Sonja Zelić
Sonja Zelic is a visual artist and filmmaker who has worked across art forms, and collaborated with a diverse range of artists and audiences, with years of expertise working in participatory/community and often also site specific settings.
Her work explores relationships between the physical, social, and emotional environment, and is informed by stories, conversations, research and lived experience of situational mutism (aka Selective Mutism / SM). ispeak.org.uk supports adults and teenagers with Selective Mutism, and their parents.
Sonja is currently exploring the creative possibilities generated by differences between neurotypical and neurodivergent styles of communication using sound, image, text and data. She advocates and posts about SM from an activist perspective via ISpeak’s Facebook page and has recently created a resource manifesto: Sensory Philosophy: Exploring the margins of speech and silence — supported by a bursary from a-n The Artists Information Company @an_artnews. Find out more here.
Sonja is a Resident at Birmingham Open Media (BOM)
"Collaboration — with artists, partners, people/participants I come into contact with in the course of my practice, is at the heart of how I work — everyone has a unique influence and is an integral part of the process and the outcome."
Schools —
“The project was a huge success and has had an impact into St John’s School Art Curriculum. We were able to take on board the techniques you used and develop the idea throughout the whole Year 7 syllabus.
Our current work has been inspired by the project and your most professional work. We will be continuing to develop this project and this has provided valuable in-set for the staff as well as students.
The project was both exciting and imaginative and worked on developing the students’ knowledge of the artist’s work, in this case Andy Warhol. The work has had a huge impact within the school and I would like to thank you personally for all your hard work.”
Head of Arts Faculty