Nevena Aleksovski & Maja Babič Košir

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Letters from the South

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Nevena Aleksovski and Maja Babič Košir have, through years of collaboration, developed a distinctive artistic language, shaped by their commitment to multimedia and site-specific spatial interventions. Their latest project, Letters from the South (2024), exemplifies a visually rich narrative that seamlessly intertwines their kindred yet singular practices into a unified wall installation, combining drawing, collage, painting, readymade, and sculpture.

By weaving together diverse media, the artists treat the exhibition space itself as a blank canvas—gradually layering associations, fragments, and visual notations into a dynamic dialogue. What appears as light and playful collage work is charged with individual and collective memories, annotations of the past and reflections on the present, which the artists share as women, creators, precarious workers, and migrants. Their work is profoundly marked by the experience of displacement and the cultural legacy of former Yugoslavia—a territory that has, over recent decades, undergone radical social and political transformations: the collapse of socialism, the rise of neoliberalism, successive economic and health crises, a climate of uncertainty, and the sweeping digitalization of everyday life.

Within this shifting terrain of unstable politics and cultural dynamics, Aleksovski and Babič Košir explore questions of belonging and the elusive feeling of home, both in foreign and native environments. Their inquiry inevitably extends to issues of origin and identity. References to women’s struggles—historical and contemporary—deeply inform the imagery of their work, as well as their understanding of their own roles. They adopt a consciously engaged stance, acutely aware of the vulnerabilities inherited by today’s generation of women and the groundwork laid by their predecessors. Their feminine and sensuous aesthetics, with all their apparent fragility, reveal at their core motifs of emancipation and a quiet yet determined strength guiding their gestures and artistic decisions.

The layered nature of their joint installation, despite the intense interweaving of two closely related aesthetics, retains a sense of fragmentation and autonomy. Rather than dissolving their practices into a single indistinguishable whole, they allow for a freedom of co-existence—an intimate space where two visual languages unfold side by side. This is the fruit of long-term artistic exchange, grounded in mutual understanding, trust, and a willingness to delve into personal archives and family histories shaped by broader socio-political realities.

The element of sisterhood and solidarity, which has emerged from their collaborative process, imbues the work with an unmistakable optimism—an optimism that becomes both source and driving force of their hope, their search for alternative solutions, and their envisioning of freer futures.

As painters, sculptors, and illustrators, Aleksovski and Babič Košir are united by a shared visual vocabulary that embraces a refined, minimalist aesthetic. Their approach is deeply intuitive: in both solo and collaborative projects, they draw from their biographies and lived experiences as entry points into collective, research-driven artistic explorations.

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Maja Babič Košir

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Born in 1978, Ljubljana, SI

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Lives and works between Ljubljana, Sl, and Porto, PT

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Maja Babič Košir holds both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. Following her academic journey, she pursued advanced studies in creative illustration and visual communication at EINA University School of Design and Art in Barcelona.

Rooted in contemplative, introspective principles, her intuitive creative process draws from personal history and surroundings, translating inner experiences into a visually compelling narrative. The multidimensionality achieved through layering materials in installations challenges decorativeness, reflecting her background in contemporary sculpture. Her practice serves as a transformative archive, embracing imperfections, exploring the plasticity and sensory dimensions of recycled materials found in rich and well-preserved family archives.

In her versatile artistic practice, Maja often collaborates with established international artists, such as Duba Sambolec, Nevena Aleksovski, and Diana Tamane. Bound by their common positions as women and artists, through their artistic dialogue and minimalist visual language, the artists explore various contemporary societal issues.

She actively participates in international contemporary art fairs and shows, showcasing her work at established venues such as the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana, Slovenia; UGM Maribor Art Gallery; Cukrarna; ARCO; SPARK; Berlin Art Week; Vienna Contemporary; NADA and Zürich Art Weekend. She has won several awards and acknowledgments, and her works are housed in various private and public collections.

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Nevena Aleksovski

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Born in 1984, Bor, RS

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Lives and works in Ljubljana, SI

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Nevena Aleksovski earned her degree in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Novi Sad (RS), in 2008, and furthered her academic journey with a Master's degree in Cultural Studies from the University of Ljubljana (SI), in 2014. She has showcased her work in numerous solo and group exhibitions, among others at ŠKUC (SI), RAVNIKAR (SI), Britta Rettberg (DE), MGLC (SI), Cukrarna (SI), P74 Gallery (SI), PrivatePrint (MK), NADA Villa Warsaw (PL) as well as at various international art fairs including viennacontemporary, Art Rotterdam, Berlin Art Week, and others.

Drawing from personal experience, her focal point of artistic exploration always originates from the concept of migration, a phenomenon that has shaped human histories and societies. Her focus expands beyond migrant narratives to address the challenges faced by those labeled as Others in new environments, urging viewers to contemplate the human toll of exclusion and advocate for inclusivity. In her latest series, Southern, Southern, Aleksovski delivers an ironic message, exploring the dehumanization of people from southern regions through fetishized and harmful imaginings. Aleksovski's minimalist paintings and installation unravel the complexities of stereotypical views, prompting viewers to confront the implications of pervasive biases and fostering a dialogue towards a more inclusive global perspective.

In 2022 she published the book Melancholy of the Abandoned Lands, in collaboration with PrivatePrint Publishing, that tells the migration history of her family during Yugoslavia and after its dissolvement.