“Truth comes from the mouths of children” is an adage that exists in many languages. It may even serve as a motto for the series Conversations (since 2013) by the artist Dejan Kaludjerović. Yet, the truth that is unearthed here is not absolute but determined by culture. The series is based on conversations with children from different backgrounds. Kaludjerović interviewed girls and boys in Vladikavkaz, Belgrade, Baku, Tehran, Vienna, Jerusalem, Ljubljana, Dnipro, and Rijeka about dreams and the way they deal with strangers, money, fear, and antagonism. He creates new work for each exhibition location by having children enter into a virtual dialog with each other, whose social contexts are so different that they might never have met otherwise. Additionally, the artist has been working some of these children’s statements into bags, drawings and, in 2021, even an opera libretto.

For the exhibition at Dom Museum Wien, Kaludjerović was invited to revisit the material he has collected over the past ten years with a special focus on friendship. This exercise yielded an audiovisual piece, in which he combined selected original recordings of the children’s responses with a new composition by Marija Balubdžić, with vocals by Zoja Borovčanin. The statements reflect the children’s societies, living realities, and upbringing. Ten-year-old Črt from Ljubljana likes to play with “some girly things” like “Barbie dolls, Hello Kitty [. . .] and [. . .] girl characters,” while Nuray (9) from Baku is out for a beating from her brothers when she runs around with boys. It’s not only the differences that are striking but also the similarities. Social norms and clichés like “boys like to climb on things and run around” and “girls play with dolls” exist in many different countries. Also apparent is the global significance of brands that specifically address children and the important role cell phones and computer games play in their leisure time. Kaludjerović’s work ends with the theme song of a TV show from the artist’s childhood in former Yugoslavia.

In contrast to the idealized vision often conveyed by children’s songs, to which the work’s title alludes, this installation shows how sophisticated children are in perceiving their environment. And, as Laura (7) from Rijeka puts it: “The world would be sad without friends, because no one would have anyone to play with, no one would be happy.”