Nardina Zubanović
-b. 1987. in Sarajevo, Nardina Zubanović holds a Master’s degree in Sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo. As an artist-turned-curator in a city with a lack of art spaces, she focuses on transforming public and private environments into platforms for art. Nardina co-founded the cultural publication Punkura and established the cultural collective Kolektiv Kreaktiva, which aims to fill the gap for contemporary galleries and free spaces in the city. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and is part of Collection of Contemporary Art Center Duplex/10m2, Contemporary Gallery Brodac, The Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports in Sarajevo and Experimental Museum of Contemporary Art in L’Aquilla. Nardina Zubanović lives and works in Sarajevo (BiH).
My artistic journey has always been a game—an experiment, a curiosity. Can I, as an artist, change the world? Can things really evolve? My fucked-up postwar environment, my local surroundings, my garden? Other people? Myself?
Growing up and maturing as both an artist and a human, female artist, I realized that the world is too big to change. But the environment— can be changed, influenced, reshaped. I can inspire people. I can evolve. And I have, through my artistic actions. I came up with that expression today. Art in action. The term already exists.
My practice has always moved back and forward between object and non-object in art.12 As a young artist, I was obsessed with exploring immateriality in art. I experimented with the thought: Can I exhibit nothing? So, I painted a gallery black and exhibited darkness, locking people inside a completely dark space with no light.34 That’s when I realized—it’s impossible to exhibit nothing. Because in an art context, something is always present.56
Working with space itself. It’s the opposite of traditional sculpture, which demands space. I want to take up as little physical space as possible current mental space.
I am not a productive artist. I don’t mass-produce artworks. I am interested in site-specific art. The challenge lies in taking everything that exists in an actual space — its energy, its history, its atmosphere—and creating an artwork from it. Minimal interventions.7 Minimal use of objects. Recycling. Recycling materials. Recycling my emotions. Recycling my whole existence. Doing paper cut collages. Wearing thrift clothes.
Lately, I’ve been thinking that the dryer is the most disgusting art object ever. That’s the Dadaist (and feminist) in me. Through painting, I’ve become more drawn to Art Brut—paintings that reject prettiness.8 I’m back to objects again. I paint (and do paper cut collages).9101112 But at the same time, I’m haunted by the idea that the world is drowning in useless objects, and I don’t want to add more.
In a consumerist world overflowing with plastic and waste.
I want my city to evolve. Am I naive? I am fascinated by how art can affect and reshape society. I view the world through the lens of a sculptress. But when I realized I didn’t want to add more objects to the world, I started creating art spaces instead and exhibited my friends’ artworks 13 — in ruins14, in bars, in clubs15, and now, in a Punkura publication.1617 Life is more interesting than art. Someone said. Love that quote.
I work hard, and at the same time, I don’t work at all. I exist and revel in the oxymoron of non-objectiveness—between the material and the immaterial.
My food burned while writing this statement. The smell has filled my whole apartment—an unintentional olfactory installation was born. But only if the apartment is a gallery.
Small pumpkin on my table is rotten. I’m letting it root, interested in life/transformation happening inside. Art is dead. Can anything including art (and punk and pumpkins /punkpkins is hard to pronounce hhahhha:) really die?
Before, I wanted to create an art space for myself and my friends. But now, in a city which is still without vibrant art content, I’m aging enough to make it for my daughter and her friends. She skateboards. She also burned food yesterday.
I’m not that good at skateboarding. I just love the subculture of it (and I push regular 18). Besides working as an editor of Punkura I walk dogs. I’m a dog sitter.
Day after tomorrow I have a meeting with the ambassador. Going to take dogs out now. I’m never late. I’ll tattoo a white rabbit.
The text was written in consultancy with Adna Muslija (2025).
1Nardina Zubanović, Where?! / Gdje?!, 2017, Performance, site-specific intervention, audio recordings, personal objects. Performed in Sarajevo and Banja Luka.
Where?! / Gdje?! explores personal experiences of migration, displacement, and return. The performance reflects on the artist’s departure from Sarajevo with her mother and sister in 1995, their temporary stay in an Italian refugee camp, and their eventual return in 1996 after the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement. The performance unfolded in two phases. The first took place in Sarajevo, near the Markale City Market—the point of departure and artists home and return.The second phase took place in Banja Luka, in front of the National and University Library of Republika Srpska. Where?! / Gdje?! was a deeply personal, holistic, and cathartic act—transforming personal history into a collective experience. https://ninci3.wixsite.com/website
2Nardina Zubanović, Where?! / Gdje?!, 2017, Performance, site-specific intervention, audio recordings, personal objects. Performed in Sarajevo and Banja Luka
3Nardina Zubanović, 10m2, 2010, Site-specific performance and video installation, Curator: Pierre Courtin, Center for Contemporary Art, Duplex/10m2, Sarajevo, BiH, Duration: 4 hours
10m2 marks my early exploration of dematerialization and de-aestheticization in artistic practice, as well as my first intensive engagement with spatial thinking. In this work, I invited the audience into a completely dark space, disrupting conventional modes of viewing and shifting perception from the visual to the corporeal. Through the sensory deprivation of sight, the installation reconfigured the role of the observer, transforming passive spectatorship into an active, participatory experience.
4 Nardina Zubanović, 10m2, 2010, Site-specific performance and video installation, Curator: Pierre Courtin, Center for Contemporary Art, Duplex/10m2, Sarajevo, BiH, Duration: 4 hours
5Collaborative work / Artists: Nardina Zubanović – Nelisa Baždar – Ira Skopljak, Gloves, 2013, Installation and performance, donated gloves, variable dimensions. Created for Sarajevo Winter Festival. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Vanja Čerimagić.
Gloves is a site-specific intervention addressing cultural neglect and collective responsibility. Installed on the exterior wall of the Historical Museum of BiH, the work symbolically "warms" and "heals" the museum’s deteriorating facade, bridging the gap between preservation and decay. The gloves, donated by citizens, transform the work into a collective gesture of care and solidarity. Their variety reflects different social groups united in protecting cultural heritage. More than an installation, Gloves is a socially engaged statement, urging public responsibility in times of cultural decline and identity crisis. More than a decade later, the gloves remain on the museum’s facade, shaped by weather, wind and humidity. Their transformation marks the passage of time, turning Gloves into a living, evolving testament to the endurance—or fragility—of cultural memory
6 Collaborative work / Artists: Nardina Zubanović – Nelisa Baždar – Ira Skopljak, Gloves, 2013, Installation and performance, donated gloves, variable dimensions. Created for Sarajevo Winter Festival.
7 Nardina Zubanović, Beware of Museum! // Beware of Sniper!, 2015, Public intervention, National and Historical Museum of BiH
A site-specific intervention responding to the ongoing neglect of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s cultural institutions, Beware of Museum! // Beware of Sniper! draws a direct parallel between wartime destruction and the postwar dismantling of cultural heritage.
The work takes its starting point from the warning sign Beware of Sniper!, a wartime relic displayed in the Historical Museum of BiH’s permanent exhibition Sarajevo under Siege. Using the same materials and dimensions as the original cardboard table (63 × 33 cm) from the mentioned set up , I produced two new signs reading Beware of Museum! (Pazi muzej!).
8Who stole the moon, drawings, exhibition view, Curator: Pierre Courtin, Center for Contemporary Art, Duplex/10m2, Sarajevo, BiH
9 But the crown they said -was real, acrylic on canvas, 140cm x 100 cm, 2024.
10"Goodbye to the Narcissist", paper cut collage, 25cm x 12cm
11"Era Tehnokratija/Matrix", paper cut collage, 25cm x 15cm
12 "Era Tehnokratija/Matrix", paper cut collage, 25cm x 15cm
13 Kolektiv Kreaktiva was founded in 2009. It emerged from the need to recognize and activate the potential of Kino Bosna—a neglected space that had become an informal gathering place for young artists, musicians, writers, and filmmakers. Our collective was formed by young artists, mostly students at the beginning of their careers and people from abroad who visited Sarajevo. We organized pretty spontaneous exhibitions, theater performances, and film screenings, turning Kino Bosna into a true art house. We initiated projects like Crtalište/join collective painting performances, engaging citizens in artistic interventions and democratizing cultural participation.
14Kreaktiva Setup
15Kino Bosna Artists on photo Iris Begovic, Bojan Stojcic, Mak Hubjer, Muhamed Barucija / Maja Skenderovic, Vanja Solakovic, Lea Jerlagic, Ema Lapanje and Nardina Zubanovic (Preparing exhibition Bakanalije)
16Punkura is an independent printed publication that documents and connects Sarajevo’s underground art and cultural scene. Founded in 2021 by Nardina Zubanović and Adrian Pecotić, the publication emerged from the need for an authentic space for expression and community in a city lacking cultural platforms.Through articles, interviews, illustrations, and photography, Punkura explores themes of visual art, music, skateboarding, graffiti, ecology, and social phenomena. Publication serves as a bridge between generations and genres, promoting solidarity, critical thinking, and freedom of expression. Its punk-inspired design, crafted by talented designer Šejla Bratić, brought a raw and energetic visual identity. Beyond publishing, Punkura aims to create a physical space for artists and outsiders, building a long-term refuge for Sarajevo’s creative community.
17Punkura
18The regular stance in skateboarding is when the left foot is forward and the right foot pushes off the ground, opposite of the goofy stance.
-r. 1987. u Sarajevu, magistrirala je vajarstvo na Akademiji likovnih umjetnosti u Sarajevu. Kao umjetnica koja je postala kustosica u gradu s nedostatkom umjetničkih prostora, fokusira se na transformaciju javnih i privatnih okruženja u platforme za umjetnost. Suosnivačica je kulturne publikacije Punkura i osnivačica kulturnog kolektiva Kolektiv Kreaktiva, koji nastoji popuniti prazninu savremenih galerija i slobodnih prostora u gradu. Njeni radovi izlagani su međunarodno, a dio su kolekcija Centra za savremenu umjetnost Duplex/10m2, Savremene galerije Brodac, Federalnog ministarstva kulture i sporta u Sarajevu te Eksperimentalnog muzeja savremene umjetnosti u L’Aquilli. Nardina Zubanović živi i radi u Sarajevu (BiH).
Moje umjetničko putovanje oduvijek je bilo igra—eksperiment, radoznalost. Mogu li, kao umjetnica, promijeniti svijet? Mogu li se stvari zaista razvijati? Moje sjebano postratno okruženje, moj kontekst, moj vrt? Drugi ljudi? Ja?
Odrastajući i sazrijevajući kao umjetnica i kao čovjek, kao žena umjetnica, shvatila sam da je svijet prevelik da bi se promijenio. Ali okruženje—ono se može promijeniti, na njega se može uticati, može se preoblikovati. Ja mogu inspirisati ljude. Mogu evoluirati. I jesam, kroz svoje umjetničke akcije. Taj izraz mi je danas pao na pamet. Umjetnost u akciji. Pojam već postoji.
Moja praksa se oduvijek kretala između objektnog i neobjektnog u umjetnosti.12 Kao mlada umjetnica, bila sam opsjednuta istraživanjem nematerijalnosti u umjetnosti. Eksperimentisala sam s idejom: mogu li izložiti ništa? Obojila sam galeriju u crno i izložila tamu, zatvorivši ljude u potpuno mračan prostor bez svjetla.34 Tada sam shvatila—nemoguće je izložiti ništa. Jer u umjetničkom kontekstu, nešto je uvijek prisutno.56
Raditi sa samim prostorom. Suprotno tradicionalnoj skulpturi, koja zahtijeva prostor. Želim zauzimati što manje fizičkog prostora, a što više mentalnog prostora.
Nisam produktivna umjetnica. Radove ne proizvodim serijski. Zanimaju me site-specific umjetnički radovi. Izazov je uzeti sve što već postoji u nekom prostoru—njegovu energiju, historiju, atmosferu—i od toga stvoriti umjetničko djelo. Minimalne intervencije.7 Minimalna upotreba objekata. Reciklaža. Reciklaža materijala. Reciklaža mojih emocija. Reciklaža mog cijelog postojanja. Pravljenje papirnih kolaža. Nošenje second-hand odjeće.
U posljednje vrijeme razmišljam kako je sušilica za veš najodvratniji umjetnički objekt ikad. To progovara ona dadaistkinja (i feministkinja) u meni. Kroz slikarstvo me sve više privlači *Art Brut*—slike koje odbacuju ljepotu. Vratila sam se objektima. Slikam (i radim papirne kolaže).9101112 Ali istovremeno me progoni misao da se svijet guši u beskorisnim objektima i da ne želim dodati još.
U konzumerističkom svijetu preplavljenom plastikom i otpadom.
Želim da moj grad evoluira. Jesam li naivna? Fascinira me kako umjetnost može uticati na društvo i preoblikovati ga. Svijet gledam kroz oči vajarke. Ali kada sam shvatila da ne želim dodavati još objekata svijetu, počela sam stvarati umjetničke prostore i izlagati radove svojih prijatelja13—u ruševinama14, u barovima, u klubovima15, a sada i u publikaciji Punkura.1617 Život je zanimljiviji od umjetnosti. Neko je to rekao. Obožavam taj citat.
Radim puno, a u isto vrijeme uopšte ne radim. Postojim i uživam u oksimoronu neobjektnosti—između materijalnog i nematerijalnog.
Hrana mi je zagorjela dok sam pisala ovu izjavu. Miris je ispunio cijeli stan—nenamjerna olfaktorna instalacija je rođena. Ali samo ako je stan galerija.
Mala bundeva na mom stolu je istruhla. Pustila sam je da propadne, zanima me život/transformacija koja se odvija u njoj. Umjetnost je mrtva. Može li išta, uključujući umjetnost (i punk i bundeve /punkpkin je teško izgovoriti hahahha:), zaista umrijeti?
Prije sam željela stvoriti umjetnički prostor za sebe i svoje prijatelje. Ali sada, u gradu koji još uvijek nema vibrantan umjetnički sadržaj, starim dovoljno da ga stvaram za svoju kćerku i njene prijatelje. Ona skejta. I jučer joj je zagorjela hrana.
Nisam baš dobra u skejtanju. Samo volim tu subkulturu (i guram regular18). Osim što radim kao urednica Punkure, šetam pse. Čuvam ih.
Prekosutra imam sastanak s ambasadorom. Sad vodim pse napolje. Nikad ne kasnim. Istetoviraću bijelog zeca.
Tekst je napisan u konsultaciji s Adnom Muslija (2025).
1Nardina Zubanović, Where?! / Gdje?!, 2017, performans, site-specific intervencija, audio snimci, lični objekti. Izvedeno u Sarajevu i Banjoj Luci. Where?! / Gdje?! istražuje lična iskustva migracije, raseljenosti i povratka. Performans reflektira umjetničin odlazak iz Sarajeva s majkom i sestrom 1995. godine, njihov privremeni boravak u izbjegličkom kampu u Italiji te povratak 1996. godine nakon potpisivanja Dejtonskog mirovnog sporazuma. Performans se odvijao u dvije faze. Prva faza izvedena je u Sarajevu, u blizini Gradske tržnice Markale—mjestu odlaska, umjetničinog doma i povratka. Druga faza izvedena je u Banjoj Luci, ispred Narodne i univerzitetske biblioteke Republike Srpske. Where?! / Gdje?! bio je duboko ličan, holistički i katarzičan čin—transformacija lične historije u kolektivno iskustvo.
2Nardina Zubanović, Where?! / Gdje?!, 2017, performans, site-specific intervencija, audio snimci, lični objekti. Izvedeno u Sarajevu i Banjoj Luci.
3Nardina Zubanović, 10m2, 2010, site-specific performans i video instalacija, kustos: Pierre Courtin, Centar za savremenu umjetnost Duplex/10m2, Sarajevo, BiH, trajanje: 4 sata. 10m2 označava moje rane eksperimente s dematerijalizacijom i deaestheticizacijom u umjetničkoj praksi, kao i moje prvo intenzivno bavljenje prostornim promišljanjem. U ovom radu pozvala sam publiku u potpuno zamračen prostor, remeteći konvencionalne načine gledanja i preusmjeravajući percepciju s vizuelnog na tjelesno. Kroz senzornu deprivaciju vida, instalacija je rekonfigurirala ulogu posmatrača, transformirajući pasivnu recepciju u aktivno, participativno iskustvo.
4Nardina Zubanović, 10m2, 2010, site-specific performans i video instalacija, kustos: Pierre Courtin, Centar za savremenu umjetnost Duplex/10m2, Sarajevo, BiH, trajanje: 4 sata.
5Kolektivni rad / Umjetnici: Nardina Zubanović – Nelisa Baždar – Ira Skopljak, Gloves, 2013, instalacija i performans, donirane rukavice, varijabilne dimenzije. Realizirano za Festival Sarajevska zima. Gloves je site-specific intervencija koja adresira kulturno zapuštanje i kolektivnu odgovornost. Instalirana na vanjskom zidu Historijskog muzeja BiH, ova intervencija simbolično "grije" i "liječi" propadajuću fasadu muzeja, premošćujući jaz između očuvanja i propadanja. Rukavice, donirane od strane građana, transformiraju rad u kolektivni gest brige i solidarnosti. Njihova raznovrsnost odražava različite društvene grupe ujedinjene u zaštiti kulturne baštine. Gloves nije samo instalacija, već društveno angažirana izjava koja apelira na javnu odgovornost u vremenima kulturnog propadanja i identitetske krize. Više od desetljeća kasnije, rukavice i dalje ostaju na fasadi muzeja, oblikovane vremenskim uslovima, vjetrom i vlagom. Njihova transformacija označava protok vremena, pretvarajući Gloves u živu, evoluirajuću svjedočanstvo izdržljivosti—ili krhkosti—kulturnog pamćenja.
6Kolektivni rad / Umjetnici: Nardina Zubanović – Nelisa Baždar – Ira Skopljak, Gloves, 2013, instalacija i performans, donirane rukavice, varijabilne dimenzije. Realizirano za Festival Sarajevska zima.
7Nardina Zubanović, Beware of Museum! // Beware of Sniper!, 2015, javna intervencija, Historijski muzej BiH. Site-specific intervencija koja odgovara na kontinuiranu nebrigu prema kulturnim institucijama Bosne i Hercegovine, Beware of Museum! // Beware of Sniper! povlači direktnu paralelu između ratnog uništenja i postratnog rastakanja kulturne baštine. Rad polazi od znaka Beware of Sniper! (Pazi snajper!), ratnog artefakta izložbenog postava Sarajevo pod opsadom u Historijskom muzeju BiH. Koristeći iste materijale i dimenzije kao originalna kartonska tabla (63 × 33 cm) iz pomenute postavke, proizvela sam dva nova znaka s natpisom Beware of Museum! (Pazi muzej!).
8Who Stole the Moon, crteži, izložbeni postav, kustos: Pierre Courtin, Centar za savremenu umjetnost Duplex/10m2, Sarajevo, BiH.
9But the Crown They Said—Was Real, akril na platnu, 140 cm × 100 cm, 2024.
10Goodbye to the Narcissist, papirna kolažna tehnika, 25 cm × 12 cm.
11Era Tehnokratija / Matrix, papirna kolažna tehnika, 25 cm × 15 cm.
12Era Tehnokratija / Matrix, papirna kolažna tehnika, 25 cm × 15 cm.
13 Kolektiv Kreaktiva osnovan je 2009. godine. Proizašao je iz potrebe za prepoznavanjem i aktiviranjem potencijala Kina Bosna—zanemarenog prostora koji je postao neformalno okupljalište mladih umjetnika, muzičara, pisaca i filmaša. Naš kolektiv činili su mladi umjetnici, uglavnom studenti na početku karijere, kao i ljudi iz inostranstva koji su dolazili u Sarajevo. Organizovali smo spontana izlaganja, pozorišne predstave i filmske projekcije, pretvarajući Kino Bosna u pravi umjetnički centar. Pokrenuli smo projekte poput Crtalište—kolektivne slikarske akcije koje su uključivale građane u umjetničke intervencije i demokratizovale kulturno učešće.
14Kreaktiva postavka
15Kino Bosna – Umjetnici na fotografiji: Iris Begović, Bojan Stojčić, Mak Hubjer, Muhamed Baručija, Maja Skenderović, Vanja Solaković, Lea Jerlagić, Ema Lapanje i Nardina Zubanović (priprema izložbe Bakanalije).
16Punkura je nezavisna štampana publikacija koja dokumentuje i povezuje sarajevsku underground umjetničku i kulturnu scenu. Osnovali su je 2021. godine Nardina Zubanović i Adrian Pecotić iz potrebe za autentičnim prostorom za izražavanje i zajednicu u gradu kojem nedostaju kulturne platforme. Kroz tekstove, intervjue, ilustracije i fotografije, Punkura istražuje vizuelne umjetnosti, muziku, skejtbording, grafite, ekologiju i društvene fenomene.
17Punkura
18Regularni stav u skejtbordingu je kada je lijevo stopalo naprijed, a desno se odguruje od tla, suprotno od "goofy" stava.
