Barbara Kukovec graduated at the Academy for Theatre, Radio Film and Television n Ljubljana, and finished her MA at Goldsmiths College in London. As an actress, performer, and author, she collaborated with many renowned artists (D. Živadinov, T. Zgonc, M. Gržinić, A. Šmid, M. Mlačnik, R. Waltl, I. Peternelj, B. Jablanovec, J. Janša, M. Reiter, S. Premuš, K. Stegnar, U. Brodar, N. Živković, O. Grubić, K. Kosi, S. Rakef …) in a wide variety of performances and projects, both at home and abroad. Her artistic practice has been marked in particular by her collaboration with the Via Negativa platform, within which she co-created six performances that made a deep impact on the performing arts scene in Slovenia. In recent years, she has been collaborating more closely with Moment and the Nagib association, as well as with Katja Kosi and Olja Grubić. At Nova Pošta, she co-created two Performance Festivals (2021 and 2023). She strives to intertwine the field of art with everyday, “non-artistic” contexts and explores ways to create connections between seemingly incompatible worlds. In 2020, she co-founded the Institute for Artistic Production and Sustainable Development Rizoma, where she is pursuing her interest in placing contemporary artistic practices within rural contexts—outside the centres of economic and cultural power. She lives and works between Maribor, Ljubljana, and Haloze. She is a recipient of student Sever Award and the Golden Bird Award (2003). She completed artist residencies in New York, Sheffield and Birmingham.