Women’s biographies, stories and experiences have been shaped, intertwined and suppressed for a long time by historical, social and familial narratives. As a woman, today, learning from the experiences of those who came before me, while simultaneously being a witness and listening to the stories unfolding around me, often I find myself in an in-between position which I would describe as a sense of living my own life through the lives of the women before me, as if our stories are constantly intertwining. This thesis draws on feminist theories, memory studies, and textile-based practice to examine how art can serve as both an archive and an act of reparation or healing. By reworking and repurposing traditionally “feminine” techniques within a contemporary artistic context, the project reflects the relationship between the intimate and the collective, the private and the political, and encourages a re-inscription of women’s voices through embroidery and collage. Through a series of double-sided portraits of Mileva Marić, Nadežda Petrović, and Milunka Savić, the project combines embroidery, collage, and archival photography to explore “the tyranny of the past” which, in this work, represents the mechanisms through which tradition, patriarchy, and social expectations shape women’s identities and determine their visibility or erasure. In the course of this research, I position myself both as researcher and participant, reflecting their lives through my own existence, and narrating their stories in such a manner, while trying to keep their complexity, and some- times even their tragedy intact. The projects opens space for reflection, trying to answer the following research questions: how artistic practice can serve as a method for reassembling and reconnecting forgotten, distorted, and silenced women’s histories; and how does the concept of “the tyranny of the past” continue to shape women’s experience today, particularly within the Serbian and Balkan cultural context? Tyranny of the Past: Unveiling Hidden Female Legacies through Threads of Tradition project proposes that the acts of stitching, cutting, mending, and reconnecting are metaphorical strategies of resistance that challenge one-sided historical narratives of women. 2026 Testo Tesi di master TYRANNY OF THE PAST : Unveiling Hidden Female Legacies through Threads of Tradition eng doi:10.57697/W9BB-EG46 Katarina Matić Tina Frank application/pdf Text Master theses Text Masterarbeit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ https://phaidra.kunstuni-linz.at/o:3753