I was born into the narrative of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which broke up during wars in the 1990s. My state of birth became Bosnia and Herzegovina, featuring three new, different historical interpretations of events that took place in the region. That was when, as a 13-year old in my last year of primary school, I experienced an official switch in historical “truths” in the classroom.

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In recent years, building on over a decade of professional experience in education policy and research, I turned to aristic research to explore my subjective attitudes towards inherited histories. This meditative process resulted in an art installation titled “Into Which Narrative Was I Born?”, exhibited at the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in the summer of 2023. ​The following year I published a peer-reviewed paper on the teaching of competing historical interpretations in schools, available at this link

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The concept behind the artwork developed as an entry point for contemplating the relationship between education and conflict worldwide, focusing on the personal experiences of learning about history, as presented on this platform.​​ Would you like to contribute to the conversation? Please write to me at IntoWhichNarrativeWasIBorn@gmail.com​

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View a selection of my art portfolio here​

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Mirna Jančić Doyle