Melissa Potter will present her animated film in progress, Ammunition For The Virgin at the FMX Festival in Mexico City.

Melissa Potter’s Animated Film in Progress, Ammunition for the Virgin is now on-line

By tradition in some the remote and inaccessible Southeastern parts of the Balkans, a girl born to a family without boys is forced or sometimes chooses to live her life as a man. She dresses like a man and usually takes on the role of inheritor of the family property, becoming a brother to her sisters. In most cases, she never marries and never engages in a sexual relationship, hence the referral to these women as “sworn virgins”.

Please check it out, along with stills of the women interviewed, and of course, everyone is welcome to contribute to the conversation

http://www.nanomajority.com/projects/melissa-potter

Flowers for Slobo in Schwarzkopf Violet, Schwarzkopf hair dye on 30 x 40 handmade paper, 2010.

Melissa Potter’s new work was shown at Zvono Gallery, in Belgrade Serbia, this past Novebember. The exhibition featured Flowers for Slobo in Schwarzkopf, a series painted with Eastern European hair dye made by the brand, Schwarzkopf; Pimp My Ride, a series of photographs and video made in the Mexican neighborhood of Pilsen, Chicago; Maybe Mom, a saliva ovulation test system translated into paintings and Gender Assignment in which Potter and Kitty Hubbard administered the BEM Sex Role Inventory test on students and explored the results in a print-on-demand book.

Swinging Little Lamb, circa 1974, feminine traits for book, Gender Assignment, 2010.

There was a peformance on the night of the opening Gender Assignment: Zvono Gallery attendee had access to a Serbian translated version of The BEM Sex Role Inventory test. Anonymous test results will be displayed on the wall of the gallery for the exhibition. A print-on-demand book will explore the gender analysis of Zvono gallery goers.

ZVONO Gallery

Visnjiceva 5, Belgrade

Working hours: Monday – Friday: 12:00 – 19:00 h Saturday: 12:00 – 16:00 h

Zvono Gallery For further information contact Zvono Director, Ljiljana Tadic

phone/fax: +381 11 2625 243 mobile: +381 64 235 08 66

email: galerijazvono@gmail.com

Melissa Potter’s Pulp, A Love Story: My Serbian Affair With Papermaking is now available!

Papermaking in Serbia? For more than ten years, artist Melissa Potter has had to explain what she does for a living-wherever she does it. Through professor Vlada VeljaseviÄâs illustrations and storyline, this book chronicles Potterâs Fulbright award adventures:

Pulp, A Love Story: My Serbian Affair With Papermaking

Melissa Potter’s film project, Ammunition for the Virgin has been awarded generous support from the Ministry of Culture, Serbia. Ammunition for the Virgin is a 20-minute video animation project in progress focusing on diverse young women in FR Yugoslavia and their choices today in contrast with Stana Cerovic, the reported “last sworn virgin” in Montenegro.

In a rare Balkan tradition, Stana Cerovic took an oath to be raised as a boy and forsake marriage in order to inherit family property. Interviews with women have been conducted the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, former students from the Fine Arts Academy, a graffiti artist, and the Roma community. For further information, please contact Melissa Potter at mpotter@colum.edu.