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Jelena Jureša: research residency

During her research-based residency, artist Jelena Jureša begins work on a new film. Continuing her inquiry into systemic violence, complicity, and structures of predatory power and masculinity, she deepens her long-standing collaboration with investigative journalist Barbara Matejčić.

Their earlier collaboration on Jureša’s film Aphasia (2019) revolved around a single photograph from the Bosnian war, opening questions of collective responsibility and the mechanisms of historical denial. In this new project, they return to another singular and deeply troubling image: the only known professional photograph capturing an execution during the war in the former Yugoslavia. Awarded World Press Photo of the Year, the picture remains ethically and politically charged. At the core of Matejčić’s years-long investigation lie unresolved questions of its origin: the photographer’s proximity to the killing, the presence of the camera in the act of violence, and the unsettling choreography between killer, victim, and viewer.

Rather than placing the photograph at the center, Jureša takes it as a point of departure to unfold a broader terrain of inquiry. Her research line connects the act of looking with histories of hunting, the politics of the gaze, and the colonial logics of capture and display. Building on threads already present in works such as Aphasia, Ubundu, and Don’t Take It Personally, Jureša continues to interrogate how the predatory gaze — embedded in artistic, photographic, and cinematic traditions — operates as a technology of possession and control. Her research foregrounds the female voice within these systems, tracing continuities between past and present: from colonial-era prestige killings and the spectacle of animal death on screen to contemporary forms of manhunting, surveillance, and algorithmic targeting.

Joining her in this early phase of work is theatre director Thomas Bellinck, whose practice with reenactment and the politics of tracking opens new methodological possibilities for the film’s dramaturgy.

Ik begrijp het niet: Dutch Language Café
About what we don’t understand — in language and in the world

What if learning Dutch didn’t start with banaan or hond, but with what you truly don’t understand?

In this series of Language Cafés, we practice Dutch by speaking about what is silenced, unclear, or urgent — from the student protests in Serbia to stories from our own lives.

The café emerged within the context of Jelena Jureša’s residency, following a new measure that obliges teachers in higher education to learn Dutch. What began as a bureaucratic requirement became an invitation to learn the language together through what truly matters.

Not a class, but a space for shared thinking and translation. Everyone is welcome — speaker, listener, beginner, translator.

- On 24 and 31 October, 7, 21 and 28 November, and 5 and 12 December, from 17:00 to 18:00.
- Afterwards, you’re welcome to join the Friday Evening Dinner at a fair price.
- Please register via the link below.

Dutch Language Café - registration

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Jelena Jureša

Jelena Jureša, a visual artist born in Yugoslavia (Novi Sad), explores themes of identity, collective violence and complicity, the politics of memory and oblivion, through film, video installation, photography and text.

Her film work moves beyond conventional film language, probing the boundaries of the medium while continually interrogating historical and political narratives. In recent years, her research has focused on practices of oppression — how they operate and implicate us in systems of violence — resulting in multidisciplinary projects that are as politically charged as they are deeply personal.

Jureša’s work has been exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions at Argos Centre for Audiovisual Arts in Brussels, Künstlerhaus in Graz, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade. She currently teaches at The Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) in Ghent. She holds a Ph.D. in Arts from Ghent University’s Faculty of Arts and Philosophy and KASK. Since 2020, she has been working on her postdoctoral research project titled Revolt! On a Refusal to Sing — Thinking Resistance Through Music, Waste, and Complicity.

Gerelateerde Activiteiten

→ 17:00

Friday 24.10.25

Language Café

→ Film
→ 19:30

Friday 17.10.25

Friday Evenings:

Jelena Jureša: Aphasia

→ Film
→ 19:30