A thematic exhibition in which we explore the influence of women in our community through two intertwined perspectives: the invisible, everyday one and the one that has been declared exceptional. The question that guides visitors through the exhibition route is how much we recognize these subtle influences when they are woven into the routine of everyday life, social norms and expectations – how much attention do we pay to what is present but invisible?
At the same time, we question how exceptionality is built from the seemingly ordinary, and how much we can recognize exceptional in what is everyday and imperceptible.
The exhibition reveals the delicate links that shape our world, inviting visitors to reflect on the interweaving of these threads – what we value ourselves, and what is determined as exceptional through a social prism.
Through multimedia displays and interactive elements, visitors will pass through the space of everyday life where the visible and the invisible, the ordinary and the extraordinary intertwine, and discover new dimensions of women’s presence and influence in our society.
This exhibition in a public space invites visitors to walk its route together with the authors, as a kind of symbolic journey through the invisible threads that connect our lives. It is inherently invisible, just like many of the contributions we explore – and we invite people to interact and discover these hidden things, learning how the everyday can be just as transformative as what we find extraordinary.
TOPIC: DISOBEDIENT WOMAN
COLLECTED PERSONAL STATEMENTS OF CITIZENS ABOUT THE INFLUENCE OF WOMEN:
Statement 1: My grandmother lost her husband only 2 years after their wedding in an accident. With a one-year-old child who barely survived the accident, in a society where women were ostracized as single mothers, her decision was to never marry again and to give my mother as full a life as possible.
Statement 2: I have a friend who was often considered “headstrong” at work because she would always speak up when she noticed injustice or imbalance in the distribution of tasks. If she saw that some tasks were being repeatedly given the same people, she would suggest that they share them with younger colleagues so that everyone has a chance to learn. People used to look at her with a touch of uneasiness because she didn’t “keep quiet” when most people might have, but she didn’t give in. Nevertheless, she continued to advocate for change, because it was important to her that the working environment is fair to everyone.
ART REFLECTIONS ON THE SUBJECT:
Author: Mariana Klepić
Author: Nina Alvir
EDU CORNER:
In history and literature, women’s disobedience is often perceived as an act of subversion. An example from Croatia is the struggle of Kamenski workers. The struggle of the Kamensko factory workers was one of the strongest symbols of workers’ rights in modern Croatia. Kamensko was a well-known Zagreb textile factory that for decades employed hundreds of workers, mostly women. In the midst of the economic crisis, at the end of the 2000s, the factory faced financial problems, and the management decided to close the plant and fire the workers without paying the owed wages and severance pay. These women faced economic and social marginalization, but through resistance — refusal to obey and hunger strikes — they pointed out systemic injustice. Their resistance can be analyzed through the prism of disobedient citizenship theory, where workers, in this case female workers, use disobedience as a way to fight for their rights.
HONORING A PROFESSION AND A WOMAN WHO IS CONSIDERED EXCEPTIONAL IN THE FIELD:
Đurđa Grozaj, known as the president of the Kamensko Association, which brought together the workers of the former Kamensko factory. The Kamensko Association was created as a response to the existential and emotional challenges they were facing. Their togetherness and mutual support became the basis for active action and struggle for better living and working conditions. This association serves as a platform to strengthen solidarity among women, enabling them to face the consequences of the factory closure and to find new ways to empower their communities.
“Our story is a story of hope, persistence, courage and determination. We are the women of the Kamensko Association. The Kamensko association was founded by us, the former workers of the failed Kamensko factory, in order to work together and support each other due to an existential crisis. We organized ourselves because we wanted to turn a difficult situation into a new beginning.”
FUN FACT – CROATIA
Brlog brewery is a small independent and socially responsible company that produces craft beer. It has a beer called “disobedient” that was created somewhat as a response to so many challenges they faced both as beginners in business and as women in brewing.
They are holding annual awards with the title “Disobedient” where citizens can nominate women they want to honor.
Who is a disobedient woman according to them?
She is a rebel, a bit out of the edge, a fighter for justice, human rights (women, children, everyone), for the environment, for small entrepreneurs, quality versus quantity, for something important to her and to all of us. She is brave, special, honest, does things differently and is an inspiration to others. Is she known only to you, or is she a celebrity we all know about.
TASK FOR VISITORS:
Do you know a brand started by one or more women that deviates from conventional ideas or norms or that fights for a better, more inclusive, more free, a different tomorrow.
Let us know in the form below!
The exhibition was organized with the support of KGZ Vladimir Nazor and MO Šestinski dol-Vrhovec, MO Jelenovac, MO Bartol Kašić and MO Ban Keglević as part of the project “Social health?” which is co-financed by the Office for Associations of the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the European Union as part of the CERV program – “Citizens, Equality, Rights, Values”, and is implemented by the association Ocean of Knowledge and as part of the project “The story of HER”, which is financed from the European Solidarity Corps program, and it is carried out by the volunteers of Ocean of Knowledge.