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: INVISIBLE WOMAN
COLLECTED PERSONAL STATEMENTS OF CITIZENS ABOUT THE INFLUENCE OF WOMEN:
Statement 1: She is always somehow there, but never draws attention to herself. All the little things he does go unnoticed. When you look back, you realize how important small moments are to you. It seems as if everything is in her hands, and no one even notices. Sometimes, when she’s gone, you feel an emptiness, but you don’t even know why…
Statement 2: As I grew, feeling love and gratitude for her, I realized that I simply wanted the world to know who she was. Not because she invented some important formula that explains the motion of the planets or changed the world in some big way. Already because, for me, she always knew how to simplify those formulas, shape them so that I could understand them. When I say “formulas,” I don’t just mean math, but all that life is—people, behaviors, courage, truth. All those complex and confusing things that didn’t make sense to me as a child, she knew how to explain.
And that’s why I want the world to know about her. Not because of her favorite recipe or anything like that, but because she knew how to shape the world so that it was understandable, even when everything was one big question mark to me. That’s why. And much more.
ART REFLECTIONS ON THE SUBJECT:
Author: Sara Husnjak
EDU CORNER:
Showing the invisible work of women helps us recognize their role and contribution in society, which often goes unnoticed. Such work, including family and household care, shapes lives, but is often not sufficiently recognized or rewarded. Media representation can reinforce or change the perception of these roles: if women are portrayed exclusively as mothers, bitch bosses or housewives, this reinforces stereotypes. However, when they are portrayed as active participants and professionals in different sectors, space is opened for social changes and fairer policies that recognize their work and contribution.
HONORING A PROFESSION AND A WOMAN WHO IS CONSIDERED EXCEPTIONAL IN THE FIELD:
“Visible” exhibition
Martina Munivrana (MSU, Zagreb) – author of the project and concept
Jasminka Babić (GU Split)
Vilma Bartolić (in collaboration with Branka Benčić and Diana Zrilić, MMSU, Rijeka)
Valentina Radoš (MLU, Osijek)
Rozana Vojvoda (UGD, Dubrovnik)
Ana Škegro (MSU, Zagreb) – for performance and discursive program
Branka Benčić (MMSU, Rijeka) – for the film program
Nives Sertić – author of the set
Sanja Kuzmanović – author of the visual identity
The exhibition “Visible” represents a significant inter-institutional project that includes the work of more than ninety female authors and is the result of research into the representation of female artists in museum collections in Croatia. The curators of the project focused on highlighting the contemporary art production of female authors who, although highly positioned on the art scene, remain poorly visible in museum holdings.
Alarming statistics show that women make up only ten percent of Croatian art collections, which prompted an initiative to change the paradigm and strengthen awareness of the importance of equal representation of female artists. The “Visible” project also includes discursive and performance programs that emphasize the need for equal representation of women in art collections, emphasizing the role of museum institutions as social correctives.
TASK FOR VISITORS:
Introduce to us the name of the artist you think is not visible enough. Or more of them 🙂
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.