Nives Hajdin credits her experiences at U of T Mississauga with helping her to combine has two passions into one perfect career.
The Croatian-born Mississsauga resident can't remember a time she didn't love to write. In high school, her teachers liked her creative writing so much so that they encouraged her to pursue it in higher education. As her writing skills developed, so did her love of all things artistic, leading her to enroll in UTM's English and Art History program.
Hajdin's extracurricular experiences helped her to find her professional passion. As a student reporter with The Medium, Hajdin reviewed gallery exhibitions and theatre performances for the campus newspaper. She went on to join the editorial masthead, first as associate arts and entertainment editor, and then taking the helm of the arts and entertainment section for the last two years of her undergraduate studies.
“When I became associate editor, something clicked for me. I wanted to explore writing about art,” says Hajdin. “It became a new passion of mine.”
As she honed her writing skills, Hajdin also gained valuable experience through her studies, taking courses in curatorial practice and working as a gallery attendant at UTM’s renowned Blackwood Gallery. Encouraged by Christof Migone, then director and curator of the Blackwood Gallery, Hajdin continued her work with art criticism and curatorial practice. After graduating from UTM in 2012 with an honours bachelor of arts with high distinction, she won a top scholarship from OCAD University to attend the two-year masters in fine arts program. Her thesis exhibition, "Survoyeurism: Reconsidering Surveillance," examined the conflation of surveillance and voyeurism in contemporary society.
“It’s funny the way it worked out,” said Hajdin. “Everyone hopes to find their passion and what they’re supposed to be doing in life. My time at UTM really shaped my future career by giving me opportunities that brought my two passions together.”
SInce graduating, Hajdin has gone on to work with a number of cultural institutions, writing catalogue essays for Waddington's Auctioneers and Appraisors and creating online content for The Canadian Art Foundation website. She continues to write reviews and curatorial essays for industry publications and on her blog, courtesythecritic.tumblr.com.
Author: Larissa Ho, Communications Intern, Alumni Relations, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2014
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