Jasmina Tumbas

Jasmina Tumbas is an Associate Professor in the Department of Global Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University at Buffalo (SUNY). She holds a PhD from Duke University (2013) and an MA from the Savannah College of Art and Design (2006). Her research focuses on feminist performance politics, contemporary visual culture, and post-Yugoslav art, with a particular emphasis on gender/sexuality studies in Eastern Europe and Roma activist art practices. Tumbas has received major grants including the Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant (2023) and the Barbara Jelavich Book Prize for her monograph I Am Jugoslovenka! (2022). She has curated exhibitions like Selma Selman: I exist (2016) and co-founded activist initiatives such as the Buffalo-Niagara LGBTQ History Project. Her work bridges academic research with public engagement through platforms like ArtLeaks Gazette and curatorial projects.

Key areas of research include Yugoslav feminist performance traditions, queer diaspora art beyond nationalism, and Roma cultural resistance. She has published widely in journals such as ARTMargins, Slavic Review, and Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte. Tumbas also serves on the board of the UB Gender Institute and co-chairs the European Postwar and Contemporary Art Forum. Her current projects include a book manuscript on queer and feminist Yugoslav diaspora art practices.

• Education: PhD Duke University (2013), MA Savannah College of Art and Design (2006)
• Research Grants: Over $200k in competitive funding since 2012
• Public Engagement: Curated 8 exhibitions, co-founded 3 activist initiatives

Her publications demonstrate interdisciplinary scope, integrating art history with feminist theory, post-socialist studies, and queer critique. Recent work highlights underrepresented artists from the former Yugoslavia while addressing urgent issues like Roma rights and post-conflict cultural memory.