Research team
Leader
Assoc. Prof. M.Sc. Sonja Vuk - She is engaged in education in the field of fine and other visual arts. From a scientific position, she explores the transfer of the creative process from artistic creation to
creativity of all people. In art, she deals with participatory projects. In art education, she focuses on the creative process of students and their personal development in contemporary society in order to use visual expression to offer solutions to current problems related to sustainable development, civic responsibility and interpersonal relationships.
She graduated from the Teaching Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb (1995), from the Academy of Fine Arts and Art Education (now Fontys, Academy for Creative Industries) in Tilburg, the Netherlands (1996) and in the same year completed a postgraduate specialist study in three-dimensional art. In 2011, she obtained a postgraduate master's degree in video at the Academy of Arts and Arts
design in Ljubljana, Slovenia (8th level). In 2021, she received her PhD in art pedagogy at the Faculty of Education in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
As part of teaching with students, they will use the gamification method and guide students during the process of designing didactic materials that contain elements of play. They will deal with the role of play in the creative process of students and the transfer to the teaching process.
Deputy Head
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sc. Renata Burai - She graduated from the Teacher Education Academy in Zagreb in 1994 and acquired the title of primary school teacher. In 1997, she graduated from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, Department of Pedagogy. In the academic year 2005/2006, she enrolled in the Postgraduate Doctoral Study of Croatian Culture at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. From 2005 to 2011, she worked as an expert associate pedagogue in one primary and three secondary schools. Since 2011, she has been working in higher education. As an external associate, postdoctoral researcher, she worked at the Faculty of Croatian Studies in the academic year 2014/2015 on the subjects "Didactics" and "General Pedagogy" at the Department of Teacher Education, and in the academic year 2015/2016 she is the lecturer of the course "Legal Foundations and Pedagogical Documentation". Since 2020, she has been employed at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb at the Department of Education, where she teaches the subjects Didactics, Pedagogy and Legal Regulations in Education. She has participated in several national and international scientific conferences and scientific and scientific-artistic projects.
As part of teaching with students, they will deal with collaborative learning, peer evaluation, problem-based and research approaches in teaching, and the educational aspect in the development of didactic toys and games for the needs of modern generations.
Researchers
Prof. art. Vlasta Žanić - She graduated in sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 1990, where she currently teaches at the undergraduate and graduate studies of sculpture at the Department of Teacher Education. She has been active on the domestic and international art scene for many years. She has received numerous awards, including the Award of the 8th Triennial of Croatian Sculpture (2003), the Annual Award of the Croatian Association of Artists (2005), the Oktavijan Award for Experimental Film (2005), the Vjesnik Annual Award (2006), the Croatian Section Award at the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space (2015) and the Grand Prix of the 51. Zagreb Salon (2016). Her works can be found in public and private collections of contemporary art. In her artistic practice, she explores the concept of sculpture through materials, space, body and social relations. Thematically, she encompasses self-referential, feminist, theoretical and conceptual questions of life, death and society, often questioning the relationship between the author, the audience and the work of art. Since the 2000s, she has expanded her work to performance, happening, video and experimental film, where sculpture remains the foundation of her work. In teaching, she encourages experiment, interdisciplinarity and contemporary approaches, and in 2018 she launched the research project Extended Media. With students, she will explore the role of play in the creative process and the transposition of this aspect from medium to medium, which will be visually documented (video, photography, notes, installations, etc.). The results will be reconstructed and transposed into the teaching process of the methodology of teaching fine arts, within which students will design gamified didactic materials.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. art. Snježana Ban - She graduated in 2007 from the Department of Teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb and in 2008 from the Faculty of Textile Technology in Zagreb, majoring in fashion design. In 2019, she received her PhD at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb with the exhibition I Am an Artist, Therefore I Doubt and her dissertation Doubt as Creative Potential in Contemporary Painting under the mentorship of Prof. Ante Rašić and dr. sc. Blaženka Perica. She has been employed at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb since 2011, and since 2023 she has been working as an associate professor in painting subjects of undergraduate and graduate studies of fine arts. She is the head of the extracurricular program of guest events Conversations at Jabukovac 10, intended for students of all departments of the Academy of Fine Arts, which include lectures, workshops and the presentation of various art projects in the field of visual and visual arts and culture. She is one of the leaders of the Cash & Carry event – Open Day of Art and co-editor and coordinator of five publications documenting the activities of the Teaching Department. She has participated in several cycles of the artistic research project Extended Media, and led its cycles in 2020 and 2023. She is the winner of the Annual Award of the Academy of Fine Arts for pedagogical work for 2024. With students, she will explore the role of play in the creative process and deal with the reconstruction of the creative process, which will be recorded using mind maps and diaries. The results will be reconstructed and transposed into the teaching process of the methodology of teaching fine arts, during which students will design gamified didactic materials.
Artistic associate Antonio Kutleša, mag. educ. art. - Since 2024, he has been working as an art associate, in the artistic field of sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. He graduated in 2018 from the Teaching Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb with excellent success and an award from the Academic Council of the Academy of Fine Arts for the most successful graduates and obtained the title of Master of Fine Arts Education. At the University Graduate Study of Fine Arts, his main art subjects were graphics and applied graphics. He actively participates in the Croatian art scene in the field of extended graphics. He has exhibited his work at exhibitions in Croatia and abroad. He is the winner of several awards for artistic work, of which the first prize for young artists "Ivan Kožarić" stand out, the Kranjčar Gallery award as part of the 36. Youth Salon and A4 the first edition of the awards of the Museum of Fine Arts in Split. He will coordinate student realizations of didactic materials and participate in the performance aspect of the production of didactic materials with regard to the following competencies: advanced knowledge of Adobe programs for digital photo processing, advanced knowledge of programs for 3D modeling, good knowledge of the work process in Unity, knowledge of working on CNC machines and printers for three-dimensional printing - 3D printers (DLP, SLS and FDM printers), knowledge of the possibilities of application and use/programming of Arduino devices.
Researchers and team members from other universities
Assoc. Prof. dr. art. Nela Hasanbegović - Coordinator of part of the team, University of Sarajevo, Academy of Fine Arts
She graduated from the Department of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo in 2007 and completed her master's degree in 2010 at the same institution. She received her PhD in 2025 from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Arts in Belgrade, and is currently attending interdisciplinary doctoral studies at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Sarajevo. Since 2012, she has been employed at the Teaching Department of the Academy of Fine Arts
art in Sarajevo, where she works as an assistant professor in the courses Methodology of Teaching Fine Arts and Fine Arts. In her artistic practice, she uses installation, video, photography and performance. She has had 23 solo exhibitions and participated in more than 130 group exhibitions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad. Her works are in museum and private collections, including collections in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Italy.
She has participated in numerous symposia, art colonies and residency programs, and is the recipient of several awards and scholarships, among which the Collegium Artisticum 2013 New Media Award stands out. She is the author of professional papers and co-author of the book Guidelines for the Advancement of the Teaching Profession. Her research interests include three-dimensional and intermedia art and the methodology of teaching fine arts at all levels of education. As part of teaching with students, she will use the gamification method and guide students through the process of designing didactic materials that contain elements of play.
Assoc. Prof. Prof. Admir Mujkić - Team Member, University of Sarajevo, Academy of Fine Arts
He graduated in 2000 from the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo, Department of Graphics, in the class of Professor Dževad Hozo, and completed his postgraduate master's degree at the same academy. Since 2000, he has been employed at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo, first as an expert associate at the Department of Graphics, and since 2022 as an associate professor in the subjects of Graphics, Graphic Technology and Graphic Techniques. He was the president of the Association of Fine Artists of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has held 50 solo and participated in 225 international and domestic exhibitions. He has won 14 awards and recognitions in several countries. His works are in museums and graphic collections in Portugal, Greece, Sweden, Italy and other countries. He participated in the creation of textbooks and work textbooks for the subject of Visual Arts from the 5th to the 8th grade of the Nine-Year Elementary School. He pays special attention to the organization of student exhibitions and art colonies, including the launch of the international section of the Graphic Triennial in Krakow in 2005/2006, and continuously contributes to the development of graphic arts through pedagogical and organizational work at the Academy. He participates in professional projects and actively promotes contemporary graphic practices in education and the art community in BiH and the region. He will participate in the project with his logistical and organizational competencies in the preparation and realization of the exhibition of didactic materials.
Assoc. Prof. Prof. Darko Šobot - Team Member, University of Sarajevo, Academy of Fine Arts
He graduated in 2001 from the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo – Department of Sculpture and received his master's degree from the same department in 2007. Since 1998, he has been actively participating in domestic and international exhibitions, art colonies and sculpture symposia, conservation/restoration projects (significant project – k/r Ferhadija, Banja Luka) and in the realization of theater and film set design. Since 2002, he has been a member of the Association of Fine Artists of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has been working at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo since 2002, and in 2020 he was elected to the title of associate professor at the Department of Sculpture and the Interdisciplinary Study of Conservation and Restoration. He has won several significant awards for his work. She will coordinate student realizations of didactic materials and participate in the performance aspect of the production of didactic materials with regard to the competencies of work in 2d and 3d applications for digital image and object processing, work with CNC machines and 3d printers, and competencies related to robotics.
Assoc. Prof. Prof. M.Sc. Ph.D. Robert Potočnik - Team Member, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education
He received his BA level of education at the Academy of Arts in Split, where he graduated from the Department of Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art in 2006. He completed his MA level of education in 2009 at the Faculty of Education in Maribor as a professor of fine arts. In 2016, he received his PhD in Art Didactics, and in 2022 he received his master's degree in Art Therapy at the Faculty of Education in Ljubljana. In 2024, he completed the Study of Psychotherapeutic Propaedeutics at the specialist psychotherapeutic study program Logotherapy and Existential Analysis, which is accredited by the Viktor Frankl Institute in Vienna. He has been employed at the Faculty of Education in Ljubljana since 2013, and since 2023 he has been working as an associate professor. In his work, he often connects different areas of his interests, dealing with the preservation of cultural heritage in art teaching and the development of emotional and social skills of teachers through art. He is the author and co-author of three scientific monographs on art therapy and heritage preservation, 12 scientific articles and 4 abstracts from international congresses. He has participated in nine research projects and led one in 2019 in the field of art education. He will create instruments for monitoring the emotional and social impact of play on the adoption of teaching content in students. As part of teaching with students, he will use the gamification method and guide students through the process of designing didactic materials that contain elements of play.
Assoc. Prof. Prof. Darko Šobot - Team Member, University of Sarajevo, Academy of Fine Arts
He graduated in 2001 from the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo – Department of Sculpture and received his master's degree from the same department in 2007. Since 1998, he has been actively participating in domestic and international exhibitions, art colonies and sculpture symposia, conservation/restoration projects (significant project – k/r Ferhadija, Banja Luka) and in the realization of theater and film set design. Since 2002, he has been a member of the Association of Fine Artists of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has been working at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo since 2002, and in 2020 he was elected to the title of associate professor at the Department of Sculpture and the Interdisciplinary Study of Conservation and Restoration. He has won several significant awards for his work. She will coordinate student realizations of didactic materials and participate in the performance aspect of the production of didactic materials with regard to the competencies of work in 2d and 3d applications for digital image and object processing, work with CNC machines and 3d printers, and competencies related to robotics.
Assoc. Prof. Prof. M.Sc. Ph.D. Robert Potočnik - Team Member, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education
He received his BA level of education at the Academy of Arts in Split, where he graduated from the Department of Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art in 2006. He completed his MA level of education in 2009 at the Faculty of Education in Maribor as a professor of fine arts. In 2016, he received his PhD in Art Didactics, and in 2022 he received his master's degree in Art Therapy at the Faculty of Education in Ljubljana. In 2024, he completed the Study of Psychotherapeutic Propaedeutics at the specialist psychotherapeutic study program Logotherapy and Existential Analysis, which is accredited by the Viktor Frankl Institute in Vienna. He has been employed at the Faculty of Education in Ljubljana since 2013, and since 2023 he has been working as an associate professor. In his work, he often connects different areas of his interests, dealing with the preservation of cultural heritage in art teaching and the development of emotional and social skills of teachers through art. He is the author and co-author of three scientific monographs on art therapy and heritage preservation, 12 scientific articles and 4 abstracts from international congresses. He has participated in nine research projects and led one in 2019 in the field of art education. He will create instruments for monitoring the emotional and social impact of play on the adoption of teaching content in students. As part of teaching with students, he will use the gamification method and guide students through the process of designing didactic materials that contain elements of play.