Kuma

The soft splashing of water dancing over smooth stones mingles with the happy laughter of children. The ringing of church bells can be heard in the distance, closely followed by the call of the muezzin, like a gentle appeal for contemplation.
The smell of freshly baked kifle wafts through the alleyways, mixed with the spicy aroma of grilled Ćevapi.
In the cafés, where the coffee steams and time lingers in silence, the bitter, strong taste of Bosnian coffee is refined with a hint of sugar. Every sip is a moment of calm, a pleasure, Ćejf that brings the conversations around a table together.
Five young people, kume, sit at this table, each of them with their own story: growing up in the diaspora and the feeling of never really belonging anywhere; living with parents who experienced the horrors of war first-hand and who are still struggling with the trauma; the desire to remember by collecting stories of ancestors; the search for peace and working towards reconciliation.

The KUMA exhibition shows Bosnia in a multifaceted light; both in the context of the war and independently of its gruesome history. As someone living in the diaspora, you run the risk of having the reason why you had to flee and why you don't live in your home country constantly in the focus of your consciousness: War. War. War. Like a filter that the artist cannot remove from the camera lens, it influences her photographs. Thus this series of photographs stands for itself precisely with this dichotomy between healing and trauma, between war and harmony, between truth and perception.

The exhibition can be seen on 27.06.25 from 7 to 10 pm. On 28.06.25 from 1 to 5 p.m., a photography workshop for children and young people aged 14 and over will be held with the artist to accompany the exhibition. Please register for the workshop at info@meko-neukoelln.berlin or +493056829666.