Kuma International and the Austrian Cultural Forum Sarajevo were excited to support the exhibition “Labors of Care,” which opened in Sarajevo on March 8, coinciding with International Women’s Day, at the gallery Manifesto.
The exhibition showcased the works of three women artists from Bosnia and Herzegovina currently residing in Vienna: Smirna Kulenović, Sanja Lasić, and Nataša Mackuljak. Through a collaborative artistic research project, the artists jointly reinterpreted historical and contemporary feminist discourses related to the ideas of resistance, labor, and care.
It explored a common intersecting point in the artists’ work: the role of women in Bosnia and Herzegovina, their contributions to society, and the challenges they have faced throughout history. The exhibition juxtaposed artistic positions from three generations of women artists who migrated to Austria during different decades and socio-political circumstances. While Sanja Lasić focused on traditional women’s labor and visual heritage, Nataša Mackuljak examined women’s antifascist resistance during World War II in Yugoslavia. Smirna Kulenović centered her work on collective action and care in the aftermath of the Bosnian War.
The exhibition was followed by a workshop titled “Redrawing the Bosnian ćilim” led by Sanja Lasić on March 10 at Manifesto. Together with local and international participants, the artist explored elements of women’s labor related to the production of visual cultural heritage, woven into traditional Bosnian carpets.