In 2025, Kuma International continued to develop its Residency Program as a platform supporting long-term artistic and research practices engaging with memory, post-conflict societies, migration, identity, and contemporary social realities. Through its residencies, Kuma provides artists, photographers, curators, and researchers with the opportunity to develop projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina through dialogue, local encounters, exchange, and field research.
One of the major residencies of 2025 was the ongoing research project of Italian photographer Camilla De Maffei, developed in collaboration with several international partners in Italy, France, Spain, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. and supported by Strategia Fotografia 2024, promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture.
Thirty years after the Dayton Peace Agreement, the project explores the causes and consequences of the massive depopulation reshaping Bosnia and Herzegovina. Through extensive research journeys across the country, Camilla De Maffei and researcher Christian Casotti investigate how the growing emptiness affecting rural areas and many cities is not only physical, but also deeply symbolic and political, raising urgent questions about memory, belonging, extraction, migration, and the contradictions of contemporary European policies.
Over the course of the residency, Camilla travelled throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, meeting activists, students, teachers, artists, citizens, and local communities navigating the complexities of post-war life. Through these encounters, the project reflects on what remains visible and invisible in post-conflict societies, and on how people continue to resist, adapt, and imagine futures within fragile social and political realities.
During the residency, Kuma International supported the development of the research through local connections, exchanges, and long-term dialogue. We deeply valued the opportunity to accompany and witness Camilla’s journey through the country, as her photographic practice reveals complex and often overlooked realities with remarkable sensitivity and depth.
“Kuma is a welcoming, dynamic, and stimulating space that fosters meaningful exchanges and genuine collaboration. Thanks to the invaluable support of Claudia and her team, I was able to expand my research by connecting with local artists, scholars, and researchers, enriching my work with fresh perspectives and valuable insights.
Beyond Sarajevo, Kuma’s extensive network across Bosnia and Herzegovina allowed me to work efficiently in other regions, offering crucial support that would have otherwise been difficult to access. Kuma has become a key reference point for my work in Bosnia—a place to return to and a vital hub for my ongoing research.”
— Camilla De Maffei