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Aradac is a village in the municipality of Zrenjanin, an important industrial centre of former Yugoslavia that underwent significant decline over the past two decades as a result of unsuccessful privatisations. The closure of numerous factories and companies left the majority of the population in the region without employment or social security. As a consequence, people were driven to return to cultivating land and running small informal businesses, although the conditions for both had also become increasingly difficult.

Slovaks constitute a significant part of the population of Aradac. Their distinctive culture and traditions, preserved for centuries as a minority culture within the same geographical region, have remained somewhat hidden but well maintained.

We opened an embroidery office for twenty days in front of the municipal building, where the local market also takes place on Wednesdays and Fridays. In the afternoons, we held meetings with local groups, associations and individuals. We established contact with local producers of wine and cheese, as well as with local farmers.

Several meetings were held at Harmonia, a local association where we learned about Slovak crafts practised in the area, particularly different styles of embroidery. We later learned some of these techniques and applied them in the creation of the tapestry.

The tapestry consists of an embroidered map of the village, marking its important locations, surrounded by fourteen square panels embroidered in cross-stitch—the most prominent technique used by the Slovak women of Aradac.

The subjects represented in the tapestry are anything but traditional. They depict local stories and, in some cases, complex issues relevant to contemporary life in the village.

A special event consisting of a morning and an afternoon programme was organised on Saturday, October 31, under the title Interlacing Culture and Agri-Culture. In the morning, we invited local producers to discuss the current conditions of farming at the local and national levels, including the ongoing controversy surrounding the introduction of GMOs in Serbia.

In the afternoon, we hosted a youth theatre organisation from Zrenjanin and discussed the current political dynamics of the independent cultural sector. Throughout the conversation, participants embroidered related messages onto their clothes.


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This embroidery was created in collaboration with Dejan Došljak, Nebojša Milikić, Marka 1, Marka 2, Nada and Ivana Branković. Special thanks to Živa Legenda, Zdenko, Ana 1, Ana 2, Dalibor and Vesna, Boža, Njegovo Visočanstvo Zlaja and Bane Branković.