The finalists for The Zvono Award 2025 are Irma Beširević, Milica Bilanović, Pavle Golijanin, and Milena Ivić. This decision was made by a three-member jury that convened on Friday, 23 May 2025, at KRAK. The jury consisted of artist Halima Afi Cassells (Detroit), artist Miljan Vuković (Trebinje), and art historian Anja Bogojević (Sarajevo). The jury also singled out Milena Ivić as the winner of The Zvono Award for 2025.

During a multi-hour panel discussion, the jury noted that "these young artists, within the context of contemporary artistic practices, examine and respond to current and urgent issues of their time, while shaping a recognizable expression of their own artistic individuality." In their reasoning, the jury decided “to award The Zvono Award for 2025 to Milena Ivić, whose artistic practice is grounded in feminist, participatory, and performative strategies that critically reflect on the concept of freedom within personal (individual), socio-political (collective), and institutional (hegemonic) frameworks. The themes Ivić explores in her work – from questions of (self-) censorship and the demystification of visible and invisible forms of violence, to the insistence on empathy as an ethical principle and a necessary collective bond – demonstrate an engagement that transcends the local context and opens a space for dialogue within the broader contemporary social and artistic community.”

Through the jury process, which included dynamic debate and intercultural dialogue between Detroit and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as a planned curatorial approach to designing and realizing the exhibition in 2025, KRAK aims to solidify its role as a space that stimulates and encourages curators and artists, while also serving as a hub for collaboration and exchange with the community. Aware of the importance of artistic discourse in our environment, as seen through the practices generated by The Zvono Award, we welcome the new group of finalists with great excitement and a sense of responsibility, viewing them as a pledge to continuity and dedication to art and social practice in the field of culture in our region.

Support for The Zvono Award, as part of the broader network known as the Young Visual Artists Award (YVAA), was provided by Residency Unlimited and the Trust for Mutual Understanding from New York.