Elma Čavčić

Exhibition Territorium
19-09-2026 -30-11-2026

Elma Čavčić – Family Picknick

The painting shows a family by the water in a green landscape. Everyday objects—coffee pots, canned food and bread—are drawn into the frame. The scene feels familiar, like a memory of an afternoon spent outdoors together.Elma Čavčić grew up with stories about the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At family gatherings she heard devastating events recounted with striking matter-of-factness. For her work she returned to her country of birth to interview relatives and record their memories.This layered history permeates the image. The tranquillity on the grass clashes with the recollection of atrocities that took place in the same landscape: bodies floating in the river and lying in the grass. A generational shift is also visible within the group: the contrast between older women in traditional dress and younger people emphasises how memories and experiences are passed on.

Biography Elma Čavčić | Žepa (Bosnië en Herzegovina) 1995

Elma Čavčić is a Bosnian-born visual artist based in Utrecht and a graduate of HKU. Her figurative paintings originate in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina—stories she grew up with but did not experience herself.Na een door het Mondriaan Fonds ondersteunde onderzoeksreis naar Bosnië, ontwikkelde zij een gelaagde beeldtaal waarin het verleden en heden samenkomen. De Volkskrant omschreef haar werk treffend als schilderijen die vrolijk lijken, "tot je de bloedspetters op de muur ziet".Čavčić’s work has received broad institutional recognition. She was nominated for the Royal Award for Modern Painting in 2026 and has exhibited at the Royal Palace Amsterdam, National Monument Camp Vught (DE 11 STEMMEN VAN SREBRENICA) and FOTODOK.Her urgent projects on the intergenerational transmission of memories are widely discussed in media including NRC, De Groene Amsterdammer and Arte France. She also regularly appears as a guest speaker for NOS and the podcast Kunst is Lang.

SHORTLIST OF LATEST GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2026 | 2025 | 2023

Royal Award for Modern Painting – Koninklijk Paleis, Amsterdam

DE 11 STEMMEN VAN SREBRENICA – Nationaal Monument, Kamp Vught

Bearing Witness – Platform POST (Arnhem) / Willem Twee Kunstruimte (Den Bosch)

PROSPECTS – Mondriaan Fonds, Art Rotterdam

A Never-Ending Narrative – TROEF , Leiden

SHORTLIST OF SOLO AND DUO EXHIBITIONS

2023 | 2022

Warlords and citykids – Kunsthal Kloof, Utrecht

Combined Realities – EXBOOT, SOLO, Utrecht

Past is Present – Projectspace LOKAAL, Utrecht

Ljubavni sudar – H47, Leeuwarden

Baak Seaside – SOLO, Noordwijk

AWARDS

Nominated Royal award for modern painting - Koninklijk Paleis, Amsterdam - 2026

Mondrian Fund ‘Artist start’ - Mondriaan Fonds - 2022

Galerie Pouloeuff Public’s Prize - Galerie Pouloeuff - 2020