About

At Kuma International, we believe that art has the power not only to represent trauma, but to transform it into dialogue—and memory into a shared future. Founded in Sarajevo in 2018, Kuma is a non-profit research and educational center dedicated to the visual arts of post-conflict societies.

Rooted in Bosnia and Herzegovina and expanding to other war-affected regions, Kuma works at the intersection of art, memory, and social healing. Our mission is to explore how artistic practices respond to war, genocide, and trauma, and how culture can function as a tool for dialogue, reconciliation, and long-term processes of healing.

Over time, Kuma has developed a multidisciplinary, trauma-informed methodology that uses artistic production as a space to address the complexity of war: creating safe environments in which to speak about violence, share lived experiences, learn collectively, and confront contested histories through visual culture.

We work closely with artists, curators, educators, survivors of war and genocide, former refugees, and young people. Central to Kuma’s approach is the conviction that the experience of Bosnian cultural workers—many of whom survived siege, war, and genocide and have used art to process and narrate those experiences—offers crucial insights for other societies still struggling with the legacies of conflict, displacement, and violence.

Many of Kuma’s initiatives are built on long-term relationships, with former participants, artists, and educators continuing to collaborate across projects, countries, and years. Kuma acts as a bridge between local post-conflict contexts and international institutions, translating lived experience into critical knowledge and facilitating exchanges grounded in care, ethics, and accountability. Rather than prioritising production or visibility, Kuma places emphasis on process, reflection, and ethical engagement, recognising that working with trauma and memory requires time, trust, and responsibility.

Kuma’s programs include:

  • workshops, exhibitions, field trips, books, and documentaries

  • artistic research projects across Bosnia and Herzegovina and internationally

  • artist residencies that support long-term research, exchange, and situated artistic practice in post-conflict contexts

  • initiatives that support memory-sharing, trauma processing, and the development of new artistic practices of storytelling and critical engagement with the past

Alongside its public programs, Kuma develops consultancy and tailor-made educational projects for international agencies, local and foreign universities, and visiting school groups.

Through these collaborations, Kuma works with audiences ranging from policy-makers and researchers to students and young people encountering Bosnia’s history, culture, and contemporary art for the first time—equipping them with critical tools, perspectives, and lived experiences they can carry back to their own societies, particularly those still affected by war.

In response to Europe’s shifting realities—most notably the full-scale war in Ukraine and its broader psychological impact—Kuma has expanded its work into wider European and international networks. Today, Kuma actively shares its methodologies with other conflict-affected contexts, fostering exchange, solidarity, and translocal learning.

Kuma International Summer School

Kuma’s most enduring initiative is the Kuma International Summer School, established in 2018. This intensive educational program explores contemporary art practices shaped by conflict and trauma, with a particular focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s violent past and its ongoing social and political transformations, while drawing parallels to other regions affected by war.

The Summer School brings together participants from around the world to explore themes of memory, survival, exile, and reconciliation. It offers the rare opportunity to learn directly from artists, scholars, and educators who experienced war and genocide first-hand, and who have translated those experiences into critical artistic and pedagogical practices.

Through lectures, workshops, field research, and collective exchange, the program fosters reflection, collaboration, and visions of more empathetic futures—asking how art can deepen our understanding of conflict, preserve memory, and inspire reconciliation beyond words.

Across eight editions (2018–2025), the Summer School has welcomed more than 200 participants from over 30 countries, building a vibrant and long-term international network of alumni, collaborators, and partner institutions.

Founder

Kuma International was founded by Dr. Claudia Zini, an Italian art historian, curator, and educator. Claudia’s connection with Bosnia and Herzegovina began in 2008, when she first visited the country after being invited by a group of young Bosnian artists she had met in Italy. Their experiences of displacement and post-war life—and their use of art to process and narrate those realities—profoundly shaped traumatic pasts and lived realities. Many of these early relationships continue to inform her work today and form the ethical and relational foundation of Kuma International.

Claudia moved to Sarajevo in 2015 and has since dedicated her work to exploring the intersections of art, memory, and healing in post-war contexts.

She holds a PhD from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London and has extensive experience in curating, teaching, and writing on contemporary art, with a particular focus on post-conflict societies. Recognized for her commitment to cultural diplomacy and socially engaged practice, she was awarded the Order of the Star of Italy for her contribution to strengthening ties between Italy and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2025, she received the Revizor Fellowship for her ongoing work in fostering post-conflict understanding and intercultural dialogue. Since 2023, she has also been part of Radio Elsewheres.