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WCSCD emergency grant announces grant recipients We are honored that we can give a symbolic contribution to colleagues and peers in the region through emergency grant. Participants of the program have selected three grants recipients: Sasa Rakic cartoonist based in Pancevo (Serbia), creating comics under the pseudonym of Aleksandar Zograf. www.aleksandarzograf.com Adela Jusic artist based in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), cofounder Association for Culture and Art Crvena, one of the creators of Online archive of Antifascist struggle of women of B&H and Yugoslavia (adelajusic.wordpress.com www.afzarhiv.org ) Agata Lucic artist based in Zagreb (Croatia) (https://www.behance.net/agatalucic ) We would like to thank all applicants for reaching to us. WCSCD will continue finding ways supporting community so please stay in touch with us. About Grant: In light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the art community, the What Could Should Curating Do has created 3 grants of 450 euros for artists, curator, art practitioners working on visual arts whose work and livelihood has been affected due to impacted by the economic fallout from postponed or canceled exhibitions and projects. Colleagues in former Yugoslav Region are eligible to apply. Emergency grant has been supported through the online curatorial program Post-Pandemic Condition with mentors Natasa Petresin Bachelez, Maria Lind and Biljana Ciric. Online program participants: Louise Hobson, Ainsle Roddick, Kirsty Màiri Robertson, Aglaya Zhdanova, Julia Gelezova, Ariana Kalliga, Cushla Donaldson, Teodora Jeremic, Sophie Davis, Dunja Rmandic, Agata Szymanek, Amal Al Ali, Yin Shuai.

Speaking (with, ‘n, from) Nearby “I don't intend to speak about, just to speak near by.” Using Trinh T. Minh-ha quote we would like to suggest to think of your own position of speaking near by someone or something and what kind of relationality it implies. An invited tutor for this task is Toby Üpson, an art writer currently based in London (UK). His interests lie in ideas around realities and how these (so often framed as this) can be mediated and consumed. Specifically, how realities can be mediated and consumed otherwise. Often drawn to quotidian matter, Üpson uses ekphrastic modes of writing to abound linear understandings of things. In turn, questioning the system that surrounds. Üpson has written for numerous international publications, most recently Art Monthly, Art & Education, FAD_, and Garageland. Intro This is an exercise in close writing. In slowness, and the potentials of ekphrastic prose to resist systemic forms of op- and re- pression. That is the task’s ‘aim’, beyond creative fulfillment, is to use poetic language to get beyond the stereotyped way we receive our everyday existence and to afford an opportunity for a writer, indeed a reader, to escape the streamlined flows of a reality made in and as a disposable commodity. This task seeks to create air. To afford slow breaths. To allow us to think anew from a position of proximity. Here slowness and a collection of written prompts will be used to make sensorial something of a space between the I of the writer and an everyday object before their eyes. And in this way, this task seeks to give new, anomalous, visibility, to something otherwise ‘known’, something overlooked. Further, as a metaphorical excise, the task asks us to consider the critical (not only liberatory but revolutionary) potentials of creative writing, of poetic and indirect language, of slowness, and how these expressions could be applied to everyday life as a way to resist a colonial-capitalist world system, where ‘efficiency’ of movement is foregrounded for wholly extractive ends. The output of this task will be a short 100-word text. Rather than an appendage to an encounter with a thing, my hope is that this exercise will allow you to produce a text that has its own creative agency. A text that provides a reader with a point of departure for their own creative thinking. And, in this way, this text will be something of a creative relay. You will need (exercise equipment) Paper and a pencil, or a pen; or a laptop, or a phone (your preferred writing media) The ability to go into the world. That is, to sit in a cafe or park, for example (this task could be undertaken from within one's home however) Slowness and time. Though the physical output from this task is a short 100 word text, the task itself should be performed with beautiful slowness; with careful and carefilled thinking. Task (exercise instructions) Go somewhere you go everyday or very regularly (for example, a cafe, a park, or a railway station) Sit in this place and notice. What are the small, overlooked, things that constitute the performances of this place? Note these down as a short list. (ie, the teaspoons in a cafe, the benches in a park, the tickets that flutter between hands at a railway station.) Choose one of these small, overlooked, things, and in 100 words describe this.(Please do not name this thing. We do not want 100 words of ‘this spoon is grey.’ This is a rather dull description.) Now, thinking across your senses (sight and smell and sound and taste?) use 100 words to describe how you experience this thing. (ie, ‘It's cold and sleek. Sounding with a clatter as I twist and turn cappuccino foam…’) Stay close to this thing, and also stay close to how you are experiencing this thing at this moment. Note down one association that comes to mind. (This could be a memory, or an analogy, a story, or a theory - try to avoid thinking too academic, however. For example, a teaspoon might remind you of an oyster shell.) Now, use 100 words to describe this association. (ie, why does the teaspoon remind you of an oyster shell?) We are going to shift perspective now. Write down, in 100 words, why this place is everyday, and also mention the performance(s) you enact in this place. (‘I come to this cafe every day. It is a large space in the centre of the city. I always get a cappuccino before work….’ You have 100 words, think carefully.) From this perspective, use 100 words to describe how the thing of your previous attention operates within this space. Also, consider, why is it overlooked, and how does this thing enable you to perform what you do in this place? You should now have a total of 500 words - five sets of 100 word notes - which describe a thing in a space and something of your relation to this. As an exercise in creative editing, take these 500 words and weave them together into a singular text of no more than 100 words. This text can take any form - a single paragraph, a series of short verses, a score or a script - think creatively. (I am asking you to condense a space of relation down into something small and indeed reductive. The aim of this challenge is, however, to make you think about words carefully, precisely; to make you consider how to caress a space of relations (that space between you - a speaking ‘I’ - and an overlooked thing - the thing before your ‘eye’) into existence.) You can now leave this everyday place. (Enjoy the rest of your day!) Additional materials Leonid Bilmes, 2023, ‘Introduction: On seeing prose pictures,’ in Ekphrasis, Memory and Narrative after Proust: Prose Pictures and Fictional Recollection . Bloomsbury Publishing Marcel Proust, c.1927, In Search of Lost Time. Volume 6: Finding Time Again [trans. Ian Patterson], pages 180-207. Penguin Books (2003). Georges Perec, c. 1975, An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris Tina M. Campt, 2017, Listening to Images Self-feedback What unexpected happened during your performing of the task? Did something break your shell? How do you envision applying this exercise in an institutional framework (museum/ gallery visit, meeting and artist/ curator)? What change may it bring to your approach? Can you articulate your individual voice - where does it come from, what it aims for?

Past Programs 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2020 Program Archive WCSCD 2020/21 Open Call February 5, 2020 Art and the Post-Pandemic Condition – an online curatorial program and support grant for art practitioners May 15, 2020 WCSCD emergency grant announces grant recipients July 16, 2020 WCSCD emergency grant for practitioners in Former Yugoslav Region June 22, 2020

Past Programs 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2019 Program Archive Call for applications: “WHAT COULD/SHOULD CURATING DO?” curatorial course 2019 February 5, 2019

Events Lecture Series Participant Activities Lecture by Elena Filipovic / Marcel Duchamp, the most influential curator of the 20th century? Saša Tkačenko, Flags from the WCSCD series, 2018. Photo by Ivan Zupanc THE CURATORIAL COURSE WHAT COULD/SHOULD CURATING DO? IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE A PUBLIC TALK BY: ELENA FILIPOVIC Marcel Duchamp, the most influential curator of the 20th century? MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART BELGRADE MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018 AT 6 PM In collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade, the lecture within the series of public programs organized by WCSCD will be presented by Elena Filipovic — the director and curator of Kunsthalle Basel. The series is designed to offer new and different perspectives on the theories and practices of exhibition-making. The lecture by Elena Filipovic, entitled Marcel Duchamp, the most influential curator of the 20th century?, will evolve around the history of art as a discipline that has been constructed through the analysis of individual artists and their objects and images. Monet’s Water Lilies, Picasso’s Demoiselles, Giacometti’s Walking Man… And it is no different for Marcel Duchamp, who is largely celebrated for the objects he produced—whether a store-bought urinal named Fountain or a cryptic, erotic-mechanical diagram known as the Large Glass. But what if the impact of the most influential artist of the 20th century lay elsewhere? This lecture asks you to take seriously Duchamp’s activities not normally seen as artistic—from his art dealing, administrating, and reproducing to his publicizing and exhibition-making. Across a variety of projects spanning from 1913 to 1969, we will see that Duchamp’s “non-art” labor, and in particular what could be seen as his curatorial strategies, were both central to his conception of the work of art and deeply influential to generations of artists after him who learned from him that the frame around the artwork might actually make the artwork as such. ABOUT THE LECTURER: Elena Filipovic has lead Kunsthalle Basel as its director and curator since November 2014. She previously served as senior curator of WIELS from 2009-2014, and co-curator of the 5th Berlin Biennial in 2008 with Adam Szymczyk as well as editor or co-editor of a number of anthologies on global exhibition histories, including The Artist as Curator: An Anthology (Mousse Publications, 2017), The Biennial Reader: Anthology on Large-Scale Perennial Exhibitions of Contemporary Art (Hatje Cantz, 2010), and The Manifesta Decade: Debates on Contemporary Art Exhibitions and Biennials in Post-Wall Europe (MIT Press, 2005). She has curated numerous solo exhibitions of emerging artists in addition to organizing several traveling retrospectives. She is author, most recently, of The Apparently Marginal Activities of Marcel Duchamp (MIT Press, 2016) and David Hammons, Bliz-aard Ball Sale (Afterall Books, 2017). The WCSCD curatorial course and series of public lectures are initiated and organized by Biljana Ciric together with Supervizuelna. The lecture by Niels Van Tomme is made possible with the help of MoCAB and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with the additional support of Zepter Museum and Zepter Hotel. Project partners: The Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade; GRAD—European Center for Culture and Debate; EVA International – Ireland’s Biennial, ’Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation and Zepter Museum. The project is supported by: the Goethe Institute in Belgrade; Istituto Italiano di Cultura Belgrado; the Embassy of Sweden; the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; the Embassy of Ireland in Greece; the Embassy of Indonesia; the EU Info Centre; Pro Helvetia – Swiss Art Council; and galleries Eugster || Belgrade, HESTIA Art Residency & Exhibitions Bureau, and Zepter Hotel, Royal Inn Hotel and CAR:GO. Media partners: EUNIC Serbia, RTS3. < Mentors Educational Program How to Apply >

Past Programs 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2018 Program Archive WCSCD 2018 Call for Applications March 26, 2018

Open Call | The Unlearning Curriculum 2024 Application deadline: June 20, 2024 Inform of selected participants: July 10-15, 2024 Intensive dates: August 17-23, 2024 The Unlearning Curriculum in 2024 is a five-day intensive conceived for cultural workers, artists, curators, writers and researchers who share interest in practicing different methodologies of working within art and culture. It aims at exploring methodologies based on decolonial principles, and ways of knowing that engage not only mind but also our whole body and a variety of senses. It is a process of co-learning and un-learning, and of challenging the divide of culture, nature and human. By “staying with the trouble”, as Donna Haraway states, we may recuperate alternative literacy, tools and relations to cultivate an ecology oriented to the future. We will spend days and nights together by sharing common space and time through learning, reflecting, making, listening led mentors but also all the participants. During these five days we will decentralize our position as urban dwellers, and address the eco-social crisis from the perspectives of practical hope, to recover the collective input of local community and knowledge. The intensive is situated in an old village nearby Taishan in Guangdong province of China. The building has been renovated and sustained by Huan Jiajun, who is an activist of conserving the local culture. Taishan is historically home for a lot of overseas Chinese, who emigrated to north America to work as indentured workers in plantations, mines and railways in late 19th century and early 20th century. The architecture of the village preserves such diasporic history in its synthetic style. * The intensive is conceived and initiated by Biljana Ciric and Nikita Yingqian Cai; organized by Guangdong Times Museum and “What Should/Could Curating do?”; and generously supported by De Ying Foundation. This intensive is a greate opportunity, if you are: Interested in learning from others and from nature, and generous in sharing; Willing to engage in disciplines and conversations beyond your educational or academic training; Willing to share your insights and specialties with others, including but not restricted to yoga, knowledge of nature, craft-making, cooking etc. Requirements: A short bio including your educational background and recent experiences in cultural or social projects; A short intention letter (less than 500 words) which states what you would like to learn and unlearn with others; Your contact info including email, mobile and social media account. Fee: 3800 RMB or 490 EUR (The fee includes meals and accommodation of the five days; transportation from your city of residence to Taishan/China is not included） Please be noted: The Unearning Curriculum is open for local and international participants; The intensive will take place at Tosen’s Garden, Paobu Village, Taishan City, Guangdong, P.R. of China ; The working language is English; All participants are expected to arrive no later than August 17th and to commit to the whole duration; Further information about international or domestic travel will be provided after your enrollment is confirmed; Detailed information on day-by-day activities will be notified once all participants are confirmed. Tasks for preparations will be shared and discussed by zoom meeting in July; After the intensive in Taishan, additional visits to independent spaces, studios and institutions in Guangzhou will be organized in the following 2 days. The visits are not part of the curriculum, and you need to plan your stay and cover your own expences in Guangzhou. Please apply by submitting the following materials to contact@timesmuseum.org by June 20, 2024 and visit www.timesmuseum.org for further information. About mentors Amelie Aranguren (she/her) has been a member of Inland since 2011. Campo Adentro/Inland is an association and collaborative project that approaches rural issues from an artistic perspective while addressing significant social issues and advocating for the reconnection between rural areas and cities as a basis for sustainable development strategies. She is currently the director of the Center for the Approach to the Rural, a space in Madrid where creators, curators, researchers, and rural agents can engage in production and investigative residencies, and experiment with art forms linked to social contexts and ecological perspectives. Aranguren, along with a team of nine other collaborators, has recently initiated a new association, Paisanaje Project , which explores the capacity of artistic practices in order to address the eco-social crises and inequalities generated from these issues. Aranguren has worked before in institutions as Museo Reina Sofía Madrid, Federico García Lorca Foundation, Madrid and Jeu de Paume, Paris. Nikita Yingqian Cai lives and works in Guangzhou, where she is Deputy Director and Chief Curator of Guangdong Times Museum. She has curated such exhibitions as Times Heterotopia Trilogy (2011, 2014, 2017), Jiang Zhi: If This is a Man (2012), Roman Ondák: Storyboard (2015), Big Tail Elephants: One Hour, No Room, Five Shows (2016) , Pan Yuliang: A Journey to Silence (Villa Vassilieff in Paris and Guangdong Times Museum, 2017), Omer Fast: The Invisible Hand (2018), Neither Black/Red/Yellow Nor Woman (Times Art Center Belin, 2019), Zhou Tao: The Ridge in the Bronze Mirror (2019) and Candice Lin: Pigs and Poison (2021). She initiated the para-curatorial series in 2012 as a paratactic mode of thinking and working, which connects the curated contents of art and culture with pop-up modules of critical inquiry and field curriculum. She has maintained and expanded the research network of “All the Way South” and is the co-editor of On Our Times. She was the participant of de Appel Curatorial Programme (2009-2010) and was awarded the Asian Cultural Council Fellowship in 2019. Her writings have been published by Bard College and the MIT Press, Sternberg Press, Black Dog Publishing, Yishu, Artforum and e-flux. She is the co-editor of Active Withdrawals: Life and Death of Institutional Critique and No Ground Underneath; Curating on the Nexus of Changes. Biljana Ciric is an interdependent curator. She is curator of the Pavilion of Republic of Serbia at 59th Venice Biennale in 2022 presenting with Walking with Water Solo exhibition of Vladimir Nikolic. She is conceiving inquiry for first Trans- Southeast Asian Triennial in Guangzhou Repetition as a Gesture Towards Deep Listening (2021/2022). She was the co-curator of the 3rd Ural Industrial Biennale for Contemporary Art (Yekaterinburg, 2015), curator in residency at Kadist Art Foundation (Paris, 2015), and a research fellow at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (Høvikodden, 2016). Her recent exhibitions include An Inquiry: Modes of Encounter presented by Times Museum, Guangzhou (2019); When the Other Meets the Other Other presented by Cultural Center Belgrade (2017); Proposals for Surrender presented by McAM in Shanghai (2016/2017); and This exhibition Will Tell You Everything About FY Art Foundations in FY Art Foundation space in Shenzhen (2017). In 2013, Ciric initiated the seminar platform From a History of Exhibitions Towards a Future of Exhibition Making with focus on China and Southeast Asia. The assembly platform was hosted by St Paul St Gallery, AUT, New Zealand (2013), Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2018), Times Museum, Guangzhou (2019). The book with the same name was published by Sternberg Press in 2019 and was awarded best art publication in China in 2020. Her research on artists organized exhibitions in Shanghai was published in the book History in Making; Shanghai: 1979-2006 published by CFCCA; and Life and Deaths of Institutional Critique , co-edited by Nikita Yingqian Cai and published by Black Dog Publishing, among others. In 2018 she established the educational platform What Could/Should Curating Do? where different formats of instituting are tested and imagined through collective processes. Since 2023 WCSCD entered transition merging rural and urban taking over custodianship of the piece of land in rural Serbia. She was nominated for the ICI Independent Vision Curatorial Award (2012). Ciric initiated a long-term project reflecting on China’s Belt and Road Initiative titled As you go . . . the roads under your feet, towards a new future . She is undertaking practice based PhD in Curatorial Practice at Monash University, Melbourne. She is currently developing retrospective of Vietnamese artist Tran Luong that will open in Jameel Art Center, Dubai in 2024 and tour to AGWA(Perth), Govett Brewster Art Gallery (New Plymouth, NZ), Guang Zhou Fine Arts Academy Contemporary Art Museum among others. About Tosen's Garden The project is located in Taishan City, Guangdong Province, which is known as the hometown of overseas Chinese. This is an ancient historical village built a hundred years ago by overseas Chinese in Myanmar. There are woods behind the village and fish ponds in front of the village, which preserves good natural ecology. There are seven residential houses built by overseas Chinese in the village, all of which are well preserved. In the first phase of the project, a 400-square-meter historic property was restored. Visitors can stay in the historic house and experience the local life more than a hundred years ago. There is an organic vegetable garden and orchard which provide local specialties. About De Ying Foundation De Ying Foundation (DYF) is a charitable organisation that supports contemporary art in China and internationally. We believe that contemporary art has an essential place in today’s China, and are committed to widening access to the highest standards of arts programming. We take a patient, long-term approach that is collaborative and open-minded, supporting and learning from other organisations that share our aims and values, as well as launching our own initiatives when we feel there is a need. Arts education is especially important to us, since we believe both in its inherent value and in its potential for transformative impact. While our core focus as a foundation is on greater China, we also work with international partners whose work inspires us, and hope to engender and to be part of a genuine artistic dialogue between China and the rest of the world. De Ying Foundation has provided long-term sponsorship for the De Ying Associate Curator, Visual Arts, at M+. The foundation is Founding Patron of the Shanghai Centre of Photography and a key sponsor of the Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art at China Academy of Art. De Ying was a sponsor of the Beijing-based artist Cao Fei’s first major solo exhibition in China, “Staging the Era”, 2021, presented at UCCA, Beijing, as well as, the UCCA leg of “Who is He?”, the historical retrospective of Geng Jianyi, one of China’s pioneering conceptual artists in 2023. De Ying is the main supporter for Glen Ligon’s first UK solo exhibition “All Over the Place”, 2024, at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. In 2018, we were also particularly excited to be early supporters of Steve McQueen’s Year 3 Project at Tate Britain. De Ying Foundation also provided support in 2019 for the production of the catalogue accompanying Cecily Brown's acclaimed survey exhibition “Where, When, How Often and With Whom” at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark. Village in Taishan, Guangdong Province of China.

Новембар 2020 – < Back Приче између зидова у Народној библиотеци Бор 6 Nov 2020 Шта би кустосирање могло/требало да буде (What Could/ Should Curating Do – WC/SCD), кроз пројекат Новим путевима у будућност ( As you go…roads under your feet, towards the new future ), у сарадњи са Народном библиотеком Бор, позива вас на учешће у јавном пројекту уметнице Џесфи Џенг (Jasphy Zheng) Приче између зидова (Stories from the Room). Приче између зидова је партиципативни дугорочни пројекат којим се прикупљају приватни записи о искуству живота у „новој нормалности” које сви делимо и од њих гради растућа архива која би се могла репродуковати у различитим срединама. Добродошли су прилози из целог света, без ограничења када је реч о језику и форми записа или пребивалишту аутора. Као допринос изградњи колективног „скулптуралног споменика”, сваки прилог који примимо периодично ће се додавати живој архиви која ће бити отворена за јавност у Народној библиотеци Бор, где ће се моћи погледати на безбедан начин. Приче између зидова су први пут реализоване као одговор на изолацију коју је донело избијање пандемије. Представљен у Центру за савремену уметност у Китакјушију у Јапану (Center for Contemporary Art Kitakyushu) као самостална изложба Џесфи Џенг, повремено затварана због карантина и опет отварана, овај чин усмерен ка креирању скулптуралног споменика овом периоду у току његовог одвијања замишљен је као мост који води с оне стране концепција затварања и искључивања, истражујући капацитете учесника да имагинативно превазиђу баријере. На позив кустоса и оснивача WC/SCD Биљане Ћирић и Ларија Фрожијеа (Larys Frogier), директора Уметничког музеја Рокбанд (Шангај), Приче између зидова део су и дугорочног истраживачког пројекта Новим путевима у будућност и део пројекта Завеса (CURTAIN). Могу се сматрати проводником различитих гласова анонимно окупљених у циљу дељења, превазилажења, давања одушка, протезања, активирања, наглашавања, ослобађања, изражавања, прекидања, разматрања и промишљања промена и нових процеса који утичу на наш колективни живот и искуства током овог непредвидивог периода. У сарадњи са Новим путевима у нову будућност , Приче између зидова се имплементирају у различитим локалним контекстима и ситуирају захваљујући раду са локалним партнерским установама и појединцима: платформом Артком (Artcom) у Казахстану, Саром Бушра (Sarah Bushra) у Етиопији и Народном библиотеком Бор у Србији. Посебан вид представљања развијен је у сарадњи са Музејом Таравара у Мелбурну (TarraWarra Museumof Art, Melbourne) током најстрожег карантина који је овом граду икада у историји наметнут. Џенг каже: „Кроз овај дугорочни пројекат, изнова размишљам о јазу између онлајн и офлајн светова као о новој територији која одређује, преиспитује и изазива дистанцу између друштвености и солидарности у временима попут овог. Кроз колективни чин, овај пројекат подстиче физичко заједништво текста, тако што сакупља паралелне реалности учесника и излаже их у јавном простору. Потхрањујемо изливе сопства у форми заједнице, без обзира на међусобне раздаљине.” Заједно са Народном библиотеком Бор, позивамо вас да са својим записима учествујете у стварању споменика нашем времену. Да бисте учествовали у Причама између зидова, једноставно: Пишите како проводите дане, о чему размишљате или шта осећате, без обзира на дужину записа и на било којем језику; Не заборавите да унесете име, пребивалиште и датум ; Своје записе пошаљите на: priceizmedjuzidova@gmail.com или поштом, на адресу: Народна библиотека Бор, Моше Пијаде 19, 19210 Бор, са назнаком „За приче између зидова”, или их донесите лично у Народну библиотеку Бор. Сви пристигли записи ће се чувати као физичке копије у једној архиви, а сваки учесник ће добити своју фасциклу у тој архиви, тако да су Ваши нови прилози добродошли. Не заборавите да своје записе датирате и да упишете име и место. У писма и записе, који ће бити изложени у Народној библиотеци Бор , не уносите личне податке као што су адреса, број телефона или имејл адреса. Наводи из ваших записа можда ће се анонимно објављивати онлајн или користити у промотивне сврхе. Прилози се не враћају пошиљаоцима, јер остају као део уметничког рада. Прилози се примају стално – овај јавни позив не подразумева рок за слање прилога. Желите да ваша заједница буде укључена? Прихватамо прилоге на било којем језику. Сви прилози ће бити јавно изложени у Народној библиотеци Бор од децембра 2020, као део дугорочна изложбе. Дигитална архива записа остаће у трајном власништву библиотеке. О уметници Џесфи Џенг , која живи и ради на релацији између САД и Кине, интердисциплинарна је уметница чији радови у последње време истражују неизбежан неуспех комуникације како на међуљудском, тако и на колективном нивоу. Користећи уметничке формате као што су инсталације, ненајављени перформанси, извајани предмети и уметничке књиге, Џенг конструише ситуације које представљају јавне интервенције зарад подизања свести о нашим друштвеним и културним окружењима, како у тако и изван контекста савремене уметности. Џенг је, иначе, завршила Школу дизајна Роуд Ајланд (Rhode Island School of Design). Новим путевима у нову будућност (As You Go… the roads under your feet towards the new future) Новим путевима у нову будућност је дугорочни истраживачки пројекат који промишља иницијативу Појас и пут и како ће она променити естетику и праксе свакодневног живота у различитим срединама. Пројекат је замислила и 2019. иницирала Биљана Ћирић, након што је извела кустоско истраживање у источној Африци, централној Азији и у неколико балканских земаља где се пројекат одвија. Овај дугорочни истраживачки пројекат спроводи се кроз истраживачке ћелије које чине организације, установе и појединци: Уметнички музеј Рокбанд (Шангај, Кина), Шта кустосирање може/треба да буде (Београд), Модерна галерија (Љубљана), Музеј Тајмс (Гуангџоу – Times Museum (Guangzhou), Кина), Артком (Астана, тј. Нур Султан, од 2019, Казахстан), Робел Темесген (Robel Temesgen) и Синкне Есету (Sinkneh Eshetu) (Адис Абеба, Етиопија) и Народна библиотека Бор. Прву фазу пројекта подржали су Фондација за уметничке иницијативе (Foundation for Arts Initiatives), пројекат Завеса (CURTAIN – Rockbund Art Museum), Аустријски културни форум, Кустоске праксе (Curatorial Practice) Факултета за уметност, дизајн и архитектуру Универзитета Монаш у Аустралији – Monash University Art, Design and Architecture) и Влада Аустралије, кроз програм стипендија за истраживачку обуку (Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship). Детаљније на: http://old.wcscd.com/index.php/2020/01/07/as-you-go-the-roads-under-your-feet-towards-a-new-future/ . О Уметничком музеју Рокбанд и пројекту Завеса Приче између зидова разрађене су кроз сарадњу у пројекту Завеса Уметничког музеја Рокбанд. Основан 2010, овај музеј савремене уметности налази се на кеју Банд у Шангају. „С обзиром на репутацију коју имамо захваљујући нашим иновативним кустоским приступима, тежимо осмишљавању различитих уметничких пројеката, од оних истраживачких до алтенативних едукативних програма, од излагачких до параизвођачких формата. Подржавамо смеле савремене уметничке пројекте, а циљ нам је да континуирано прерађујемо локалне историје, док истовремено одговарамо на глобалне уметничке изазове и друштвене промене. Сматрамо да је размена суштински процес, неопходан за шири преображај кроз мрежу мултирегионалних, међународних и мултидисциплинарних партнерстава. Циљ нам је да кроз овај процес негујемо разнолике и укорењене везе са публикама, заједницама, али и са различитим друштвеним и културним организацијама.” Више о овом музеју на: www.rockbundartmuseum.org . Новим путевима у нову будућност са Уметничким музејом Рокбанд сарађује кроз пројекат Завеса , који су иницирали директор музеја Ларис Фрожије и низ сарадника: Метју Копланд (Mathieu Copeland), Биљана Ћирић, Козмин Костинас (Cosmin Costinas), Хсиех Фенг Ронг (Hsieh Feng-Rong), Били Танг (Billy Tang). Иницирана 2020, Завеса је дугорочни истраживачки пројекат који ће се одвијати у виду серије изложби различитог формата, платформи за дискусију и међуинституционалне сарадње током три године. Да би се отишло даље од утврђене дефиниције изложбе, пројекат тежи да дијалог са уметницима прошири окупљањем критичких мислилаца и практичара из других друштвених и културних области. Народна библиотека Бор Народна библиотека Бор основана је 1962, спајањем више мањих месних библиотека и читаоница. Од 1972. смештена је у наменски грађеном простору у Дому културе у Бору и матична је за Борски округ. Делатност обавља кроз рад Завичајног, Дечјег, Стручног, Информативног, Одељења за језике и књижевност, Одељења посебних фондова и периодике, Одељења за набавку и обраду библиотечке грађе и Матичног одељења. Организује изложбе, наричито изложбе завичајне фотографске грађе и других дела завичајних аутора, књижевне вечери, промоције аутора, наслова, организација и установа с којима сарађује, предавања из свих научних и стручних области, акредитоване и друге семинаре за раднике у области културе и образовања, трибине везане за различита питања од јавног значаја или локалну заједницу, пројекције филмова и друге аудио-визуелне грађе, едукативне и креативне радионице за децу и младе, како у самој библиотеци, тако и у образовним установама и у јавном простору. У библиотеци и њеним сеоским огранцима (којих тренутно има четири) ради 18 библиотекара и књижничара, од којих многи учествују или сарађују у реализацији уметничких, научних, културних, едукативних пројеката у сарадњи са различитим локалним, регионалним и националним установама и организацијама или независним домаћим и иностраним истраживачима и уметницима. Издавачка делатност библиотеке, поред низа публикација које су настале као зборници научноистраживачких и уметничких радова или предавања у оквиру реализованих пројеката и књига завичајних књижевних стваралаца, обухвата и континуирано излажење часописа Бележница (1999– ) посвећеног библиотечко-информационој делатности и локалној култури и историји. Previous Next

< Back THE CULTURAL INTERWEAVING OF CHINA AND THE BALKANS 15 Feb 2021 Marija Glavaš This text is the first in a series of close studies examining the cultural exchanges between China and the Balkan region under the BRI, taking art [events and exchanges] as its main focal point. In this introductory text I will explain my research process for mapping these activities . I will then present both the ambitions and challenges of intercultural exchanges, using Slovenia as an example. In future texts I will analyse some of these exhibitions I have investigated, with the hope of creating a dialogue around whether these exchanges are living up to their full potential of shifting away from classical national narratives and providing a common ground for different identities. Before I began this project with As you go… the roads under your feet, towards a new future, I only had a basic understanding of what the BRI was. Like many others here in the Balkan region, I have also heard of the ongoing Chinese investments – investments which initially appeared to only occur within the infrastructural sphere. What I have found, however, is that the BRI promised more than that. It promised cultural bonding above mere economic cooperation. Yet, whenever the BRI is mentioned, other spheres, such as culture and art, seem to remain of very little note. As I began my investigation, I realized there was an absence of any systematic research on these topics – gathering data and developing a concise method of collating it, presented itself as the greater concern before even beginning to open up [a] discourse on cultural exchange and interconnection. To begin this dialogue of cultural interweaving, I have decided to focus on cross-institutional artistic exchanges to identify both the frequency and motives of these relationships. For this purpose, I used two methods: the primary method was directly addressing art institutions by sending them a questionnaire, while the other was manually collecting data from the internet for any additional exhibitions. The questionnaire included identifying whether any exhibitions and exchanges were currently underway, what kind of art was being exhibited or exchanged, the motivations behind these collaborations, and if there were any abnormalities across audience engagement and reception. For institutions that did not have any such exchanges, I asked why that was – did they decline them for any reason or were there simply no opportunities (perhaps due to a lack of funding, governmental or structural support, amongst other institutional roadblocks)? This questionnaire was sent to thirty-six [36] institutions from Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Kosovo. Some of the institutions were nationally owned museums and galleries (of both artistic and historical content), while others were privately owned galleries. Of the thirty-six museums and galleries I reached out to, twenty have replied. Following this, I started documenting all available data that was brought to my attention. I encountered several problems during this stage. Firstly, I did not receive responses from all institutions – most notably I received none from privately owned galleries. This could, however, also be due to many things: the ongoing pandemic that has shut down galleries and museums in many places and – as I later came to notice – the fact that most of these exchanges were primarily happening through state owned institutions. The second problem I encountered was that for many of these events and cultural exchanges, I was only provided with sparse data. Thirdly, I was unable to gather any data on audience reception. This last problem proved the most difficult as I was most interested in examining how local audiences perceive not only the Chinese art being exhibited, but also in a broader sense, the cultural interweaving of China within these regions. In the future it would be interesting to focus further on this aspect since there are a lot of discrepancies in opinions on other aspects (such as on the infrastructural and economic investments) of the BRI. While the West seems to be very suspicious of China becoming a global superpower, the Balkan region – which is heavily influenced both by the West and the East – doesn’t have such a narrow perception. Together with other partner cells and the editorial team, we decided it would be interesting to present this collected data on a map . This map provides details on both local cultural events and its connections to China. All exhibitions are also described, accompanied by some images from the exhibitions. The map is intended to be alive and continuously growing – the biggest ambition is currently to expand the scope of this map to encompass Central Asia and other localities participating in the BRI. I approached my research this way to systematically examine the ways in which art under the BRI ought to, on the one hand, deepen the bonds amongst participating countries and on the other, shape their perceptions of one another. Art, besides being a tool of expression, greatly impacts cultures and societies; it is continuously shaping our realities, while also allowing us to more deeply understand the past and the present. This understanding is not only constructed through artistic content at any given time in any specific space, but also through cultural policies and curating. Cultural policies and curatorship prescribes the limits and protocols [within] which art can shape the future, and how the past and present can be understood. Intercultural collaborations within this sphere have a great potential to move away from classical national narratives, which too often look for an enemy – within or outside – as a common denominator, consequently weaponizing audiences against this predetermined opposition. Whether these intercultural collaborations are even possible however, remains in the hands of individual governments and private bureaucracies who choose if, how, and when they will collaborate. For instance, let us look at the current state of art in Slovenia. Ever since Slovenia became a capitalist state, it left art partially in the domain of the government and partially in the domain of the free market. Art in the domain of the predatory free market has its own problems: subjected to competitiveness, artistic objects and practices are placed at the mercy of the logic of profit-driven, capitalist motivations – left to die as soon as its monetary value drops too low. However, since BRI projects are mostly funded and held by state institutions, for now, this stage of the research will focus on this particular domain. Let me preface this by saying that all curating is some form of narrating and mediating meaning(s), though this example will focus on cultural policies which determine in whose hands the curating will be. In Slovenia, state-owned art institutions enjoyed relative autonomy albeit with insufficient financial support – particularly in specific fields – being their main problem. Aside from the prevalent nepotism in funding (and the subsequent responsibility that would attach itself to the beneficiaries), there was not much state intervention into the curating itself. However, this drastically began to change since the undemocratic rise of the 14th government of independent Slovenia, right before the pandemic of 2020. The undemocratically established government is using tactics that have proven detrimental to Poland, Hungary, and Russia. In addition to drastic funding and budget cuts (alongside overall rhetoric and the replacement of leadership roles), [the government] has taken to directly attacking media outlets, research institutions, and museums. Academics who specialize in the fields of Central and South East Europe pointed out in an Open Letter to Janez Janša, Prime Minister of Slovenia in 2020: “The frequency of such interventions and the many clear signals that [are only] more are to come further prove that these are not normal personnel decisions, but rather the first steps in an attempt to curtail the independence of scholars and to place narratives about the past under government control.” [1] This becomes even more evident when we look at which institutions are being attacked: the National Museum of Contemporary History, which holds a permanent exhibition of Slovenia in the 20th century, directly addressing our past as a member state of former Yugoslavia and our gain of independence; [2] the National Gallery, and the Modern Gallery – both some of the most prominent and well-known art institutions in Slovenia. [3] In addition, the government is planning to open the Research Institute of the Venetic theory, [4] which suggests that the origins of Slovenians do not begin with Slav settlements but rather, reach back to ancient times. This theory is widely considered a pseudoscience and has been rejected by scholars. Our prime minister, however, holds yearly meetings for supporters of this theory, and when considering how they like to rewrite our history, it should also raise alarms that they are planning to open the Museum of Independence of Slovenia. [5] The current enemy threat being constructed is our history as a member state of Yugoslavia, the Yugonostalgia many people still feel, non-catholic nations, and anyone who lies left to the [government] on the political compass. Clearly, these are attempts to not only shift the cultural sphere towards a more patriotic and nationalistic narrative, but a narrative that is directly in support of our current prime minister – his role in the battle for independence and his personal beliefs. I would like to argue that these current changes within the cultural and art spheres in Slovenia are what could be considered some of the worst approaches possible. Art in this scenario is not being mobilized, in a romantic sense, to enable a peaceful coexistence of identities, but rather, is being used to annihilate some to push others forward. In the context of intercultural interweaving this could mean a step backwards, since focusing on enemies and weaponizing audiences does not leave much space for a friendly co-existence. In terms of the BRI, we are yet to see where this will place Slovenia. Our prime minister has, in American fashion, began engaging in conspiracy theories about China, where he points to the supposed political interference of China with his opposition. [6] At a fundamental political level, this paranoia doesn’t bring much optimism in relation to the potential of future cultural interweaving and exchanges. Even the connection between Slovenia and Hungary, which our current government considers of utmost importance, is only happening directly through the military, and a mutual support of hate-driven, local news-media. On the other hand, the BRI greatly emphasizes a peaceful coexistence of identities. From what I have gathered in this first phase of my research, it appears that these exchanges are an effort to bring cultures closer together through mutual and empathetic understanding, which has been overtly stated on most of the observed exhibitions. This understanding is being created through a bilateral exchange of artefacts, meanings, technical knowledge, and human resources. In conclusion, intercultural interweaving has a great potential of shifting away from classical national narratives that forge bonds as a response to the presence of a threat. National identity itself is constructed through these mechanisms (ie. the search for a common enemy), so a greater understanding and knowledge of different cultures is needed to look beyond this. Participating countries have already agreed to these processes of interweaving, and as politics and culture remain ever changing, the consideration of current cultural policies and their changes is always necessary. And when considering that to curate is to narrate, another analysis will be needed to betterfully understand exactly what narratives are being told and how much positive potential they actually hold. In the future, I will attempt to do such an analysis of the exhibitions presented on the map. This will, I hope, allow for a deeper discourse and engagement on whether these projects are living up to their full potential of being used as a force for cultural harmony than separation. Marija Glavaš , student of Culturology at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana [1] A Letter to Janez Janša, Prime Minister of Slovenia. (2020). Available at: https://publiclettertoslovenia.wordpress.com/ [2] Exhibition can be seen here: http://www.muzej-nz.si/si/razstave/stalne-razstave/849-Slovenci-v-XX-stoletju [3] Marshall, A. (2021). A Populist Leader Kicks Off a Culture War, Starting in Museums. The New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/arts/design/slovenia-Janez-Jansa-culture.html [4] Jager, V. (2020). Janša ustanavlja inštitut, ki bo na novo napisal zgodovino izvora Slovencev. Mladina. Available at: https://www.mladina.si/200605/jansa-ustanavlja-institut-ki-bo-na-novo-napisal-zgodovino-izvora-slovencev/ [5] Marshall, A. (2021). A Populist Leader Kicks Off a Culture War, Starting in Museums. The New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/arts/design/slovenia-Janez-Jansa-culture.html [6] Janša, J. (2021). [@JJansaSDS]. #KUL neposredno financiran kar od Kitajske komunistične partije? [Tweet]. Twitter. Available at: https://twitter.com/JJansaSDS/status/1354022974685409281 ; Janša, J. (2021). [@JJansaSDS]. Agentura #CCPChina ? [Tweet]. Twitter. Available at: https://twitter.com/JJansaSDS/status/1355831337819762689 Previous Next

Events Lecture Series Participant Activities Regenerative living-creating spaces for the multi species co-existence Learning through doing -educational program Open call from August 4th to September 5th Duration of program from September 26th to October 1st 2024 Mentors: Luigi Coppola, Sergio Monterro Bravo, Petra Pavleka, Jelica Jovanovic, Marko Bajic, Biljana Ciric This educational module will be hosted in pedagogical center in rural of WCSCD in village of Gornja Gorevnica with aim to develop and test a set of spatial practices within WCSCD that respond to the urgencies of this contemporary moment, including decolonization, decarbonization, scarcity, climate change, as well as mitigation of public sphere. Through program we aim to revive creative responses to the condition of scarcity drawing from the ancestral ways of knowing and making, learning about possibilities of surviving with joy. The point of departure of the module is climate change and understanding that science and technology cant solve our problems, but we need to start changing the way we live, the food we eat, the way we understand world around us and its potentiality. The educational program is based on concept of situated response and through learning by doing. No prior knowledge is required, we welcome participants with different knowledge backgrounds. Focus of the program are following: How to preserve margins – understanding margins in natural and social context, margins as a central space for re- starting the relationships with more than human world, margins as a space where two worlds touch each other, margins as a space for preserving fertility, understanding margins through biodiversity. Natural building – recycling and upcycling, making social spaces in natural environment with natural and locally found material, how to coordinate and plan the space that is always growing, understanding co living spaces through seasons. Sustainable kitchen: understanding of eco system, seasonal food, no waste concept, eating locally, traditional dishes in contemporary living, foraging among others. Program fees: Fees: for participants from Balkan countries 200 euros For all other participants 400 euros For WCSCD alumni 20% off discount This price includes three meals and accommodation. Accommodation is distributed to first come first serve bases and for the rest of participants camping spots are available. How to apply Send us Motivation letter why u want to be part of the program Short bio no more then 200 words Application send to what.could.curating.do@gmail.com with title Regenerative living program application About Mentors: Petra Pavleka is a landscape architect, permaculturist, and educator focused on agroecology and sustainable living. She worked as an external professional associate on landscaping projects. She is also involved in green volunteerism, advises local councilors as an expert associate, and participates in several working groups and civic initiatives such as the "Initiative for a Public Orchard on Jarun". For the last decade, she has been experimenting with gardening, preparing food for winter storage, making natural creams for friends and family, making bread, and learning to sew clothes and weave baskets. 6 years ago, she moved from the city to the countryside. She is focused on creating more stable food systems and seed conservation programs for the associations ZMAG (where she was once the head of the Community Seed Bank and food program) and Biovrt - in harmony with nature. Her greatest passion is sharing knowledge, so she holds trainings all over Croatia and beyond. Sergio Monterro Bravo As an architect his work evolves around communal projects, pedagogy, art and design. The main focus are the many ways in which social and ecological perspectives transforms how we feel, think and make. This runs through all of his works today, exemplified in his current research Territorial, Art, Design and Architecture at Konstfack. The research operates on the basis of unfolding a place-sensible practice concerned with peri-urban and rural living environments. With collaborators, students and stakeholders he explores territorialization of space and place where there is less human intervention, as means to feel different and change mindset. The research unfolds through communal projects in peri-urban and rural locations, relational to species and systems made invisible through urban ecologies. Jelica Jovanović is an architect, architectural historian, heritage preservation professional and researcher. She is a PhD student at University of Technology in Vienna, working on thesis on preservation of mass housing of Yugoslavia, graduated from Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade with a revitalisation project of the Museum of Yugoslavia History. She is a founding member and president of the NGO Grupa arhitekata, within which she organizes summer schools and workshops revitalizing vernacular architecture in Serbia and works on architectural heritage and sustainability related research projects. She is a founding member and former secretary of Docomomo Serbia, within which she works as the digitization coordinator and on documentation projects. She was coordinator of the project “Unfinished Modernisations: Between Utopia and Pragmatism” for Association of Belgrade Architects, coordinator of the regional platform “(In)appropiate Monuments”, curatorial assistant of the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) for the exhibition “Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia 1948–1980”, coauthor of the platform “Arhiva modernizma”, coauthor of the research project and the book "Bogdan Bogdanović Biblioteka Beograd". Luigi Coppola (born in Lecce, Italy) is an artist, agroecologist, upholder of participatory projects driven by an innovative approach to the politics of the Commons and author of actions designed to activate collective potentials. His work is rooted in site-specific research of social, political and cultural subjects, collectivization of goods, activation of relational dynamics and processes of emancipation and imagination. Since 2013 he is engaged with Casa delle Agriculture in Castiglione d'Otranto (Lecce, Italy) as co-activator of a complex and multilayered process of participative agriculture, recuperation of polluted lands, creation of a participative economy, which revolves around the annual festival Notte Verde: Agriculture, utopias and community, the Parco Comune dei Frutti Minori (Common Park of the Minor Fruits) and Scuola di Agriculture (School of Agricultures), a pedagogical platform that combines agroecological knowledge with artistic strategies and builds relationships with migrant communities, students, farmers and activists. Luigi led a research and workshop revolving around soil, agriculture and pollution in Lubumbashi and Katanga and developed a long term path with a small group of cultural practitioners involved in Ateliers Picha. Marko Bajić , a young chef, with experience working in restaurants and hotels in Zagreb, as well as summer positions in Makarska Riviera, Pag, Korčula, Hvar, and Istria. There, he honed his passion for gastronomy and broadened his perspective on local and seasonal products. Although he enjoys traveling and finding inspiration in the flavors and traditions of many cultures, the plates he makes are generally made with regional products with a strong focus on simplicity. In the last restaurant, he created his own menu in which the ingredients were from a narrow region, with known methods of growing them. The thought behind everything is simplicity. Eat fresh, organic food that grows in your region. < Mentors Educational Program How to Apply >