Eldin Smajlović is an artist who works with different media. He mis a painter, film.maker, and writer, producing short stories and screenplays for both film and theatre. Eldin is from Bosnia and came to Sweden in 2012, and has been based in Gothenburg since 2014.
He began his education at the Sarajevo Art School, graphic design (1999–2003). During this period, he worked on restoring drawings and paintings on the walls of Begs mosque (2002), Sarajevo. With “Generation Human Rights” and Elana Haviv, he had an exhibition at the “CMCE – UN building” in New York and the New York Times reviewed his work (2003). In the same year he wrote and directed his first short film “Ivan’s Stone” (2003).
After these studies he continued to study cultural sociology and philosophy at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Sarajevo (2003–2007). During this period, he created a theatre association “Kružok Slavista Filozofskog Fakulteta” and worked as art director. During this time, he also participated in several group exhibitions in Sarajevo, Mostar, Saarbrücken and New York. He went on to study engraving at Sarajevo Art Academy (2007-2010), finishing the first two years before being expelled for his work with Sarajevo’s LGBTQ community.
Eldin made his first stop-frame animation film “Saturday at the academy” (2007) which appeared on “Kriterion KINO KLUB” at Meeting Point cinema (2008) in Sarajevo on the short film program – “Going Underground” at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje (2008). In October 2010, his very first novel “Kliše” (Kliché) was published on “Obrazovanje Gradi BiH publishing house”.
When Eldin moved to Örebro, Sweden (2012), he learned Swedish. He was given the opportunity to direct his first films “Dejten” (2013) and “Midsommar” (2014) in the series “Right people”. Eldin also organized, produced and directed the 1st Sci-Fi Film Festival in Örebro (2014).
In Gothenburg he worked at various cafes and as a cleaner until he was admitted tothe Photography Basic Course 1 and Artworks (painting and drawing) at Folkuniversitetet. From 2017 to 2019 he began his academic education at Valand Academy in Gothenburg with a focus on fine art (“fri konst”). He currently works as a substitute teacher in Gothenburg and studying teacher education at Umeå University.
work in the exhibition
OPEN UP Gothenburg Documentary (2023)
“OPEN UP Gothenburg” (2023)
- first rough cut of video documentary of OPEN UP Gothenburg project.
- dimensions: (50 mins.)
- venue: Room 2037 & Bio Valand Screening Programnme (19/06/2023)
Note: This is the first cut of a documentary that profiles the OPEN UP Gothenburg project. The final cut will have its premiere in Nicosia Cyprus October 2023 as part of the international OPEN UP Festival.
exhibition.school 