MERIMA SMAJLOVIĆ
Bosnian-American Visual Artist
Installation • Performance • Mixed Media • Contemporary Abstract
www.merimasmajlovic.com
Instagram: @merima_smajl
Facebook: merima.smajlovic2
LinkedIn: Merima Smajlović
ARTIST PROFILE
Merima Smajlović is a Bosnian-American contemporary visual artist whose work explores themes of migration, feminine psychology, ancestral memory, silence, and inner transformation. Through abstract painting, installation, and mixed media, she creates layered visual narratives that merge Bosnian script, tactile materials, and symbolic gestures into emotionally resonant works. Her artistic language reflects lived experience shaped by war, displacement, motherhood, and cultural inheritance. Smajlović’s practice functions as both personal testimony and collective mirror—inviting viewers into spaces of introspection, resilience, and reconnection. She has exhibited internationally across Europe and the United States, and her work has been recognized by ArtPrize, LowellArts, and multiple contemporary institutions.
EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
Academy of Fine Arts, University of Sarajevo — BFA in Graphic Design, 2007
High School of Applied Arts, Sarajevo
Fashion Design & Experimental Materials — Mannheim, Germany
Fund for Arts and Culture in Central and Eastern Europe
Art2Business: Lobbying in Culture & Partnerships Between Culture and Business, 2007
Courses in Museology — Museum Management, 2002
Courses in Museology — Museum Education, 2002
Courses in Museology — Art Installation, 2002
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Collegium Artisticum Contemporary Gallery — Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Faculty of Architecture, University of Sarajevo — Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
OKC Abrašević Youth Cultural Center — Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ludington Area Center for the Arts — Ludington, MI
Upcoming:
Keeler Gallery, Fountain Street Church — Grand Rapids, MI (Jan–Feb 2027)
SELECTED GROUP & COLLABORATIVE EXHIBITIONS
2025
Dialogue of Souls / Voices in Colors (with Mary Jane Pories) — ArtPrize 2025, DeVos Place Convention Center, Grand Rapids, MI
Artist as Catalysts for Social Change — Ludington Area Center for the Arts, Ludington, MI
Dialogue of Souls (with Mary Jane Pories) — 106 Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
Dialogue of Souls (with Mary Jane Pories) — AllArtWorks Viewing Studio, Grand Rapids, MI
Resolutions & Resilience — Fountain Street Church, Grand Rapids, MI
U-Create — LowellArts, Lowell, MI
Balancing the Divine Feminine — Keeler Gallery, FSC, Grand Rapids, MI
2024
Memories of My Journeys — Sims Contemporary (online)
BLACKOUT — Ashton Gallery at Art on 30th, San Diego, CA
Divine Feminine — ArtPrize 2024, Fountain Street Church, Grand Rapids, MI
AllArtWorks Viewing Room Exhibition — DeVos Place Convention Center, Grand Rapids, MI
Festival of the Arts Regional — Grand Rapids, MI
Let This Radicalize You… — DAAC Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
Save the Planet, Save the People!!! — 106 Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
The World is On Fire — 106 Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
More Than Our Hearts Can Bear — 106 Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
Art On Loop — New York, NY
Annual ULUPUBiH Exhibition — Collegium Artisticum Gallery, Sarajevo
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Top 20 — ArtPrize 2025
Finalist — Pitch Night Motu Viget (2025)
Honorable Mention — 38th Annual West Michigan Art Competition, LowellArts (2024)
Special Recognition — Excellent Use of Color, LowellArts Member Exhibition (2025)
FEATURED PROJECTS & UPCOMING
Selected Artist — LowellArts 2026 Exhibition Program (May–July 2026)
Performance & Installation Exhibitions — AllArtWorks & Studio by Lora Robertson, Grand Rapids, MI
EDUCATION, TEACHING & INSTITUTIONAL PROGRAMS
Abstract Art & Collage Workshops — Ludington Area Center for the Arts (2023–present)
Guest Artist — Northview Public Schools K–12 Virtual Arts Program (2023)
Guest Lecturer & Workshop Leader — Women’s City Club of Grand Rapids (2024)
Speaker & Educator — Break It Down | Make It Better Conference, Grand Rapids, MI (2025)
SELECTED SERIES
Voyage de Sabur (2024–ongoing)
Symbols of the Soul (2019–2023)
EARLY CAREER & INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS (1997–2007 | Europe)
Exhibited at Huizer Museum — Netherlands
Art and Terrorism — City Gallery Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina
In Search of Identity 1992–2002 — ARS AEVI Museum of Contemporary Art, Sarajevo
One Person — Zenica Museum, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Models of Transformation — Young Artists Salon, Collegium Artisticum Gallery, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Solo Exhibitions (2007):
Art Ataka — Faculty of Architecture, Sarajevo
OKC Abrašević — Mostar
Collegium Artisticum Gallery — Sarajevo
Collaborations & Festivals:
Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF)
PitchWise Festival
Sarajevska Zima
Futura Festival
United Moves
Art Cinema KRITERION
Fashion Week — Why Not
Institutional Collaborations:
SCCA — Soros Center for Contemporary Art, Sarajevo
PRO.BA — Production House PRO.BA
Co-founder — Artist Collective “AKTUELNO” (2002)
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
ULUPUBiH (since 2007)
Ludington Area Center for the Arts (since 2023)
Women’s City Club of Grand Rapids (since 2024)
LowellArts (since 2025)
LANGUAGES
Bosnian (native)
English (fluent
German (intermediate)