PitchWise Festival of Women’s Art and Activism in BiH

organized since 2006, has become a signature event of the CURE Foundation as a unique feminist international event that combines activism and engaged art. The festival was initiated
with the aim of transforming abandoned public spaces into meeting places for socially engaged artists, activists, theorists, and feminists, creating a safe and open space for the new generation. Through solidarity and networking with women worldwide, we strive to build a history of resistance and fight for the equality of all women.

The main goal

PitchWise Festival is to create and promote positive change in the community through artistic practices and social engagement.

The PitchWise Festival advocates for:

• Promoting feminist ideas and policies.
• Encouraging young girls and women to join the women’s movement and contribute to the reconstruction of reality.
• Opening new fields of action through dialogue and initiatives led by women with diverse experiences and histories.

The political stance of the CURE Foundation, from which the PitchWise Festival emerges, represents the core prism of our work through feminist activism aimed at driving positive social change. The PitchWise Festival is rooted in the idea that the transformative power of art empowers individuals to positively change themselves and their surroundings. We understand politically engaged art as a creative process of questioning, analyzing, transforming, and deconstructing one’s own positions and roles in society, as well as addressing identity issues within the diverse spectrum of realities.

PitchWise Festival, held from September 12 to 15, 2024, at the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, once again confirmed its importance as a unique feminist event in BiH. The 19th edition of the festival brought together artists, activists, theorists, and feminists from across the region and the world, with the aim of promoting women’s art and culture, gender equality, and positive social change.

The festival’s opening

on September 12 began with an energetic performance by the Drumming Activist Network (BAM) from Croatia, Serbia, and BiH, which symbolically set the tone for the engaging program that followed. This included the exhibition Opening the Museum from a Woman’s Perspective, curated by Elma Hodžić. The exhibition featured works by the following artists: Nanda Agić, Arnela Lela Dabić, Aleksandra Kokotović, Ata Omerbašić, Sonja Radan, Aida Šehović, Kiana Hayeri, Belma Arnautović, and the collective Stripo-Tetke.

You can view details from the opening ceremony, as well as the complete festival program, on the CURE Foundation’s YouTube channel and on other social media platforms.

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@fondacijacure2069/videos

The PitchWise Festival of Women’s Art and Activism, which has also expanded its presence to online platforms, attracted significant attention on social media over the course of four days, highlighting the importance and impact of this event beyond the local level.

The festival achieved the following numbers of likes/views/shares:

During the four days, the PitchWise Festival hosted over

PitchWise