Miro Kuzmanović grew up in the former Yugoslavia and works as a documentary photographer in Austria. After several years as a photojournalist, he returned to his home country and has since focused on issues of identity, migration and history in connection with the Yugoslavian war. At the center of his photographic practice is memory and how it shapes our sense of identity and reality.

The focus of my artistic work is on the themes of identity, migration, memory culture and nation-building. The public and media space serves me as a source for highlighting social conditions. The research process is part of my artistic practice and is often visible in my works.

For the project "The Art of Arrival", I approach the term "arrival" associatively. Here I focus on image politics such as: Examining current media on the term "border" and collecting/photographing this visual material. Furthermore, I am interested in politicians' gestures in connection with integration and flight, e.g. #haesslicheBilder, #Merkelstreichelt. In addition, I deal with the topic of the "roof", a place of freedom, protest, flight, capital, a place of increased visibility but also a place that enables a specific perception through the position and special perspective.

Linda Zahra

Linda Zahra was born in Salamiyah, Syria. She attended courses in Make-up Design at the Academy of Fine Arts in the Republic of Moldova from 2000 to 2004. She worked as a make-up designer, photographer and executive producer on several films: (A Little Sun), (Damascus City Symphony), (Faraway, so Close to the Homeland) and (Wooden Rifle 2013). Her first joint exhibition in Vienna took place in January 2016 at Art 3 gallery. She made a slide show of photos (Syrian children portraits in Turkish camps) to a company a musical concert in Akzent Theater / Vienna – 25th February 2016. Her second exhibition was (Insight / Syrian Women portrait) which had been shown on a digital wall in Hauptbahnhof 2 the main train station in Vienna – 8th March 2016. She made Solo Photography Exhibition (Faraway Home) with International Dialogue Center in Vienna (KAICIID) - October 2016. She participated with Solo Photography Exhibition (Outside Homeland) in Eyes On – European Month of Photography – Vienna - November 2016. A joint exhibition (The Others Story) was made with Kunstlerhaus Vienna, September 2017. A joint exhibition at Salon de kultur, gallery Educult in Museum Quartier 2018. A joint exhibition "Traces and Masks of flight" at State Museum of Krems, Landesgalerie Niederösterreich, Austria 2020. Participation in the event "Melk Memorial 2020 "Austria. Her works have been received a wide critical acclaim. She lives and works in Vienna.

Hamed Abboud, born in 1987 in Deir al-Zor in Syria, studied telecommunications technology in Aleppo. He spent part of his childhood in Algeria until his family had to return to Syria when the civil war broke out in 1992. When the initially peaceful rebellion against the regime in his home country was suppressed with military force, he fled to Egypt at the end of 2012. He came to Austria via Dubai and Turkey in 2014, where he now lives in Vienna after two years in Burgenland. His books published in German so far include "Der Tod backt einen Geburtstagskuchen" (translated by Larissa Bender, pudelundpinscher 2017), which was nominated for the prestigious "International Literature Prize", and "In meinem Bart versteckte Geschichten" (translated by Larissa Bender and Kerstin Wilsch, Edition Korrespondenzen 2020).

Born in Zagreb (former Yugoslavia) to an Austrian father and a Dalmatian mother who studied medicine in Vienna and worked as a radiology specialist in Austria. She grew up in Vienna, Klagenfurt and on the island of Brač. Anna Baar writes poetry, prose and essays as well as literary pieces on artistic productions and exhibitions. Her novels "Die Farbe des Granatapfels" (2015), "Als ob sie träumend gingen" (2017) and "Nil" (2021) have been published by Wallstein Verlag.

My name is Marija, I am called Maša. I was born in Sarajevo in 1981, where I attended the "Razija Omanović" school until 1992, named after a Yugoslav partisan in the Second World War. I've been living in Austria since 1992 - so I now write myself as "Mascha". I graduated from high school in Innsbruck, studied (Translation Studies - English and Russian; and Political Science), then took up doctoral studies in Vienna and dealt with the topic of "Interpreting in Psychotherapy" (the dissertation was published in 2021 by Narr Verlag, Tübingen). I have also translated literature, theater and poetry from the Balkan region into German, taught at university and interpreted in various contexts. I have also written a novel on my dissertation topic ("Reibungsverluste", Edition Atelier 2017).

Orwa Alshoufi finalized his studies at the Higher Institute of Music in Beirut, Lebanon.

He was the Director of the "Nineveh" Institute for Music and Singing in As-Suwayda, Syria. He and his colleagues (Ayman Hlal /Violin, Ahmed/Guitar, Ragheb Massa’/Cello) founded the "Orphé" band, which made its debut in As-Suwayda, Syria.

Mr. Alshoufi supervised the “Al Manarah” Choir for children, led by Miss Manar Al Shaar, comprising over one hundred boys and girls, which also performed in As-Suwayda, Syria.

Winner of the second prize "Passion" for composing music in Syria for his musical piece "Hopes Fade". Orwan Alshoufi is also a music composer and he has composed many original pieces like “War”.

Mr. Alshoufi is studying, since 2020 at the Bruckner University in Linz, Austria, in two branch KBA Bachelor Instrumental Jazz and improvised music.

Since 2016, in cooperation of the Arab Austrian Women’s Organization he established and directed the first oriental orchestra “NAI” in Austria, the “Nineveh” workshop for teaching music and singing and the “NAI Junior” oriental orchestra for children, and the “NAI Choir”.

Mr. Alshoufi is studying, since 2020 at the Bruckner University in Linz, Austria, in two branch KBA Bachelor Instrumental Jazz and improvised music.

Since 2016, in cooperation of the Arab Austrian Women’s Organization he established and directed the first oriental orchestra “NAI” in Austria, the “Nineveh” workshop for teaching music and singing and the “NAI Junior” oriental orchestra for children, and the “NAI Choir”.

Raised in the Mostviertel region, grew up in Vienna. The singer-songwriter Sigrid Horn sings in a dialect that cannot be clearly identified and accompanies herself with ukulele or piano. She is not at home anywhere, but quickly makes herself at home. Both spatially and artistically, she commutes between the country and the city and incorporates something of both into her music. Her debut "sog i bin weg" was released in 2018, and in 2019 she won the Fm4 protest song contest with her song "baun" against the development of rural areas. In 2020, she presented her second album "i bleib do" at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, which was voted one of the 50 most important Austropop albums of the last 50 years by Falter.

Irina Karamarković is a singer, author, composer, arranger, performer and ensemble leader.

She studied jazz singing at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz.

She performs live in various performance formats - from a capella to big band or electronics.

She completed her doctorate at the KUG on the presence of music from Southeast Europe in the Austrian jazz scene (socio-cultural, economic, political and musical aspects).