Artists as a group are integral as a consideration when talking about residencies in culture and art. However, very often, they are not part of the conversations around spaces if they are not themselves workers in that space, sometimes even if they are frequent users of the space for their work. This is why artists are also integral to the concept of this project. The goal is to include artists as a group in all phases of the project, not just as consultants, but as key actors who offer perspectives on how independent spaces can sustainably support and develop residency programmes, and as creative outof-the-box thinkers, who can interpret the work of independent spaces in new and exciting ways. They not only provide insights through research in, but also, their involvement is key in research residencies in, as they will assist in developing innovative new practices in residencies with independent spaces.

In this way, artists can help design residency concepts to their needs, while also supporting independent spaces in offering them the opportunities for mobility, networking, new experiences and new skills that all artists need for their work. Through the involvement of artists, the project also supports the international circulation of art, works, knowledge, etc.

 

RESIDENTS IN CROATIA:

Anyla Kabashi (Kosovo) is an emerging art historian, researcher, and writer based in Pristina, Kosovo. Anyla completed her BA in Art History and Information and Communication Sciences in Zagreb and her MA in Semiotics in Budapest. During this time, she has been involved in researching feminist practices in Central European and the Balkans. She participated in the mediation program of MANIFESTA 14. Recently, she was an artist-in-residence at the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna and worked on the curatorial team for the exhibitions Ancestral Clouds, Ancestral Claims, and Darker, Lighter, Puffy, Flat at Kunsthalle Wien. Anyla is interested in exploring visual languages and artistic discourses to better understand artistic creation, communication, contexts, realities, and mediation as processes of making meaning.

Lea Topolovec (Slovenia) is working at the intersection of fine art, research and visual communication design. She holds a BA in Visual Communication Design (Photography) from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana and an MA in Fine Art and Design (Ecology Futures) from the St. Joost Master Institute of Visual Culture in the Netherlands. Her artistic process waves between personal storytelling, embodied practices, and collective memory, exploring the dynamic relationships of inner landscapes and external realities. Engaging with processes of regeneration, she emphasises care, sensitivity, and an imaginative dialogue with the materials, spaces, and agents she encounters. Lea has exhibited her work in various exhibitions, including at DobraVaga (2020–2024), Willem Twee Kunstruimte (2023), Floating Castle Festival (2022, 2023), KULA Gallery (2022), and Layer House (2020). Beyond the exhibition space, she has also been actively involved in collaborative and community-based projects, fostering spaces for shared experience, exploration, and creative exchange.

Renea Begolli (Kosovo) is a visual artist and researcher based in Prishtina, Kosovo. Her work explores themes of gender, ecology, memory, and the body. She holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s in Painting from the University of Prishtina and studied for a semester in 2021 in Sociology and Social Anthropology at Bournemouth University through an Erasmus+ exchange. Currently, she works as the Program Coordinator for ODA Theater in Prishtina. Begolli is also engaged in the research project "Body as an Archive," supported by the National Gallery of Kosovo. She worked as a researcher and archivist at the Oral History Initiative (2020-2023); as program coordinator and co-curator for Kosovo at the Secondary Archive (2022); on projects like “Mothers of War (2023)  alongside artist Luiza Thaqi, culminated in the exhibition "Say to Remember Me, So We Won’t Forget," at the Documentation Center Kosovo; and as a Curatorial Assistant for the Kyiv Biennial Vienna 2023. She participated in residencies like: Residency Unlimited, New York (2024), Museums Quartier, Vienna (2023), Matanë, Art House, Shkodra (2021), Infrared, Fondacioni Shtatëmbëdhjetë, Prishtina (2019). In 2023 received the Artist of Tomorrow Award in Kosovo. Her work has been exhibited in solo and collective exhibitions.

Urška K. Škerl (Slovenia) is a landscape architect from Slovenia with a master's degree in Architecture and Urbanism from the University of East London (UEL). Her practice includes managing the editorial content for the landscape architecture platform Landezine.com, hosting a radio program on landscape architecture at Radio Študent, and creating spatial artistic installations that bridge theory, ideas, and practice. Urška collaborates with NGOs and has presented at conferences, delivered invited lectures, and led workshops. She has a strong interest in liminal and public spaces. In recent work, she focuses on developing the term uberarchitecture.


RESIDENTS IN SLOVENIA:

Sanja Merćep was born in 1989 in Zagreb. She earned her master's degree in Photography at the Academy of Dramatic Art, University of Zagreb. She has previously graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb and subsequently worked in the advertising industry for several years. In 2024, she won the second prize for her photo series The Coast at the Ivan Kožarić competition for young artists, organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, and the series was acquired for the Museum's collection. She has held several solo exhibitions to date.

Matej Ivušić (1989) is an historian turned journalist from Zagreb specializing in culture. He's a regular contributor at tportal.hr and various smaller media outlets, where he mostly covers music, literature and film. For his work he was given the "Tomašević-Bešker" award.

Diona Kusari (1997, Gjakova) is a multidisciplinary artist with a focus on performance, participatory events, video and sound installations as well as short films. She is interested in illustrating the 'invisible' in terms of ideology and religion, folk practices, public expressions of vulnerability, challenging apparent dichotomies and demarcating the private (individual) and public (state, society). Diona is part of the Potpuri collective, which focuses on experimental research, self-organized and decentralized knowledge production.

Ismail Myrseli (1997, Prizren) is primarily a producer, mediator, music researcher and booking agent. As a creator, he expresses himself through video, music or performative practices. In his work, which is based on personal memories and collective narratives, he explores the space between the intimate and the absurd. He is interested in the intersection of individual memories and collective experiences.