, and connect. Here, the bench becomes a shared canvas where personal stories and imaginative gestures merge and flow into one another.
In the spirit of Expo 2025’s theme Connecting Lives, and in line with my artistic practice of impermanence, flow, and co-creation, the installation asks: What new worlds can we create together when we remember that there are no borders?
The Process
To explore that question, visitors are invited to inscribe their own stories—marking or drawing on the bench as a shared canvas. Each gesture meets the traces left by others, weaving our contributions into an ever-changing whole while sun, wind, and rain add their own subtle presence.
I guide and curate these evolving layers, weaving the layers into an intricate tapestry of shapes and colors that represent our collective hopes and dreams for the future.
Follow the Journey
The installation will remain on display throughout Expo 2025 as a testament to this unfolding collaboration. What began as a shared experiment in co-creation will continue to live in conversation with all who pass by.
For more glimpses behind the scenes, follow along on Instagram.