Presenting the Gaza Biennale – Sarajevo Pavilion, a collection of works from over 30 artists from Gaza and Sarajevo that collectively speak to persistence and creativity in the face of annihilation.

Defying all challenges, artists have been working, imagining, and confronting impossible subjects throughout the genocide in Gaza. Transcending unimaginable barriers, their artworks set out on a journey across the globe through the Gaza Biennale – an exhibition that embodies a multidirectional journey. It enables works from Gaza to travel around the world, while these works bring people around the world to Gaza.

Founded in 2024 by artists in Gaza with the Forbidden Museum of Jabal al Risan, Palestine, the Gaza Biennale enables artistic voices to resound around the world through أجنحة (wings, pavilions) that host artworks from Gaza in London, New York, Athens, Cape Town, Padua, Istanbul, Berlin, Tkaronto, and more. Another future is being formed led by art and artists from Gaza.

The Sarajevo Pavilion unfolds between 10 October and 7 November 2025 at the National Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the War Childhood Museum, DKC Sarajevo, Collegium Artisticum, and the Red Cross building giving presence to the artistic expressions and voices from Gaza. Some of these works are shown together with works artists have made during the siege of Sarajevo and resonate through similar practices, meanings and forms with each other. Exhibited collectively, they reflect each other’s urgency in times of destruction and highlight the agency of artistic creation resisting annihilation.

10 October 2025, 18.00, National Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Exhibition opening

11 October 2025, 14.30, Collegium ArtisticumPerformance by Mahmoud AlBalawi in collaboration with Ajla Bešić as part of the MESS Festival, as part of the opening at Collegium Artisticum

11 October 2025, 16.00, History Museum BiHConversation with artists from Gaza and Sarajevo: Hamada Elkept and Amra Zulfikarpašić in person, and Jehad Jarbou, Mohammed Mghari and Emad Badwan online from Gaza; followed by a guided tour through the exhibition by Gabriela Manda Seith and Elma Hašimbegović as part of the opening at the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina

12 October 2025, 11.00, Red Cross BuildingConversation with artists of Svjedoci postojanja, including Edin Numankadić, Nusret Pašić as well as Tanja and Stjepan Roš, as part of the exhibition opening at the Red Cross Building

12 October 2025, 16.00, War Childhood museumFilm screening of Yahya Alsholy’s film Escape from Farida (2025, 15:22 min), followed by a conversation with Murad Al-Assar (online) and Hamada Elkept, as part of the exhibition opening at the War Childhood Museum

12 October 2025, 18.00, DKC SarajevoMeshwar Mixtapes, an intimate session blending music, visuals, and storytelling to preserve cultural memories and narratives from the global south, and a fundraiser for Gaza accompany the opening of the exhibition at DKC Sarajevo, including the projection of interviews with artists from Gaza