Pluartis

Tanja Balac was born in Skopje in 1968, where she currently lives and works. She laid her academic foundations at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Skopje, graduating with a major in painting in 1991. Driven by a desire to continuously refine her artistic voice, she returned to her alma mater to earn her Master’s degree in painting in 2008.

Balac is not only an active creator but also a vital figure in her region’s institutional art community. She has been a member of the Macedonian Association of Artists (DLUM) since 1996, and she stepped up to shape its trajectory as President from 2006 to 2013. Her artistic viewpoint has been continually enriched by extensive professional visits, residencies, and study trips abroad – most notably her foundational residencies at the Cité des Arts in Paris (2003, 2024).

Though her artistic journey began at the canvas, Tanja Balac’s work over the last decade has boldly ventured beyond a single medium. Today, she constructs highly immersive spaces using video art, site-specific installations, and experimental film.

Her art sits comfortably at the intersection of geometric abstraction, figuration, and textual collages. Visually, she frequently explores the tension between presence and absence, silence and distance. In her cinematic and video work, Balac intentionally blurs the lines between fiction and documentary. Rather than seeking passive observers, she uses precise editing rhythms and sensory close-ups to initiate the audience into heightened emotional or metaphysical reflections. Many of her recent moving-image pieces – such as They don’t open their eyes and NextGeneration – act as sharp, poetic critiques of contemporary social structures, displacement, and the unfulfilled promises inherited by younger generations.

Experimental Films

NextGeneration (2022)

Runtime: 5’20”

Awards

• 2024 Grand-Prix (1st Place), Winter Salon, DLUM (Association of Artists of North Macedonia), Skopje, North Macedonia

Selected Screenings

• 2024 Cité des Arts, Paris, France
• 2024 Art Lazareti, Dubrovnik, Croatia
• 2022–2023 National Gallery of the Republic of North Macedonia, Skopje, North Macedonia

Crossing Signs (2023)

Runtime: 7’35”

Awards

• 2023 SAM Museum Award, Casoria Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) / Magmart Festival, Naples, Italy

Selected Screenings

• 2024 Filmfest Dresden (Short Film Lotto), Dresden, Germany
• 2023 National Gallery of the Republic of North Macedonia (Chifte Hamam), Skopje, North Macedonia
• 2023 Museum of the Republic of North Macedonia, Skopje, North Macedonia
• 2023 Athens Animfest, Athens, Greece
• 2023 Magmart International Video Art Festival, Naples, Italy
• 2023 ICONA Animation Festival, Corfu, Greece

Stuck Together (2020)

Runtime: 5’35”

Awards

• 2020 Festival Award Winner, Anarchy Film Festival, Manchester, United Kingdom

Selected Screenings

• 2024 Art Workshop Lazareti, Dubrovnik, Croatia
• 2021 Sydney Short Film Festival (Finalist), Sydney, Australia
• 2021 Santorini Film Festival (Finalist), Santorini, Greece
• 2021 Dublin Independent Film Festival (Official Selection), Dublin, Ireland
• 2020 Rome Independent Prisma Awards (Official Selection), Rome, Italy

Memorabilia (2018)

Runtime: 7’15”

Awards

• 2019 1st Place, West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival, West Virginia, USA
• 2019 4th Place (Experimental Video Category), “Lorenzo il Magnifico” Award, Florence Biennale, Florence, Italy

Selected Screenings

• 2019 CICA Museum (Czong Institute for Contemporary Art, Official Selection), Gimpo, South Korea

Red Land (2017)

Runtime: 15’43”

Selected Screenings

• 2018 Projektraum OKK (Organ kritischer Kunst), Berlin, Germany
• 2017 National Gallery of North Macedonia, Skopje, North Macedonia

The Birth of a Nation (2016)

Runtime: 12’26”

Selected Screenings

• 2018 Projektraum OKK (Organ kritischer Kunst), Berlin, Germany
• 2016 National Gallery of North Macedonia, Skopje, North Macedonia

Citizens 2 (2014)

Runtime: 12’26”

Selected Screenings

• 2016 Bonington Gallery, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom

Citizens (2013)

Runtime: 4’48”

Selected Screenings

• 2016 Bonington Gallery, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom
• 2013 Future Identities Festival, Venice, Italy
• 2013 Macedonia Square, Skopje, North Macedonia

2024 
Grand-Prix (1st Place), Winter Salon 2024, DLUM (Association of Artists of North Macedonia), Skopje, North Macedonia, for NextGeneration (Video animation)

2020 
Festival Award, Anarchy Film Festival and Young Creative Leaders, Manchester, England, for Stuck Together(Experimental film)

2019 
“Lorenzo il Magnifico” Award (4th Place, Video Art Category), Florence Biennale, Florence, Italy, for Memorabilia(Experimental film)

2019 
1st Place, West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival, West Virginia, USA, for Memorabilia (Experimental film)

2015 
“Nereshki Majstori” Award for Painting, DLUM (Association of Artists of North Macedonia), National Gallery of Macedonia, Skopje, North Macedonia

2003 
Award for Painting at the “Landscape” Exhibition, DLUM Gallery, Skopje, North Macedonia

2001 
“Nikola Martinovski” Award for Drawing at the “DLUM-Drawing” Exhibition, National and University Library “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Skopje, North Macedonia

1996 
“Metodija Ivanovski – Mende” Award at the “Small Scale Painting” Exhibition, Cultural Information Center (KIC), Skopje, North Macedonia

1995 
“Konstantin Mazev” Award for Young Artists at the “Small Scale Painting” Exhibition, Cultural Information Center (KIC), Skopje, North Macedonia

1992 
Award at “The Woman – Symbol and Inspiration” Exhibition, Cultural Center “Koco Racin”, Skopje, North Macedonia

To delve deeper into the career, conceptual framework, and evolving creative practice of Tanja Balac, we invite you to explore her comprehensive digital archive below: