The book #ŽeneBiH (#WomenOfBiH) is an artistic, activist and research initiative that is comprised of biographies of over 50 BiH women who have broken stereotypes and advocated women’s rights and emancipation. Each woman was illustrated by a different woman illustrator/designer/artist from BiH. This is a book about first female artists, writers, poets, social workers, national heroines, directors, scientists, musicians, doctors, activists, professors, and other exceptional women from BiH.
My friends Masha Durkalic, Hatidza Gusic and I started this initiative wishing to contribute to the visibility of women in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to encourage similar educational initiatives.
This book celebrates women who decided to pursue education even when women were not allowed to do so, who were (and are) ambassadors of BiH art and culture in the world, the women who promoted women’s rights at a time when they did not even exist, women who gave their lives in the fight against fascism, women who have achieved worldwide fame in their respective fields of work, and those who were or are one of the greatest treasures of BiH.
Our work on this book is entirely voluntary, and in order to secure funds, we decided to use crowdfunding. Our campaign campaign was supported by 561 people from 25 countries of the world, and it ended up being the most successful crowdfunding campaign in BiH. More details about the campaign available here.
We presented the first edition of the book on March 8 2019 in the National Gallery in Sarajevo with an exhibit of 50 illustrations from the book, which was one of the most visited events at this gallery. The exhibit was then also featured in Zenica in 2020 to mark International Women’s Day. We presented the book in Tuzla, Zenica, Banja Luka, Mostar and Prague, and on other events in BiH and the region, which gave us an opportunity to emphasize the importance of women’s contributions, but also to share our knowledge of crowdfunding which helped us raise funds for the first edition.
By now, the book has traveled to over 25 countries of the world, and impressions on what it means to readers arrive regularly.
