Iva Böhm

Born 1955 in Zagreb, Croatia.
 

Member of HZSU (Croatian Artists' Union), HDD (Croatian Designers' Association) and ULUPUH (Croatian Fine Artists Association of Applied  Arts).
Professor of French and Comparative literature, University of Zagreb,
M.A. in European Studies, Panthéon - Assas, Paris
Attended EnsAD - École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France
Hubert Humphrey Fellowship, Penn State University, Violence, bullying and healing - Art therapy.
 

Workshops:
Hector Mavridis Workshop, Thessaloniki, Greece
Les Grands Feux, La Borne, France
Glazes, La Meridiana, Italy
 

Exhibitions:
Gallery Nova, 
Kic Gallery, 
Automata Gallery,
Underwater Surprise gallery near Babac Island, Surprise Street Gallery, Trg žrtava fašizma, Zagreb, Forest Surprise Spaces, Sljeme
, Orchestrated Surprise Gardens Zagreb, Vinkovićeva street
 

In 2025.:
Selected Juried Group Exhibitions:
Chocolate Hideout, Chocolate Museum, Zagreb
National Heritage – The Vucedol Dove, AMZ Gallery, Zagreb
 

Group Exhibition:
Biophilia – Man and Space, ULUPUH Gallery, Zagreb
 

International Juried Exhibition:
Baroque Structures, Contemporary Forms, Kerameikon HKU, Gallery K-10, Varaždin
 

Exhibiting in Croatia during turbulent times became irrelevant to me. I chose open, public places accessible to everyone instead of galleries, museums or other institutional spaces.
I began showing my work spontaneously — in streets, parks, fields,  forests, and under the sea. These objects of surprise carried no value,  ready to be found by anyone.
The encounter with the accidental observer involved risk — the object  might be stolen, broken, or transformed — yet this unpredictability  often became part of the work itself.
My activist act is a communicative performance aimed at raising awareness of the endless possibilities beyond institutional frameworks — in free, natural spaces where art can be encountered unexpectedly.
The element of surprise serves to expose accidental passersby to a  brief, spontaneous moment that turns everyday movement into experience.
I have created small ceramic areas in the sea near Babac Island — their coordinates available upon request.
 

In recent years, my work has transitioned from open public spaces back to galleries and museums, maintaining its focus on encounter, fragility and transformation, while carrying with it the same spirit of openness.
Within institutional walls, the works continue to question the meaning of space, protection and belonging.
The pieces remain fragile and quietly insistent — carrying the memory of their earlier free journeys.
 

Clay will be our memory, our next body, the one that remains when the soul travels on.
It reshapes itself after break and hardens in fire, always ready for new beginnings.
 

Clay is my given grace and I am grateful for that love.