INTERVIEW: Merima Imamovic

Luca Curci talks with Merima Imamovic during VENICE INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR – 25TH EDITION 2026, at Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello in Venice.

Merima Imamovic is a contemporary artist whose art is born from the meeting of different cultures, experiences and perspectives. “I was born in 1973 in Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I currently live and work in Vaterstetten, Germany. I am a teacher by profession, but now I call myself a student by profession. I travel, research, learn and through my artistic work I “touch” topics such as: changing perspectives, identity, resilience, memory, creativity and transformation. I voluntarily run an Art Shop in nursing homes in Vaterstetten, I work with children and with my paintings I strive to approach understanding people from different perspectives, i.e. to open a dialogue between the painting and the observer or to encourage them to reflect and/or self-reflect.”

Luca Curci – What are your thoughts while you paint? Do you have any habits or rituals while you work?
Merima Imamovic – When I paint, I almost completely surrender to the work. Sometimes it feels like I’m “flipping a switch” and turning off all other thoughts from everyday life, and turning on some creative, creative “current”. I really can’t say that I’m thinking about anything else, except for the idea, the process and merging with the work in its infancy. If you can say that drinking coffee is a ritual, then I have that ritual. I enjoy the smell and taste of that drink, to which I dedicated the painting “Kaffe Kontinent”.

LC – What is the trigger that leads you to paint?
MI – First it’s an idea or a question, and then a strong, strong desire to see it realized. There are periods when that driving force is so strong that time “stands still”, stops and starts again, only when I finish a phase of work or the entire work. I think it’s some creative urge or drive, which we all have, but also the desire to see the work of your hands finished.

LC – Which artist have somehow influenced your work?
MI – Uh, that’s hard to single out. Just like I can’t single out my favorite book, song, or film, because, simply, every work of art, and therefore the painting, as well as its author, leaves me with some impression, emotion, open question, and often depends on my emotions at the moment they are “consumed”.

LC – Where do you find your inspiration?
MI – For me, these are internal states, experiences, social changes, self-reflection, and a change of perspective. I attach great importance to changing perspective in life. As someone who spent his youth in war, I can say that for understanding, social progress, and the quality of human relationships, in every form, changing perspective, looking at the “picture,” the action, or the spoken words from a new angle – we open up completely new views/horizons.

LC – Did your style change over the years? In which way?
MI – My style has certainly changed and I’m happy about it. Without change, there is no personal growth and development. My beginnings as a painter were connected to completely different themes and techniques. Once upon a time, they were landscapes, done in soft pastel, as well as flowers, which were my primary theme for a period. For a shorter period, I also dealt with simple graphic techniques with an emphasis on the theme of “Freedom”. Just as my private life is full of changes, not to say turbulence, because I do not live in the country where I was born and I travel a lot, in my artistic creation it is also noticeable that everything flows, everything changes and everything is one panta rhei.

LC – Which art themes do you pursue? What is your preferred subject, if there is any?
MI – I explore themes such as: resilience, identity, integration, creativity and reinterpretation.
Changing perspective is one of the central impulses that drives me, as is my focus on dialogically challenging the observer. This is precisely what I dedicated my solo exhibition in October 2025 at the Rathaus Vaterstetten. My preoccupation with this theme, among other themes, and by inviting the observer to dialogue and reflection or internal self-reflection, I build authenticity with hooks on all 4 sides of the painting. Thus, the change of perspective becomes an act, a transformation, an impulse generator, and an invitation to dialogue and reinterpretation.

LC – Can you explain something about the artworks you have in our exhibition?
MI – My art, as I said, arises from the merging of different cultures, territories and social themes of today. Every person is under pressure from something, whether in a private, business or general sense.
The painting “Don’t let them break you”, made, among other things, with eggshells, touches on the issue of resilience, one’s own strength and boundaries, as well as individuality. The eggshell is, of course, a symbol of resilience. At first glance, so fragile, yet it “protects life”. What is it that “presses” us? What “breaks” us? What is our strength? Where does our own resilience lie? Do we retain part of our identity through transformation? These and similar questions are the call of my works of art to the observer, because I want them to be experienced, not observed. The second artwork that I presented at the 25th Venedig Art Fair is titled “Integration” and is also made with an eggshell. Just like with humans, with eggs, the shape or form is the same, no matter where we come from. The inner content of a man with another man, and of each egg with an egg, is also , the same. There are only minimal differences in APPEARANCE, COLOR. Hence, in this picture, with the symbolic title “Integration”, there is a white egg shell, but also a colorful, painted shell. The question is: how ready are we to change our perspective on others / different? How big and what are the “borders” between us? How easily do we integrate ourselves into a new work, spatial or family environment? The third work with which I presented myself to the audience here is entitled “Dive into your sea”. Man comes from a droplet, from a clot and more than 70% of our body is water. So within us is our sea, our ocean. In order to better understand others, the world around us and to function freely and relaxed, we must first understand ourselves. We must “dive into our own depths”, explore the corners of “our sea” and retrieve “treasure”, and sail with full sails, without fear.

LC – What do you think about the concept of this exhibition? How did it inspire you?
MI – The concept is certainly inspiring, not only for me, but I can freely say, for anyone who wants to be at the source, at the wellspring, of contemporary art. It allows, without a narrow theme, a much broader, freer contemporary artistic research.

LC – What do you think about ITSLIQUID platform?
MI – All praise! Very professional! It provides support to artists in a very engaged, correct, and thanks to its rich, decades-long experience, extremely high-quality way.

LC – What do you think about the organization of our event?
MI – I emphasize professionalism and quality again. The team is very organized, competent and effective, and no detail is left to chance. I will take the opportunity to thank all the members of the team most sincerely and heartily for the invitation, for organizing such a magnificent event, and above all for a friendly, positive and constructive atmosphere from the first moment.