The third art residency organized as a part of the European project ThisPLACED took place from 24th to 29th November in Novi Sad, largest city and the capital of Vojvodina region in Serbia. The residency was organised by the Association Kulturanova.
ThisPLACEDproject aims at creating and promoting peripheral and undervalued cultural imaginaries, typical of some little-known areas of Europe, with the purpose of enhancing a more authentic narrative of these locations, giving expression to these cultural imaginaries and also relating them to each other.
Co-financed by the European Union under the Creative Europe program, the project started in the summer of 2022 and will continue until September 2024, with the final creation of a traveling "Displaced" festival that will present the results of the artistic reworkings of cultural imaginaries in the four countries involved.
Among the international artists who came to Novi Sad for residency were young artists from Italy, Spain and Poland. There were also artists from Serbia who took part in the residency.
The artists spent five days exploring the cultural landscape of Novi Sad. Together they visited important cultural institutions and centers in Novi Sad and Sremski Karlovci to experience the rich artistic life of the city and region.
On the first day of the residency, young artists stimulated their creativity during a workshop "City as a scene" led by Svetlana Kondratyeva. On the same day, in the evening hours, a visit to the "Shock Cooperative" was organized in the very center of Novi Sad with the aim of introducing the participants of the residency to the local cultural scene of the city. During this visit, the young artists could hear about the history of the "Shock Cooperative" with their art installations created in the previous 30 years, their persistence through a very difficult wartime period in the of the city and the country.
On the next day of the residency, in the morning, there was a walk through the center of Novi Sad in the program called "(un)focusing the City", which was also led by Svetlana Kondratyeva. During this walk, the participants of the residency learned more about the important buildings in the very core of Novi Sad (City hall , Church of the Name of Mary, etc.). Afternoon hours were reserved for a visit to the Gallery of Matica Srpska, where a guided tour through the two exhibitions was organized. The first exhibition was about the works of the Serbian painter Vasa Pomorišac, while the second exhibition was dedicated to the works of the eminent Serbian painter Paja Jovanović and the famous Gustav Klimt.
On the third day, a visit to Sremski Karlovci was organized, a town settlement and seat of the municipality of the same name, of great importance for the Serbian people throughout its history, with a large number of sights. Sremski Karlovci are located only 12 km from Novi Sad. During the guided tour, the participants learned about the history of the place, visited famous localities such as the Karlovci Gymnasium, the Orthodox church of St. Nicholas, the famous "Four Lions" fountain, the town hall, etc. After the guided tour in the center of Sremski Karlovci, a lunch was organized in the very center of the town at the "Četiri lava (Four lions)" restaurant, which is located a few tens of meters from the fountain itself. After lunch, the young artists visited the Eco Center "Radulovački", a cultural center of great importance for the of Sremsk Karlovci, where they had time to discuss the artwork ideas during their stay for a little more than two hours.
On the fourth day of the residency, most of the day was spent in free walking and exploring the wider center of Novi Sad. In the afternoon, the participants met in American Corner, another cultural center important for Novi Sad, where they discussed the next steps of the project.
The aim of the residency was to show artists the diversity of Novi Sad and its wealth of tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
Once the artists return home, they will bring with them the experiences lived in the community and the suggestions collected to re-elaborate, each through their own artistic language, a work of art. The works will then be exhibited during the traveling festival "Displaced" which will be organized in the spring in the four partner territories.
Author of all photos: Neven Hercegovac
