Kuma International is proud to announce a new collaboration with RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, bringing together researchers and creative practitioners working at the intersection of art, memory, reconciliation, and transitional justice in post-conflict societies, with a particular focus on the Balkans region.
The research project, The Art of Remembrance and Peace: Transitional Justice and Reconciliation in Post-Conflict Societies, explores how artistic and creative practices can contribute to processes of remembrance, reconciliation, and social healing in communities affected by war and long-term division.
In recent years, transitional justice has increasingly moved beyond exclusively legal and institutional approaches, opening space for multidisciplinary perspectives that recognize the importance of culture, memory, and artistic expression in post-conflict recovery. This project examines how the arts can function not only as forms of representation, but also as tools for dialogue, testimony, collective reflection, and ethical engagement with difficult histories.
Particular attention is given to post-conflict societies shaped by unresolved or “frozen” conflicts, where social and political divisions continue across generations. Through ethnographic research, fieldwork, interviews, and creative methodologies, the project investigates how artistic practices engage with questions of memory, violence, trauma, and reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and the wider Balkans region.
The collaboration also explores the ethical dimensions of working at the intersection of art, war, and remembrance, asking how cultural practices can contribute to more responsible and socially engaged approaches to transitional justice.
Research Team:
– Prof. Hariz Halilovich (RMIT University)
– Dr. Claudia Zini (Kuma International)
– Dr. Elizabeth Kath (RMIT University)
– Dr. Tuba Boz (RMIT University)
– Ms. Adela Kusur (PhD Candidate, RMIT University)
