February 4th 2020 2pm – 8pm Guramayne Art Center Addis Ababa Organized in collaboration with Biljana Ciric & Guramayne Art Center < Back Preface 4 Feb 2020 We are pleased to present long term research project As you go… the roads under your feet, towards a new future (If you want to travel, build roads first) . This long term project reflects on the recent Belt and Road Initiative (OBOR), and how it will alter the aesthetics and practices of everyday life in different local contexts. The project invites collaborations with artists, activists, architects, agricultural researchers, and anthropologists in an effort to try and understand the impact of the OBOR on different locales, creating a critical analysis and reflection. The project will be developed in dialogue with different institutions in the parts of the world where OBOR has a great presence, such as in Central Asia, the Balkans, East Africa, who will act as hosts and facilitators of the research to be done in collaboration with local communities. Gathering of partner institutions in Addis Ababa close door sessions and public moment hosted by Guramayne Art Center marks the begging on the project. During this public moment hosted by Guramayne Art Center we publicly announce the project, as well present partner institution of the project WCSCD (Belgrade), Times Museum (Guangzhou), Guramayne Art Center (Addis Ababa), Moderna Galerija (Ljubljana), and ArtEast (Bishkek). For this special occasion few artists work related to topic will be presented. Na China (2019) recently produced film by Marie Voignier as well as A New Silk Road: Algorithm of Survival and Hope , 2007, by Gulnara Kasmaileva and Muratbek Djumaliev. Artist Robel Temesgen new work Addis Newspaper: The Chinese Issue – January 2050 initiated by the project will be also presented. First Phase of the project has been supported by Foundation for Arts InitiativesAdditional grant for first public presentations in Addis Ababa has been received from Soros Foundation – Kyrgyzstan Participants of project public moment in Addis Ababa Robel Temesgen – artist (Addis Ababa) Zdenka Badovinac – director of Moderna Galerija (Ljubljana, Slovenia) Nikita Yingqian Cai – chief curator of Times Museum (GuangZhou, China) Mifte Zeleke – director of Guramayne Art Center (Addis Ababa) Gulnara Kasmaileva and Muratbek Djumailev – artists and founders of ArtEast (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan) Biljana Ciric – independent curator and founder of What Could Should Curating Do February 4th 2020 Location: Guramayne Art Center Format of public presentation 2:00pm – 2:20pm Introduction by Mifta Zeleke and introduction of Guramayne Art Center Introduction of the project by Biljana Ciric 2:20 – 3:00 Lecture performance by Robel Temesgen 3:00 – 3:20 Zdenka Badovinac 3:20 – 3:40 Nikita Yingqian Cai 3:40 – 4pm Gulnara and Muratbek 4:00 – 4:30 Moderated discussion with partner institutions 4:30 – 4:45 Q&A 4:45 break 5:00 Marie Voignier film screening 7:10-7:25 Q&A 7:30 – 7:45 Screening of the work by Gulnara Kasmaileva and Muratbek Djumaliev 7:45 Q&A 8:00 Closing remarks https://vimeo.com/391785438 Previous Next

< Back Stories from the Room in Addis Ababa 28 June 2021 As you go… roads under your feet, towards the new future together with Curtain project by Rockbund Art Museum and Contemporary nights Addis Ababa presents Stories from the Room in Addis Ababa June 2021 - ongoing As you go…roads under your feet, towards the new future in collaboration with Rockbund Art Museum Curtain project and Addis Ababa based collective, Contemporary Nights presents you a call for participation of Stories from the Room , a public project by artist Jasphy Zheng. Stories from the Room is a participatory long-term project that collects personal writings about the shared experience of living through this “new normal” and builds a growing archive that could be reproduced in different localities. Unconstrained in terms of its language, form or geographic location, submissions are welcomed from all across the world. Contributing to the construction of a collective “sculptural monument”, every submission we receive will be periodically organized into a living archive and find ways of going public with it. Stories from the Room was first realized as a response to the isolation felt during the outbreak of the pandemic. Presented at the institution CCA Kitakyushu, Japan, as a solo exhibition of Zheng that closed and reopened repeatedly due to the lockdown, this gesture to create a sculptural monumental within this period was envisaged as a bridge to go beyond the concepts of closure and exclusion, exploring the capacities of participants to transcend these barriers through the imagination. Invited by curator and founder of WCSCD Biljana Ciric and Larys Frogier, the director of Rockbund Art Museum in participating in the long-term research project As you go… roads under your feet towards the new future and as part of the CURTAIN project, Stories from the Room can be considered by participants as a conduit for different voices to convene anonymously, to share, transcend, vent, extend, activate, emphasize, release, express, disrupt, contemplate, and reflect on changes and new processes that influence our collective life and experiences during this unpredictable period. In collaboration with As you go…roads under your feet, towards the new future Stories from the Room are implemented across different local contexts that project is situated working with local institutional partners and peers Kashakstan in collaboration with Artcom platform, in Ethiopia is collaboration with Contemporary Nights and Public Library Bor in Serbia. Special presentation has been developed in collaboration with TarraWarra Museum of Art in Melbourne during strictest lockdown imposed ever in the city’s history. Zheng states: “Through this long-term project, I am rethinking the gap between on and offline worlds as a new territory that defines, questions, and challenges the distance between sociality and solidarity at a time like this. Through a collective act, this project simulates a physical gathering of text by collecting paralleled realities from participants and displaying them in a public space. We nourish outpouring to oneself in the form of a community regardless of distance.” Addis Ababa version of the project has been developed in close collaboration with Jasphy Zheng，Biljana Ciric，Sarah Bushra and Contemporary Nights developing set of strategies that could relate within local context. To encourage people from all walks of life to participate in this project, we’re setting up writing stations in 6 selected locations across Addis Abeba. Considering the long-standing culture of coffee drinking in the city, we’re thinking of Cafes and street coffee vendors as depository of physical letters from people who go there to drink coffee and spend some time. We invite people to submit their stories using the language of their heart. The station includes a poster with details about the project, paper cut-outs with prompts for writing a letter, two volunteers who encourage people to participate as well as record voice submissions when writing is not accessible, and a box at location to collect the submitted letters. The selected locations are: Burtukan’s Coffee (ኑ ቡና ጠጡ), Alem Buna, Lime Tree (Kazanches), Entewawek Coffee, Qawa Coffee, and Tomoca Coffee (Piassa Haron Building). These location is indicated in this map Submissions are also open through email. Send your writing to jasphy.opencall@gmail.com . Ensure your submission includes a name, location, and date. You can write about your days, thoughts or feelings, at any length and in any language you prefer. Together we are inviting you to visit these spaces and participate in creating a monument to our time with your stories. About the Artist Living between the US and China, Jasphy Zheng is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice most recently explores the inevitable failure of communication, both on an interpersonal and collective level. Using social installations, unannounced performances, sculptural objects, and artist’s books, Zheng constructs situations as public interventions that aim to raise awareness of our social and cultural environment, both in and out of the context of contemporary art. Zheng graduated with a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. About As You Go… the roads under your feet, towards the new future As you go… roads under your feet, towards the new future is a long-term project and research inquiry that reflects on the Belt and Road Initiative and how it will alter the aesthetics and practices of everyday life in different local contexts. The project was conceived and initiated by Biljana Ciric in 2019 after conducting curatorial research in East Africa, Central Asia, and several Balkan countries where project is situated. This long-term research project is structured through research cells of organizations, institutions and individuals that Rockbund Art Museum is part of. Other partner cells are What Could Should Curating Do (Belgrade), Moderna Galerija (Ljubljana), Times Museum (Guangzhou), Artcom (Astana), Robel Temesgen and Sinkneh Eshetu (Addis Ababa), and The Public Library (Bor). The first stage of the project has been supported by the Foundation for Arts Initiatives, CURTAIN (Rockbund Art Museum), Austrian Cultural Forum, Curatorial Practice (Monash University Art, Design and Architecture), and the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. As you go . . . the roads under your feet, towards a new future About Rockbund Art Museum and Curtain project Stories from the Room is developed in collaboration with Rockbund Art Museum Curtain project. Inaugurated in 2010, Rockbund Art Museum is a contemporary art museum located on the Bund in Shanghai. With a strong reputation for our innovative curatorial approach, we look to conceive different art projects from research to alternative learning programs, from exhibition-making to unexpected para-performative formats. By supporting bold contemporary art practices, we aim to continually remake local histories, whilst also responding to global art challenges and social mutations. We regard the role of exchange as an essential process required for a wider transformation to occur by building up a network of multi-regional, international and cross-disciplinary partnerships. Through this process, we aim to cultivate a diverse and deep-rooted connection to our audiences, communities, and also different social and cultural organizations. More on www.rockbundartmuseum.org As you go… the roads under your feet, towards a new future collaborates with Rockbund Art Museum through Curtain project initiated by museum director Larys Frogier and number of collaborators Mathieu Copeland, Biljana Ciric, Cosmin Costinas, Hsieh Feng-Rong, Billy Tang. Initiated in 2020, CURTAIN is a long term research project, which will be articulated through a series of exhibition formats, discursive platforms and cross-institutional collaborations spanning a three-year period. Seeking to go beyond the fixed definition of an exhibition, the project looks to expand the dialogue with artists through the gathering of critical thinkers and practitioners from other social and cultural fields. About Contemporary Nights Contemporary Nights is a curatorial forum directing, showcasing, and documenting post-disciplinary artistic productions. CN# mediates collaborations and collective processes to forge meaningful connections among art practitioners in Addis Ababa and beyond towards nurturing a sustainable ecosystem and reimagining a radical collective future. CN# generates spaces for experimentation and facilitates research based and process-driven praxis to redefine existing boundaries. Previous Next

Nikita Yingqian Cai < Back Manila shawl and “gold mountain uncles” and Protein demand and chicken farm blockchain Nikita Yingqian Cai Manila shawl and “gold mountain uncles” The Manila shawl was originally from Canton. The silk produced in Shunde – an affluent region since the Ming Dynasty due to its adjacency to water, abundance of agricultural land, and its robust mulberry and sericulture industry – was woven into the shawls hand-made by local embroidery artisans. They adapted designs principally of lotus flowers and dragons to depict flora that resonated better with an international audience, such as roses and carnations. Spanish and Latin American women became enamored with the intricate floral designs, while the shawl’s signature tassels, originating from Native American garments, contributed to the vibrancy of the flamenco dancer’s mellifluous performances. This was the time when Spain dominated the maritime trade route. A range of colonial luxuries including silk products, ceramics, and tea leaves would be loaded in Canton and transported via Manila and Acapulco before arriving in the southern port of Seville in Spain—the same route taken by the explorer Magellan. It would, however, go on to lose its imperial advantages within Asia to the monopoly of [the] East Indian Companies in the 19th century. Travelling in the opposite direction, destined for the Philippines, were Spanish galleons transporting heavy loads of Mexican bullion from South America and devoted Catholic missionaries from Europe. The missionaries arriving early in Luzon had known for a long time that “Catholicizing” the traders ( sangley ) from the southern regions of Imperial China — particularly those from Guangdong, Fujian, and Taiwan — and fostering them as local intermediaries, would aid the Spanish colonial expansion in the area. To this day, there are still some Catholic relics in the region of Sze Yap . The region would later provide a large number of young and cheap laborers for the coolie trade that followed the opium wars. Coolies were deceived into signing up for jobs that had them setting sail from Macau, and drifting for months, before arriving in Peru, Cuba, or the British-controlled Caribbean to earn a pittance shoveling bird droppings, farming sugarcane, or digging the Panama Canal. Some would later travel to the west coast of North America where they provided labor for mines, the construction of transcontinental railways, and the California gold rush. Those who struck rich by panning for gold were referred to as “gold mountain uncles” upon their return home. Right after the peak of the coolie trade, the US signed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, and the racist rhetoric it legitimized would later be a contributing factor in the opening of the notorious immigration station on Angel Island (1910 – 1940). Protein demand and chicken farm blockchain A YouTube video “How to quickly destroy the world’s forests?” produced by PaperClip and WWF sparked accusations from Chinese internet commentators in early 2020 for its direct linking of China’s middle class growing protein demand with deforestation in Brazil. Some of the commentators claimed the “right to development” both for the Brazilians who wanted to do business with China and for the Chinese who could finally afford to consume more meat. It is a third-world developmentalist ghost in the shell of nationalism, and the current trade route of meat and soy between China and Brazil resonates with the long history of mercantile modernity. China’s food security based on pork supply and the Belt and Road Initiative are also connected to Brazil’s soybean chain and the ongoing construction of highway BR-163 in the state of Mato Grosso, which has a fundamental role in commerce, tourism, and the transport logistics of the agribusiness. However, the growing Chinese demand for protein does not have much to do with the CCP and state-owned enterprises as most western media would have depicted. On the contrary, it masks a socio-economic divide which is very much like what is happening around the world. Some people like beef, some people like pork, while some can afford neither but will surely want more. Some might prefer organic food or no meat because they live a cosmopolitan life and are more alert to the surrounding ecological crisis. In some poor villages of hinterland China, one would still have hard time finding beef dishes in home-run restaurants because farmers won’t kill cows for food – they raise the animal for agricultural labor. There are still plenty of small farm holders in rural areas of China, and when compared to industrial farming, have different ways of bonding with their lands and animals. Cows for them are like horses to cowboys (though less romantic). In recent years, some farmers have started raising high-tech chicken in their farms, in which chicken wear leg bands to track their movements as Fitbits for tech start-ups to record the data on a blockchain. That is how technology is transforming the lives of the human and nonhuman – neither the farmers nor the animals have any free choice when confronted by global capitalism. What we should continue to bear in mind is who sustains the flourishing of the world. Nikita Yingqian Cai lives and works in Guangzhou, where she is currently Associate Director and Chief Curator at Guangdong Times Museum. Previous Next

Alumni Alumni Lecture Series Participant Activities < Mentors Educational Program Menu >

Events Lecture Series Participant Activities Glossary l(a)unch: a passage between collecting and transforming Workshops dates: June 14th 1pm Goethe Institute Belgrade June 15th 12 noon Skup Udruzenje, Novi Sad Workshops conceived and led by Asida Butba, Anna Ilchenko, Andrey Parshikov, Laura Rositani and Mirjana Savic Participants of WCSCD educational program, led by international curator Biljana Ciric, invite you to a workshop aimed at starting a conversation around rural cultural practices in the region. The group of curators, composed of Asida Butba, Anna Ilchenko, Andrey Parshikov, Laura Rositani and Mirjana Savic, were involved in a year-long project in which they investigated examples of rural communities linked to artistic processes in the Western Balkans. The curatorial approach of the group aims to subvert the idea of the archive as a simple collection of information, thus making this research always alive and in progress. The research fields include: economics, politics, art, spirituality and gender issues , collected through a glossary idea. The glossary is intended to serve not only as an archive but also as an attempt to find new meanings for the words. This workshop aims to expand research on the topic and make it public and collective. Through the sharing of ideas and experiences and collective writing, the proposal is to create a new knowledge archive that is accessible to everyone. Some of the questions we would like to continue unpacking through workshops and collective wisdom of participants are: Communal art making- the concept that goes beyond human collaboration, and involves interactions with both human and non-human entities, including the land itself; Way of adopting and fusing multiple economic and lifestyle strategies of practices in rural and whether and how they can become useful reference to think post pandemic crises we are in; Gender complexities in rural through prism of family projects and invisible labor of woman; Presence of spirituality as a collective principles and communal ethos. Program: Introduction (15 minutes): Presentation of the research process and glossary Sharing of ideas and experiences (60 minutes): Participants are invited to sit around a table where a paper tablecloth will serve as the space for leaving traces in the process of collective response which can be anything - an association, a memory, a visual or another term. People can write directly on the shared tablecloth in order to have shared thoughts on a big unique piece of paper. The process will be accompanied by a shared meal to create a moment of further conversation and sharing. Collective reading (30 minutes): Collective reading of the mind mapping and group discussion. Creation of a collective manifesto. Conclusion (15 minutes): Reflections on the workshop activity and on the outcome The workshop is free and open to everyone . No prior knowledge, special skills or requirements needed. Participants are encouraged to share their unique perspectives within a safe and supportive environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas. Everyone is invited to bring some food and drinks to share with the group at the picnic after workshops. Registration is required: for workshop in Belgrade pls send an e-mail to what.could.curating.do@gmail.com to confirm your participation. For workshop in Novi Sad pls register via Skup Udruzenje https://www.instagram.com/skup.udruzenje/?hl=en For further information, feel free to contact us. < Mentors Educational Program How to Apply >

Alumni Alumni 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 < Participants Educational Program Programs >

As you go… roads under your feet towards the new future As you go… roads under your feet, towards the new future is a long-term project and research inquiry that reflects on the Belt and Road Initiative and how it will alter the aesthetics and practices of everyday life in different local contexts. The project was conceived and initiated by Biljana Ciric in 2019 after conducting curatorial research in East Africa, Central Asia, and several Balkan countries where project is situated. The inquiry is structured as a long-term research project over a period of three years through research cells of organizations, institutions and individuals: What Could Should Curating Do (Belgrade), Moderna Galerija (Ljubljana), Rockbund Art Museum (Shanghai), Times Museum (Guang Zhou), ArtCom (Astana), Robel Temesgen and Sinkneh Eshetu (Addis Ababa), and The Public Library (Bor). Research cells vary from small-scale, single person organizations, to state and private museums; the differences produced by their various roles and voices, within their respective local contexts, being not only important when considering [the politics of] knowledge production, but also crucial to the premise of the project. The project does not attempt to pose yet another critical investigation into Chinese colonialism but rather, seeks to unpack the complexities these regions are dealing with, which are also leading to their current connections to the BRI through established commonalities. These include socialism, non-aligned legacies (and here, we are not only talking about the non-aligned movement, but also the relationships with China and other African and Asian countries during the twentieth century), neo-geopolitical settings, economical influences (especially that of the Chinese and Arab world within localities of similar patterns, that have even employed the same companies through different regions), being an agent of its own culture , and the recent COVID-19 pandemic . Being within the conditions of a pandemic seems almost even more relevant when thinking about the intimacy of cells (in times when we believe we must abide by social distancing and separation), and how we perform the process of transformation toward a possible co-immunity. Will we be able to decolonize our anthropological gaze from looking at the “other” from a distance, and turn the object of study into something we can engage with, in times when language differences spark fear, as discrimination makes us strangers among ourselves? The configuration of cells through long-term engagement seeks to emphasize different knowledge structures through collaboration, not only with artists but also architects, writers, anthropologists, and activists who are undertaking research within the project. This project stands as an important reminder that the BRI will cultivate connections that will be impossible to channel and control through the mainstream narratives of any state—but these gaps will enable more meaningful interactions that is process-oriented rather than outcome-driven. The first stage of the project began in February 2020, with the meeting of partner cells in Addis Ababa and the first public presentation. During this stage of the project, a number of local case studies have been initiated, and you can find more about the research project here: http://wcscd.com/index.php/projects/ The online journal of the project follows and shares works in progress of research, but also gives a platform for visibility in times of unrest (something many of the localities have been dealing with since the beginning of the pandemic): http://wcscd.com/index.php/wcscd-curatorial-inquiries/as-you-go-journal/ The research project On Cosmo-technics and New Geopolitics has been done in collaboration with Yuk Hui and researchers Sum Collective and Geocinema. Other contributors to the project include Hu Yun , Chen Liang , Sinkneh Eshetu Zeleke , Aziza Abdul Fetah , Sarah Bushra , Marija Glavas, Robel Temesgen , Jelica Jovanovic , Alex Ulko , Jasphy Zheng, Aigerim Kapar, Astrobus Ethiopia among others. The first stage of the project has been supported by the Foundation for Arts Initiatives, CURTAIN (Rockbund Art Museum), Austrian Cultural Forum, Curatorial Practice (Monash University Art, Design and Architecture), and the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. For more info pls contact: what.could.curating.do@gmail.com < Curatorial Inquiries Cells >

Nathalie Encarnacion < Back A response to Bruno Latour’s Protective Measures Nathalie Encarnacion “What protective measures can you think of so we don’t go back to the pre-crisis production model?” The pandemic has affected both demand for and supply of commodities. Those effects are direct, resulting from shutdowns to mitigate the spread of the virus and disruptions to supply chains, and also indirect, as the global response slows growth and leads to what is anticipated to be the deepest global recession in decades. However, according to the Guardian, “Global carbon emissions from the fossil fuel industry could fall by a record 2.5bn tonnes this year, a reduction of 5%, as the coronavirus pandemic triggers the biggest drop in demand for fossil fuels on record.” For the first time in 50 years, we would be seeing the fossil fuel industry’s biggest drop in CO2 emissions. It is in everyone’s best interest to continue to cease consumption and the support of the consumer market, retail market, and marketplaces that support energy, industrial, industries fueling climate change. We have control. This is not a challenge. The world is telling us to slow down. Rethink your International transport, rethink your local transport, rethink your spending habits. This is the new normal. Continue restricting your flying to only critical, long-distance trips. Maritime and air shipping have an extreme effect on the climate, from clothes to groceries shipped from Chile and Australia to Europe. There are no perfect solutions to slow down or reverse climate change. However be mindful. We can see from our lifestyle changes we have the power. We must continue to support local and consume less. When we see our neighbor suffering, help them. This is our new reality. Systems of government are not in our favor, your neighbor is. Lend your neighbor a hand. Support your community. Trust in one another. We have demonstrated very clearly these past 7 weeks that we can come together, connect from afar, turn off pollution, curve co2 emissions. This does not have to be temporary. And we do not need to see people suffer. There is a light in this darkness. When the ban gets lifted continue to exercise your rights as citizens and consumers. Avoid investing your money into companies that fuel fossil industries and a capitalist system gridlocked in investing in high-emission industries and begin investing into the one’s beside you. This is a moment to embrace the road towards transition. We must continue to sacrifice. Build our own local economies. Embrace the DIY. Maintain strength. Discipline. Control. And do not fear. We must invest in renewable energy sources, our friends, and in ourselves. Think positively. Burn down a corrupt economic, capitalist system. Work with each other, not against. Create cooperatives. This isn’t a time of uncertainty or fear. This is the time of utmost certainty. We know what we should be doing. We are the solution. Continue to reflect. Continue to be mindful. Continue to disrupt supply chains and rattle the market. Continue to create meaningful new and cold connections. Stand 6 feet apart, with strength and care. This is no longer about about “me” it is about “us”. I ask WHAT DO WE TRULY NEED? HOW CAN WE FULFILL OURSELVES IN MEANINGFUL WAYS THAT GO BEYOND CONSUMPTION? WHAT IS WEALTH MEASURED BY? Nathalie Encarnacion (b. 1994, New York) is a conceptual researcher working within the realms of media, writing, discussion, exhibition and art making. Previous Next

< Back Non-Alignment Summit Anniversary a difficulty to re-member 10 Nov 2021 Dunja Karanović & Jovan Mladenović About a month and a half has passed since Serbia hosted the 60th anniversary celebration of the 1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. Over a hundred member and observer state delegations gathered for a two-day conference in Belgrade, the same city where the 1st Summit was held in the Fall of 1961. 1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade 1961. Source: Wikipedia I say about a month and a half has passed, because the events that unfolded in the short time span since the anniversary are somehow difficult to align . The two decades preceding the emergence of this text were all about erasing the 31 years this particular locus was part of the Non-Aligned Movement. I say locus because for someone who was born around the time one country disappeared and six new ones were created, it’s also difficult to pinpoint which entity took part in what. [1 ] In 1961, when our capital hosted the Summit, it was the capital of a different country. It was also the capital of a member country, which is no longer the case. [2] The difficulty to discern the when and where is one that our current regime took advantage of during the national broadcasting of the 2021 event. Over the course of two days, two decades of erasure were spun off through a clever campaign of government myth-weaving. Pro-regime media outlets were swarming with yugonostalgia and titoist trivia as the streets of Belgrade turned into a scenography of brightly colored flags and banners representing the 105 countries participating in the event. Remembrance and erasure were intertwined in an attempt to blur out the fact that Serbia’s current political system is in no way in line with the values behind non-alignment. Even more so, an attempt to pass over the fact that the system is a direct successor of the regime that got us kicked out of the Movement in the first place. [3] The Non-Aligned Movement was created in opposition to the hegemonic trajectories of the post-WWII world. An alternative built around the values of emancipation, anticolonialism, equity, peace, solidarity, and cooperation. Twenty-five countries came together in that first summit to stand against the inevitability of the Cold War. One of their main agreements was that disarmament was crucial for maintaining international stability and social justice. To illustrate just one in a multitude of paradoxes employed in the theatrical 60th anniversary celebration, the last day was rounded off with the opening of the 10th International Arms and Military Equipment Fair [4] . Looking at some of the events of the past month and a half, it becomes clear just how much this political charade was used to conceal the actual pan-alignment of our current locus. Two human rights activists were taken into police custody for throwing eggs on a mural depicting a nineties war criminal in Belgrade. [5] Five hundred Vietnamese workers are being held hostage in inhumane conditions on a construction site in Zrenjanin [6] . Ten children ended up in the infirmary after running a school race in Lazarevac on a day when it measured the highest air pollution rate in Europe. [7] A bank was sued for refusing to open accounts to Iranian refugees and asylum seekers in Serbia. [8] The list goes on. I write this in an effort to decode some of the messages that were sent during the two days Serbia was celebrating . Yes, the first summit was organized in Belgrade in 1961. Yes, it is important to remember the values that guided the following three decades. But whether or not this is the same Belgrade that upheld those values then is up for the reader to decide. Personally, it feels a lot like the scenario from Spielberg’s 2004 film Terminal – we are still there, but there is no longer the same there to go back to. Photo: Branimir Karanovic Considering how Tito had to make most of his diplomatic journeys by boat (the famous “Seagull”), it is curious how the twenty-first century has rendered us closer geographically yet further apart ideologically. The 1st summit, initiated by Nehru, Nasser, and Tito, was about creating ties of friendship and cooperation between distant cultures, and taking a pacifist stance against the global power structures. Sixty years later, distance has become the keyword as the world is faced with a global pandemic and the climate crisis, deepening the gap between what we still call the developing (distant) and the developed (power structures). Remembering how the Belgrade Summit of 1961 happened only two weeks after the Berlin wall started literally dividing East and West, it seems almost counterintuitive to say we could be more in need of interdependence and solidarity today than we ever were. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the question of whether there is still a need for a Non-Aligned Movement has been raised. The Movement now consists of 120 members and 17 observer countries, including Russia which has joined this year. The sixtieth anniversary of the Belgrade Summit was marked by world leaders simultaneously calling for international solidarity and multilateralism, and asking for support for their current foreign politics [9] . Underlining the pan-alignment approach of Serbia, the event included a strong presence of both China and Russia, which were historically on the opposing side of the principles proposed by Tito, Nasser, and Nehru. In addressing these issues and the importance of revitalizing some of the connections made during the 1961 summit, Serbian officials spoke about how proud they are as a government to be continuing Tito’s diplomatic legacy and Yugoslavian values. The same officials who spend most of their working days in the National Assembly, in between what used to be the Marx and Engels Square, and what used to be the Boulevard of Revolution. The last Non-Alignment Movement summit organized in Belgrade took place in 1989, in a post-Tito, post-Berlin Wall, and pre-nineties setting. Since then, over 200 Belgrade street names have been changed from those commemorating Yugoslavian history to those beating around it. The former Federal Executive Council of Yugoslavia (built in 1961!) is now the Palace “Serbia”, the Central Committee building is now overshadowed by a shopping mall, and the former Trade Union Hall is named after a bank. Most recently, the city’s deputy mayor suggested we should rename those streets which still bear the names of ex-Yugoslav capitals and cities – a final deletion of Tito’s brotherhood and unity. For those of us living in New Belgrade, Nehru, Gandhi, and Agostinho Neto are still household names. However, walking the streets of Belgrade you have a better chance of noticing street signs in Russian, English, and Mandarin, than any sign of our pride in Yugoslavian values. Alignment with each and every capitalist power structure is now embedded in our public spaces. In an attempt to rediscover and commemorate the remnants of non-alignment in public space, the Museum of African Art created an interactive online heritage map , marking various monuments related to the NAM in the streets of Belgrade and the rest of the world. The heritological map is still growing, but already features many street names, monuments, murals, and buildings that were created either for or during the two summits that happened in Belgrade in Yugoslav time. The project is a part of their larger exhibition “Non-Aligned World”, curated by Emilia Epštajn, Ana Knežević, Milica Naumov and dr Nemanja Radonjić, to mark the anniversary of the 1961 NAM summit. More than half a century after the event, they invite us to locate the “Non-Aligned World” in our present day, what the movement used to be and mean, what of it still exists today? Peace, equality, solidarity, cooperation, emancipation, and anti-colonialism are the central themes of the exhibit, as the key elements of defining personal as well as group identities – the hope for building a new world. The exhibition tends to focus on the weight, importance, and tenderness that these terms bear today. Regardless of whether they are used as mottos for social justice movements, or they are drawn as cultural or social classifications, these ideas are very much alive and needed in present times. Accordingly, the curatorial concept focuses on the meaning of the words and ideas, how they were proliferated at that point, and how they motivated people to act by better understanding their role on a global scale, despite being conveyed through state media outlets. The exhibition is structured in a way that gives us a glimpse of the past that is less known, tells a story about the common people, and emphasizes the atmosphere that was created around the possibility of creating a new (Non-Aligned) world. Non-Aligned World Exhibition – Museum of African Art in Belgrade. Photo: Jelena Jankovic The Museum of African Art symbolically and literally preserves the legacy of the Non-Aligned Movement, outlining the importance of cultural diplomacy in times of crises. The Museum of African Art is the first and only museum in the region entirely dedicated to the cultures and arts of the African continent. Their permanent display is based on examples of (primarily) West African art and includes objects from the collection formed by the founders of the Museum – Veda Zagorac and dr Zdravko Pečar. Over the course of twenty years spent in West Africa, as a journalist, diplomat and Yugoslav ambassador in seven African countries, Dr. Zdravko Pečar together with his wife Veda Zagorac was developing friendship-based contacts with both African statesmen/diplomats, as well as common people. For forty years this institution has made a significant contribution to promoting and fostering cultural relations and encouraging the principles of multilateralism and cultural diversity. Endorsing the importance of African and non-European culture is the foundation upon which the overall work of this museum is based. While the permanent display has remained unchanged since the opening of the museum (encapsulating in a sense the cultural, diplomatic, and curatorial practices of the time), their program incorporates more contemporary arts production from Africa. [10] Another critical approach to the issue of remembrance and commemoration in relation to 1961 values was also assumed by Ana Panić and Jovana Nedeljković, the curatorial team behind the exhibition “Prometheans of the New Century” in the Museum of Yugoslavia [11] . The exhibition title comes from a painting of the same name by the Yugoslav artist Petar Lubarda, which took the central place of the decor of the 1st Summit of the Non-Aligned in 1961. The central theme of the exhibition is the relationship between Yugoslavia and India presented through art and the exchange of cultural ideas between the two countries. Josip Broz Tito visited India for the first time in 1955, which is considered by many to be the spark that started the whole idea for creating the movement. This relationship is portrayed by the gifts Tito received from Indian officials and artists during his diplomatic meetings. The exhibition also features the works of Indian artists who were given scholarships from the Yugoslav government to study alongside prominent Yugoslavian artists. The political ties between the two non-aligned countries were strengthened through diplomatic and cultural exchange, including contemporary art practices. In terms of bilateral cultural exchanges, the openness of cultural institutions in Serbia to contemporary artistic and curatorial practices from what is nowadays called the Third world has not moved much since the sixties and seventies. The second part of the exhibition continues to communicate with India, this time through the work of the painter Petar Lubarda. Lubarda spent several months in India in 1963, at the invitation of the Yugoslav Commission for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. This experience left a deep mark on him, which influenced his art to explore the themes of the universal battle of good and evil, primordial impulse in humans, and their connection with matter and elements. All of these embodied in paintings such as “Awakening of Africa” (1956-1959), “Prometheus” (1967), “Man and Beasts” (1964), and “Bull and Cloud” (1963). But what happened to “Prometheans of the New Century”? As the legend goes, Prometheus was punished for bringing humans fire by being bound to a rock, and an eagle was sent to eat his liver which would then grow back overnight, only to be eaten again the next day in an ongoing cycle. Having taken center stage in the 1961 summit, the original painting was in recent years hung inthe cinema of Kombank Hall [12] , formerly known (ironically) as Trade Union Hall. Vladimir Nikolic – “The Communist Painting in The Age of Digital Reproduction” (2017) Source: www.vladimir-nikolic.com This is all emphasized in a video work entitled “Communist Painting in the Age of its Digital Reproduction” by Vladimir Nikolić – the final element and conclusion to the exhibition. The work was commissioned in 2017 for the exhibition When the Other meets the Other curated by Biljana Ćirić. Once a symbol of freedom from external control and economic exploitation, it seems that our Prometheus of the New Century has been bound to a wall above the ticket stand, sentenced to an ongoing cycle of endless consumerism. In the new setting, it closes the exhibition on a symbolic level, but at the same time opens the question of what happened to the ideas of modernism, which we were once so proud of. What happened to the values and ideas of non-alignment, solidarity, anti-colonialism, and revolutionism? Dunja Karanović (Belgrade, 1996) is a visual artist and freelance journalist. Jovan Mladenović (Kraljevo, 1995) is an art historian and an MA student at the Belgrade University of Arts -UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and Management. [1] Yugoslavia stopped being a member of the NAM in 1992; from 1991 until the early 2000s the country was fraught with a civil war which resulted in its gradual breakup. The ex-Yugoslav states – Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Kosovo* have not regained their membership within the Non-Aligned Movement. The question of transitional justice in the region is still ongoing. [2] Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina currently hold an observer status in the Non-Aligned Movement. [3] The ruling party in Serbia was created in 2008 by former members of the far-right Serbian Radical Party of Vojislav Seselj, who served as prime minister of Serbia between 1998 and 2000, and was tried for war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. [4] https://www.danas.rs/vesti/drustvo/pocinje-10-medjunarodni-sajam-naoruzanja-i-vojne-opreme-partner-2021/ [5] https://pescanik.net/pred-vratima-naseg-grada/ [6] https://www.a11initiative.org/en/request-for-the-urgent-reaction-of-the-competent-institutions-in-case-of-potential-human-trafficking-for-the-purpose-of-labor-exploitation-of-workers-from-vietnam-engaged-in-the-company-linglong/ [7] https://nova.rs/vesti/drustvo/deca-u-lazarevcu-se-otrovala-od-zagadjenja-dok-su-trcala-kros/ [8] https://www.a11initiative.org/en/the-commissioner-for-the-protection-of-equality-finds-that-raiffeisen-bank-discriminated-against-refugees/ [9] https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/samit-nesvrstanih-beograd/31502971.html [10] REFLECT – Namibia after 30 years of independence (2020), EVERYDAY POETICS Instagramming Life in East Africa (2019), POLES APART Exhibition by Massinissa Selmani etc. (2019) [11] The Museum of Yugoslavia is the new name of a complex of three museums. The “Prometheans of the New Century” exhibition takes place at The 25th May Museum, named after the birthday of Tito, as the institution was presented to the president as a gift from the city on his seventieth birthday. Interestingly, it was designed in 1962 by the architect Mihailo Mika Janković, the same architect who designed the aforementioned Central Committee (CK) and Federal Executive Council (SIV) buildings. The period that followed the 1961 NAM summit in Belgrade was marked by many milestones in the field of culture, including the founding of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade in 1965. [12] After the Trade Union Hall was privatized in 2018, the painting was moved to another hallway within the newly renamed Kombank Hall. Previous Next

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