• - As a child, I dreamed of being on stage and becoming an actress, but throughout my life I was interested in many things that would later help me achieve that dream. Dance, singing, ballet — all of it unconsciously became part of my life while growing up, and later, alongside acting, which remains my main focus, painting and book illustration also appeared. The well-known academic sculptor from Bijeljina, Zoran Jezdimirović, once told me: “Mirna, your life is like a tripod, and whichever leg you remove, you will lose balance.” And that is true – said Mirna Jovanović, actress of the City Theatre “Semberija,” who was the guest of the first episode of the program “Standard Classic Radio” titled “Where (Non)Culture Is Trending.”

Jovanović was born in Doboj in 1990, but her roots are connected to Bijeljina, where she first moved at the age of two during the war years.

• - During those war years, my parents brought my sister and me from Doboj to Bijeljina to stay with our grandparents, so from my earliest years my life has been divided between these two cities. The war certainly marked my life, but not in the sense of trauma; rather, in the way I grew up — longing for play, for my parents, and unable to understand that the human mind could commit horrors that even animals would never conceive. That period would later reflect in some of my later years, when I began working with iconography, painting in the Byzantine style, and illustrating books, especially those dealing with the suffering of children in war – Mirna stated.

Mirna enrolled at the Academy of Arts in Bijeljina in 2009 and belonged to the fourth generation of actors in the city, studying under Professor Jug Radivojević.

• - I graduated in 2013, but Bijeljina still did not have a professional theatre. Although I had the support of my parents, I wanted to earn my own living, so I worked in many different fields — in a travel agency, amateur theatre, at a radio station, making and selling handicrafts, and eventually even as a waitress. Something kept pulling me to fight and not surrender to lethargy. I enrolled in an iconography school in 2014 and completed it in 2018. However, one evening while working in a café, I came home and began “arguing” with God, asking Him what He wanted from me and why He would not show me the way. The next morning I woke up and everything began to change – actress Mirna Jovanović recalled during her appearance on the show “Where (Non)Culture Is Trending.”

From 2019 onward, her paintings in the Byzantine style were noticed by Bishop Jovan of Pakrac-Slavonia as well as by other art enthusiasts, and her career as a painter began carving its own path — from the notable exhibition at the Festival of Christian Culture in Zaječar in 2021 to the exhibition “Faces of Dostoevsky,” held at the Museum of Semberija the same year. At the same time, Bijeljina established the City Theatre “Semberija,” where Mirna gained permanent employment and delivered notable performances in plays such as “Comedy Hindered in Development,” “Ivan’s Suicide,” “The Oldest Profession,” “The Godfathers,” and others.

• - Meanwhile, life kept weaving its threads, and I met writer Jelena Kalajdžija from Bijeljina, for whom I illustrated several books. This later opened collaboration opportunities with publishing houses, the Diocese of Zvornik-Tuzla, and others. I worked on the first wordless picture book in Republika Srpska and also received an invitation from the Novi Sad publishing house “Prometej” for several projects – Jovanović added.

Since 2026, Mirna Jovanović and her colleagues have founded the “House of True Culture (KPK),” which aims to open doors for local artists, and recently they have also been preparing interesting projects related to puppet theatre.

To hear more about Mirna’s view of acting, painting, art in general, and above all her attitude toward life and work, listen to the first episode of “StandardClassicRadio” titled “Where (Non)Culture Is Trending” by clicking the following link:

 https://standardclassic.ba/gdje-se-fura-nekultura

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