Project description: In every patriarchal society, the struggle for women’s equal rights has always faced significant resistance. One of the main motivations behind the Academic Initiative “Forum 10” undertaking this project was the ongoing process of re-traditionalization that the society of Novi Pazar has been experiencing for many years. This process is closely linked to the strong influence of religious communities on society and their increasingly visible role in official politics and the everyday life of the local community. Although several civil society organizations work on women’s rights, cultural institutions generally provide very little space for public discussion and awareness-raising about one of the most significant movements in the history of human civilization.
As part of the project, an exhibition of reconstructed feredža garments worn by Muslim women between 1945 and the adoption of the 1951 Law Prohibiting the Wearing of the zar and feredža was presented. The project also included the promotion of the books Zašto marama by Đermana Šeta and Istorija zara, peče i feredže u Sandžaku by Hivzo Gološ, as well as the multimedia presentation Interpretacije feminizma by Iva Jović and Sajma Redžep Efendić. In addition, documentary film screenings were organized, including Gledanje u kaldrmu – lične priče muslimanskih žena o skidanju feredže – da li su nasilne emancipacije moguće? and Marame i mahrame by director Senka Domanović, followed by public discussions with accompanying debate programmes. As the project’s concluding activity, the theatre production Peča was produced and staged, attracting the greatest public interest of all project activities. Although the play explores the events of 1951, when the Law Prohibiting the Wearing of the zar and feredža was adopted and implemented, its subject remains highly relevant today. The law represented an act of emancipation that enabled Muslim women to enter public life and gain access to employment.
Taken together, these activities created a space for a comprehensive reflection on the ways in which women’s ethnic and religious identities are constructed, negotiated, and contested within the Muslim community. The project sought to reduce prejudice and stereotypes toward Muslim women from the Sandžak region while encouraging a broader public dialogue on gender equality, identity, and the legacy of patriarchy.
Grant amount: 1,650,000.00 RSD
