It is easy to feel inspired by untouched nature, but we rarely practice recognizing the strength and beauty of the elements in the urban environment where we actually live. During her stay in Bar, artist Maria Juliana Byck, part of the Mouries Collective from Athens, focused on the overlooked Željeznica River in Bar, exploring how over millennia this river shaped the coastal plain on which the city sits today, connecting the mountains to the sea.
Through a participatory practice based on text and the “Stone and Water” ritual on the riverbank, the work opened up a space to reflect on the deep entanglement of our bodies with the surrounding ecosystem. Engaging all our senses – through the recognizable aromas of the pine forest, medicinal herbs, and the tastes of local fruit – the participants connected with their immediate environment. Recognizing that we are part of this complex and vital system serves as a reminder that we breathe together with the trees and that our survival directly depends on preserving the living world.
This encounter was not only a different way to experience natural space, but also the building of political and ecological awareness regarding the importance of protecting what we depend on. At the same time, the piece expanded the understanding of what an artwork can be beyond traditional forms, creating a space where people come together in a new way, connecting with one another and the world around them.
More in this article from Vijesti
How do we reconnect with nature – not as passive observers, but as active participants in the spaces we inhabit?
Following a month of artistic exploration and immersion in the ecosystem of Bar, Montenegro The Family Of Things invited the local community to a series of public events.
Across locations spanning historical ruins, riverbanks, parks, and streets, the artists shared their practices through site-specific interventions, radical noticing, collective movement, and tuning into the pulse of this place.
It was an invitation to re-experience shared spaces and to rediscover our relationship with nature and the environment.
A shared moment shaped by the currents of time, senses, and promises.
In a forest by the side of a river we met, to immerse ourselves in stories written in this place, grounding our bodies in its sensations, and imagining along with the land, water and sky.
Artist Maria Juliana Byck @mouries_collective
The Family of Things Residency 2026, Montenegro
an EKOFEM project curated by Maja Vujačić Van Cott
Funded by European Union and Goethe Institute
Photos by @frame.by.vuk