Opening on Thursday, October 22, at 12 noon
⫸ The author’s team will be present until 2 PM
Authors: Ljiljana Pantović, Sara Nikolić, Marko Ristić, Ivan Đorđević
Curatorial assistance: Zorana Đaković Minniti, Senka Ristivojević, Vladimir Bjeličić
Artists: Ana Adamović, Branko Milošević, Ana Cvetković, Ivana Smiljanić, Adrienn Újházi
The exhibition Medical Deserts explores inequalities in access to healthcare in Serbia, drawing on the experiences of women living in rural areas. Based on ethnographic research conducted in 2025 in villages across the Central Banat, North Banat, and Zaječar districts, the exhibition raises questions about the availability of public healthcare services, the invisible labour required to access them, and the relationships between female patients and healthcare institutions.
The occasion for the exhibition is the project “WARM – Women’s Access to Reproductive Care in Medically Underserved Areas” by a research team comprising Dr. Ljiljana Pantović, Dr. Jelena Ćeriman, and Dr. Sara Nikolić of the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade, and Dr. Ivan Đorđević of the Institute of Ethnography of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA). In response to the topics opened by this research, artists Ana Adamović, Ana Cvetković, Ivana Smiljanić, and Adrien Újházi contributed with their video-works, while Branko Milošević created a map of medical deserts in Serbia.
Through an interdisciplinary approach, the exhibition problematizes the experiences of women trying to claim their formally guaranteed right to public healthcare, while facing infrastructural and institutional obstacles.
How much time, money, and effort does it take to see a doctor? What happens when a healthcare facility exists, but its services remain out of reach? And what awaits us when we finally get our turn?
Visitors are also invited to share their own experiences with the healthcare system through a participatory element of the exhibition. Their contributions will gradually become part of the exhibition itself and inform further research.
The authorial team owes special thanks to the women who shared their experiences. They also thank Milica Marković, Slavica Vasić, Dr. Jelena Ćeriman, Dr. Filip Arnaut, and Milena Jevtić.
The exhibition is supported by the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade.
ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMME
Medical Anthropology Lecture Series
working language: Serbian
October 29, 18:00
The Private in the Public: Negotiating Birth in Serbia
Dr. Ljiljana Pantović (Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade)
November 3, 18:00
Exhibition Tour with the Authors
Ljiljana Pantović, Sara Nikolić, Ivan Đorđević, Marko Ristić
November 5, 18:00
Humanitarian activities: when medical treatment depends on donations
Dr. Bojana Radovanović (Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade)
November 12, 18:00
Living with Diabetes: Between the State and Civil Society Organisations
Dr. Jelisaveta Fotić (Institute for Balkan Studies, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts)
November 19, 18:00
“That’s How It Is with Us Romani Women”: Obstetric Racism in Serbian Maternity Care
Dr. Ivan Đorđević (Institute of Ethnography, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts) and Dr. Ljiljana Pantović (Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade)
