By Editor

Photographer Tanja Bažalac from Belgrade and poet Snježana Vračar Mihelač, originally from Pula and currently living and working in Ljubljana, have been named the winners of the international Climateurope2 art+science open call Climate action through poetry and photography”.

The Center for the Promotion of Science (CPN) launched the open call at the end of 2024 as part of the international Climateurope2 project. The call attracted over seventy submissions from both professional and amateur photographers and poets across the region, including participants of various ages and professions—from schoolchildren to retirees.

The CPN received original photographs and poems from across Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. The submissions reflected a wide array of voices, including professional artists as well as enthusiasts from diverse backgrounds.

The jury—composed of poet and translator Ljiljana Ilić, photographer Marko Risović, Climateurope2 project lead Dr. Marjana Brkić, climatologist Prof. Dr. Vladimir Đurđević, art historian Dobrivoje Lale Erić, and CPN Advisor for International Cooperation Ljubica Slavković—faced a challenging task in selecting the winning entries.

The winning works—a photo series by Tanja Bažalac and poems by Snježana Vračar Mihelač—will be exhibited at the upcoming Climateurope2 Festival in Belgrade, taking place from September 29 to October 1, 2025. Selected entries from the competition will be paired into themed sets and published as a special edition as part of the project.

About the Artists

Tanja Bažalac is a photographer from Belgrade, Serbia, who has been actively working in the field since 2017. Her primary inspirations are street, portrait, and fashion photography. She has received numerous awards, including fourth place at the international Photolympic2019 competition and first place at the Frame24 competition in 2020. Her work has been exhibited in group shows both in Serbia and abroad and published in major outlets, including the British edition of Vogue and National Geographic Serbia.

Snježana Vračar Mihelač was born in Pula, Croatia. Her literary work has been published in anthologies, literary journals, and online platforms. She received third prize for her short story Tremor at the Književni petak literary event and the “Zagreb – in Words and Images” competition, as well as a Golden Recognition at the 42nd National Gathering of Minority Authors "Sosed tvojega brega" (2020–2021). Her poems have been recognized internationally. Her work has been translated into Slovenian, English, Macedonian, and Albanian. She currently lives and works in Ljubljana.