Letters to Omer with Selma Selman and Maša

Letters to Omer is an ongoing performance project by Amant Spring 2026 Resident Selma Selman.

Letters to Omer is an ongoing performance project by Amant Spring 2026 Resident Selma Selman in which the artist addresses a figure named Omer through a series of spoken letters. Using her body, voice, and language, Selman speaks to someone who is never present; an ambiguous figure who exists somewhere between reality and imagination. The identity of Omer remains intentionally unresolved: he may appear as a deity, an acquaintance, a brother, a lover, or an homme fatal. At times, Omer also emerges as a symbolic figure of patriarchy itself, the world into which we are born rather than the one we consciously choose.

Through Letters to Omer, Selman positions herself as a woman who challenges passive social structures and questions the systems that sustain them. With language, gesture, and self-articulation, she asserts both the possibility and the necessity of change.

Moving between vulnerability, anger, and confrontation, Selman’s voice shifts in tone and intensity as she reads these letters aloud. The performance unfolds as a poetic act of address directed not only to the audience present in the room but also to an absent listener; someone who represents authority, power, and the unequal distribution of knowledge. The performance concludes with three traditional Bosnian sevdalinka songs dedicated to Omer. Sung in their characteristic sorrowful register, these mourn his absence, transforming longing, loss and devotion into another language through which Omer is called.

This program is part of the For Your Reference series, where our artists in residence share and discuss key references informing their ongoing research at Amant. Amant programs are always free.

Doors for Letters to Omar will open at 6:45 pm. RSVPs are encouraged but not required. Entry is first come, first served. To ensure an uninterrupted program, doors will close 20 minutes after the start time.