State of Illusion presents a theatrical re-staging of the last pavilion of the defunct state of Yugoslavia at an international world exposition – the Montreal EXPO in 1967 – as an illusionist device. Set within an empty theatre, three dancers rebuild the pavilion’s modular structure and use it to create a set of illusions where the illusionist herself continuously disappears. The assistants and the tricks grow in violence with each of the subsequent six illusions, standing in for the six republics of former Yugoslavia, until the body of the illusionist completely vanishes, as did the country.

Jasmina Cibič works in film, sculpture, performance and installation to explore «soft power» — how political rhetoric is deployed through art and architecture, particularly examining how cultural production is used by the state to communicate certain principles and aspirations. Through unfolding the complex entanglements of art, gender and state power, the artist encourages viewers to consider the strategies employed in the construction of national culture.

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