Petra Matić is a curator, researcher, and artist from Zagreb, currently based in Brussels. Her work explores the intersections of museology, social history, and collective education through the lens of solidarity, migration, and the legacy of the Non-Aligned Movement. She develops interdisciplinary projects that connect artistic practice, community engagement, and decolonial approaches to cultural heritage.
Matić holds a Master’s degree in Museology and Heritage Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Swedish Language and Phonetics from the University of Zagreb. Her educational path reflects her long-standing interest in communication, cultural translation, and the politics of representation. Alongside formal academic training, she has pursued extensive professional development, participating in programs such as the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts Salzburg, Cinema Club Zagreb, and specialized courses in EU Project Management, Human Rights Education, and Intercultural Mediation.
Her curatorial and artistic practice often takes shape through collaborative frameworks. She is the Artistic Director and Co-founder of the cultural organization Jutro, and the Vice President of the Managing Board of the Cultural Centre Peščenica – Knap in Zagreb.
Building on her Master’s thesis Muzej dobrodošlice: mjesto integracijskih praksi (The Welcoming Museum: A Place of Integration Practices), which explores new models of inclusive and community-based museum work, Matić has developed and led a series of The Welcoming Museum workshops dedicated to participatory and intercultural practices. Held at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka and at the Typhlological Museum as well as the Centre for Peace Studies in Zagreb, these workshops examine the concept and practices of integration and invite professionals to collectively envision more accessible, dialogical, and socially responsive museums and cultural organisations.
In 2024, Matić was part of the Museum of the Commons at the Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, a project within L’Internationale’s collaboration exploring new models of commoning in museums. She has been involved in numerous community-based projects, including the Trešnjevka Neighborhood Museum, where her research focused on participatory collection building and local memory practices. Earlier in her career, she worked with institutions such as the Typhlological Museum and the Technical Museum Nikola Tesla, where she co-created inclusive museum programs addressing migration, technology, and accessibility.
As a member of the transnational artistic collective an office, she has exhibited internationally — including at documenta fifteen (Kassel) and the Fotograf Festival (Prague). Her own projects, such as Non-Aligned Zagreb (2023) and Black and White (2023–present), continue to explore histories of international student solidarity and anti-racist education. These initiatives often merge archival research, film, and curatorial practice to examine how past solidarities can inform new cultural and political imaginaries.
Matić’s film work extends her curatorial narratives into moving image. Her short documentary The City That Has Peace (2023) revisits the legacy of Zagreb’s International Student Friendship Club through the experiences of Palestinian and Sudanese alumni, while Our Earth (2024) imagines a speculative utopia born from the global solidarities of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Her research and projects have been presented internationally at conferences and exhibitions, including Museology 4.0 (University of Zagreb, 2024), Solidarity and Propaganda (Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, 2024), and the Lagos Biennial (2024). She has published critical essays and reviews in Kulturpunkt, Novosti, Radnička prava, and in An Clogán, reflecting on the entanglements of postcolonial heritage, migration, and cultural memory.
Matić is the recipient of numerous fellowships and residencies, including at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA, Dublin), Delfina Foundation (London), art quarter budapest (Budapest), Gudskul (Jakarta), Pact Zollverein (Essen) and GuestRoomMaribor (Maribor). She was a 2024 Global Cultural Relations Fellow (Marrakech) and a TheMuseumsLab Fellow (DAAD, Berlin/Accra), where she contributed as a Curatorial Advisor for the alumni network.
Her ongoing practice weaves together art, pedagogy, and activism, foregrounding collective learning and cultural solidarity as artistic methods. Through her curatorial, artistic, and educational work, Matić continues to build spaces for reimagining museums, histories, and communities beyond national and institutional boundaries.