Tiiiit! Inc. was founded in 2011 as an informal group, by Jana Kocevska – ethnologist/anthropologist, Jana Stardelova – graduate of cultural studies and Kristina Lelovac – actor. The informal group was a product of a long term friendship and it was founded on our experience in activism, and in the field of art, culture and media. Back then we were three girls in their twenties who wanted to actively engage in the field of women’s rights activism and to create a new creative space in their hometown. Our group turned out to grow into a non-profit organisation in December 2014, aiming to strengthen its work in this field and to continue with its engagement on a steady ground.
Tiiiit! Inc. conducts activities to actively engage and support the women rights activists and independent artists in advocating improvement of the women’s rights in our society. We try to enable women to express their work and opinions to the wider public (and to the governmental bodies) by creating a non-exclusive space for constructive debate, creative exchange and networking opportunities. We work on promotion of all spectra of women’s realities, urban, young, and marginalized, such as sex workers, lesbians, bisexual and transgender, ethnic and religious minorities and many other who cannot express themselves as part of the mainstream culture. In the last three years our efforts are mainly focused on organization of the only feminist festival in Macedonia – Prvo pa žensko (It’s First and It’s a Girl) and the realization of the activities of Matka (Womb/Uterus) platform who advocates for free access to safe and legal abortion. All these initiatives are bold responses and action, resulted from the heteronormative, misogynic, pro-natal and anti-choice culture that is promoted by the ruling political and societal elite in the country.
With our activities we are trying to reach young people (not women solely) as well as all age groups – students, activist, artists, to advocate improvement of the current position of women in the country. Our main intention is the make our festival recognized gathering of regional and international activists and experts in the field of feminism. Certain societies may have already found solutions for some women’s issues, so by promoting those practices we believe that we can contribute towards the improvement of women’s rights.