We are happy to have been part of the School for Caring Futures in Skopje, which marked the first phase of Seeds of Solidarity — Artistic Practices and Ecofeminist Alliances for a Caring Future.
This multi-year, interdisciplinary artistic-curatorial project explores care as a feminist, ecological and artistic practice across South and Eastern Europe, in dialogue with Austrian partners. Bringing together art initiatives, cultural institutions, researchers and communities, it creates space for situated learning, embodied practices and collective knowledge production.
Structured around the cycle of sowing, caring, growing and sharing, the project invites us to nurture translocal collaborations and sustainable alliances rooted in ecofeminist thinking and relational ecologies of care.
From the mountain to the garden, the river and the park, the School for Caring Futures unfolded across different landscapes of Skopje. Through performative walks, encounters with local initiatives and collective discussions, the programme explored how ecological and social relations shape our ways of living together, and how practices of care can emerge from attentiveness to the places, communities and more-than-human worlds around us.
11 September 2026 | For scholars
Morning and early afternoon: THE MOUNTAIN
Virginia Was Not Fun at All — a performative walk at Mount Vodno with Hristina Ivanoska.
Moderated session by Margarethe Makovec: Listening to the Mountain.
Afternoon and early evening: THE GARDEN
Stop for Usje — an insight into the citizens’ initiative.
Tea under “Receptive Bodies” — a guided garden walk at Community Garden “Bostanie” with Zorica Zafirovska.
Moderated session by Ajete Kërqeli: Gathering Like a Garden.
12 September 2026 | For scholars
Morning and early afternoon: THE RIVER
Almost, a Life — a walk along the Vardar River with Kalia Dimitrova.
Moderated session by Elke Krasny: Writing with Water.
Afternoon until early evening: THE PARK
Our Common Memorial — a performance in “Vera Jocić” Park by Kumjana Novakova and Jana Kocevska.
Moderated session by Vida Knežević: Caring as Resistance.
We look forward to following and contributing to this shared process as it unfolds over the coming years.
Host institution and programme concept:
Press to Exit Project Space, Skopje
Project lead:
< rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art, Graz
Conceptual team:
Hristina Ivanoska and Jovanka Popova (Press to Exit Projekt Space, Skopje), Ajete Kërqeli (Shtatëmbëdhjetë / Foundation 17, Prishtina), Vida Knežević (Kontekst Kolektiv, Belgrade), Elke Krasny (Academy of Fine Arts Vienna), Margarethe Makovec (< rotor >, Graz)
Transnational network partners:
Dicle Beştaş, Milica Bezmarević, Andreja Dugandžić, Ivana Marjanović, Resina Meçani, Ivana Meštrov, Bojana Piškur, Başak Şenova, Vasiliki Sifostratoudaki, Martina Yordanova
Skopje team:
Yane Calovski, Hristina Ivanoska, Jovanka Popova, Danche T. Chalovska, David Ilieski, Paul Houthuijzen
Graz team:
Margarethe Makovec, Anton Lederer, Iris Kasper, Milda Bernotaite, Polina Ratkina
The School for Caring Futures in Skopje 2026 takes place in the frame of SEEDS OF SOLIDARITY – Artistic Practices and Ecofeminist Alliances for a Caring Future, an interdisciplinary artistic-curatorial project initiated by the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs and the Cultural Department of the Province of Styria, which contributes its St.A.i.R. (Styria Artists-in-Residence) network, offering artist residency programs in both the Balkan region and Styria.