NEW CENTURY FOR CULTURAL BRIDGING
From everything that man erects and builds in his urge for living nothing is in my eyes better and more valuable than bridges. They are more important than houses, more sacred than shrines. Belonging to everyone and being equal to everyone, useful, always built with sense, on the spot where most human needs are crossing, they are more durable than other buildings and they do not serve for anything secret or bad.
Nobel Prize Winner Ivo Andrić ''The Bridges''
Our vision
The creativity of the peoples of the Balkans has always found its best expression in the art and culture in general. Precisely the culture has bridged differences and raised above clashes in the peninsula. Cultures of the peoples living in the Balkans have been interwoven, refining and enriching each other. And today, more than ever before, there is a need for diverse and authentic elements of the Balkan spiritual circle to explore each other and to bring different cultures together.
Culture, better than any other human activity, opens new spaces for cherishing creative potential. Without it there can be no spiritual reneissance and economic growth of any society; the cooperation established with the Other in achieving these goals is a necessary value which leads to the future.
The BalkanKult Foundation links together artists and institutions, and connects cultures and peoples. That is our mission!
Dimitrije Vujadinović, President, BalkanKult Foundation
«...culture is the strongest factor of integration that we should use in breaking down all the barriers that separate us«
(Ms. Jelka Kebo, director of the Mostar Cultural Centre)
Taking the initiative
It has been proved that a precondition for political stability and economic growth of a region is precisely cultural cooperation. Cooperation in the field of cultural production is one of the best resources in the modern social development, especially for small countries and those in transition.
The BalkanKult Foundation is the first regional cultural foundation in the Balkans. It was born out of a need for creating new cultural environments, expressed in the work of cultural practitioners and artists. It is founded on the experiences of the BalkanKult Association, established in 1999 in Sarajevo.
But the increasing desire of the arts community for transborder cooperation has still not received an adequate financial support.
I fully agree with the BalkanKult Foundation on the importance of raising citizens' awareness of the benefits of future EU membership, and the Commission supports such efforts in various ways.
Reinhard Priebe, Directorate of the European Commission for the Western Balkans
Goals and instruments
One of the main strategic objectives is to support the establishment of long-term contacts and the creation of opportunities for developing cultural life in a common artistic or wider cultural space. Our aims are to provide, maintain and ensure access to a favourable environment for cultural diversity and the building of “cultural bridges” through:
• Promotion of international cultural cooperation
• Development of cultural diversity
• Exchange of information in the field of culture
• Development of creative industries
• Enlargement of cultural market
• Encourage mobility of people, ideas and expertise
• Research and publishing activities
• Organization of expert meetings, lectures, seminars, discussions and visits, as well as cultural and economic events
Development of creative capital
All projects that we work on or support contain elements of “good practice”, i.e. they are strong examples that create the so-called “snowball effect”.
«There is enthusiasm of similar/the same organizations and individuals in the region and readiness to carry out joint projects. Our experience in this kind of project is very positive, so that in our work we insist on launching new, and if possible, joint projects.”
(Elvir Sahić, director of Ambrosia NGO, Sarajevo)
The Foundation's grant-making activities financially support projects aimed at three major directions: People-to-Pleople; Artists-to-Artists; Artists-to-People. Concrete steps have already been taken in this field:
Mobility fund
Artists and cultural practitioners represent a creative capital of the Western Balkan region. Their works show the growth of possibilities of creative industries and capital in the region. We have established the Fund which encourages traveling of artists and practitioners, including policy makers, with the aim of enabling them to present their work and exchange experiences with colleagues from Europe and the world and make long-term contacts.
The curators, Dejan Sandić, from the Belgrade Museum of Applied Arts, and Danica Đokic, from the Museum of Požarevac, visited Finland from May 28 to June 2, 2005. Their intention was to establish long-term collaboration of museum institutions through exhibitions, research visits of museum experts and by taking part in joint projects, which would promote the national culture and arts as a part of European heritage.
The bridges of cultural cooperation
The valuable experience of the BalkanKult Association is continued by the BalkanKult Foundation in organizing and coordinating interregional and multilateral cultural co-productions and events. The concrete projects are realized by cultural institutions, cultural practitioners and artists.
Norden Balkan Culture Switch is a long term (2002 – 2005) multilateral programme of cultural cooperation and networking between cultural institutions, practitioners and artists from the Nordic and the Western Balkan region. The programme is coordinated by The Nordic Council of Ministers and the Balkankult Association (continued by the BalkanKult Foundation). It has so far consisted of about 40 different projects and included more than 30 different institutions from both regions.
As a follow-up of this project, new initiatives took place, such as The days of Icelandic culture, Days of Lapland culture, Days of Serbian culture in Iceland, etc.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Our researchers developed a programme for connecting culture and corporate sector (CSR framework) which also includes business practice, in which ethical principles, sustainability and profitability are the main indicators of business changes. In this field, the BalkanKult foundation has already gained positive experiences (cooperation with companies such as Actavis, Zdravlje, Dunav Grocka etc.).
Cultural map of the Western Balkans
Taking into account that the region has significant potentials which could be exploited in the international cultural co-production, we are preparing a map which will contain data on the creative potentials of the Western Balkan region. The map will gather data on different activities in various cultural fields and cultural industries.
Creative incubators
Our intention is to support the establishment of cultural incubators - residential cultural centres (cultural suburbs) in the region in order to gather artists and cultural practitioners from the region and the rest of the world. The incubators should boost the mobility of people and ideas, which has a positive effect on the development of artistic and cultural production and strenghtens the creative capital.
Culture catalogue
In order to provide quality information on cultural operators in the region and Europe, the databases have been established and are regulary updated. They can be downloaded from our website free of charge.
ARTCULTBKK – over 3000 addresses of cultural institutions in SE Europe, their goals and achievements
European Cultural Networks – information on 170 cultural networks from different cultural and artistic fields
Cultural Map of the Western Balkans – creative potential of the countries of the Western Balkans in the form of a cultural map; presents the fileds of cultural politics, literature, music, cultural heritage, performing and visual arts
Cultural Map of the Euroregion Nis – Sofia – Skopje – information on over 700 cultural institutions
Official documents on regional cooperation – list of documents on possibilities of developing cultural and economic cooperation in the region.
Links to national cultural institutions in SE Europe
The Calendar of Cultural Events in Vojvodina for the Year 2005 – information on 153 cultural events
The establishment of The Balkan Foundations Development Group
This is one of the priorities of the BalkanKult Foundation. The goal is to make the BalkanKult Foundation the centre of a network of foundations in the region. The Balkan foundations development group would jointly work on improving the framework for foundations in the region and will assist partnership and capacity-building among and within foundations.
The idea first came up at the regional Round Table in October 2001. It was confirmed and officially established by members of the International Conference in December 2002.
This project has been successfully presented on April 5, 2003 by BalkanKult's delegate at the Meeting "Reconciling for the Future", held by CDRSEE (Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeastern Europe) and STABILITY PACT for South Eastern Europe in Thessalonica.
Foundation's Secretariat:
• Mr. Dimitrije Vujadinović, president
• Ms. Ana Krstić, project manager
• Ms. Ksenija Graovac, researcher
• Ms. Anka Vučković, accountant
BALKANKULT FOUNDATION BACKGROUND
The BalkanKult Foundation continues the work started and realized by the regional association BalkanKult, established in December 1999, when artists, media representatives, policy makers, researchers and NGO representatives gathered to support cultural cooperation in Southeastern Europe and beyond. The conference gathered 70 participants from 17 European states who agreed to support the establishment of such an important association for cultural cooperation.
The BalkanKult Association worked as a project coordinator and a mediator in different activities for various partners (state, legal and private institutions, NGOs, etc.) from SE Europe and other parts of Europe.
Projects and Cultural Events
The BalkanKult Association has successfully realized numerous projects and cultural events within the framework of the regional cooperation and cooperation with other parts of Europe, by which the cultural bridges have been established. The major projects which have made a significant influence on the regional cooperation are:
Problems and Opportunities for Cultural Cooperation inside the Balkan Region - SWOT Analysis
Euroregions – cultural cooperation in Euroregions in the SE Europe, especially in the field of cultural tourism
Creative Europe – big European project supported by the Council of Europe and realised in cooperation with the EricArts Institute from Bonn. The project has initiated a valuable discussion on what European culture is and what its outcomes are
Norden Balkan Culture Switch is a long-term (2002 – 2005) multilateral programme of cultural cooperation and networking between cultural institutions, practitioners and artists from the Nordic and the Western Balkan region
In the Sound of the Places – music festival in 70 towns of the Western Balkans and northern Italy, in cooperation with the Progetto Musica Association and supported by the Italian government
First Triennial of Balkan Ex-Libris - regional ex-libris competition exhibited all over SEE and Europe (Frankfurt, Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš, Sarajevo, Sofia, Chania, Leskovac, Bar, Požarevac, etc).
Conferences, seminars, round tables
Besides gathering experts who worked on solving concrete problems in the field of culture and cultural production, the Association has been organizing conferences, seminars and round tables which encourage the connecting of cultural practitioners and artists and the establishing of new cultural bridges:
1. Cultural Management and Cultural Industry in the Balkans – Publishing / Film, Budva, December 2000;
2. Film Co-productions, Technical Services and New Possibilities, Belgrade, February, 2001;
3. International Cultural Cooperation: European Cultural Networks, International Foundations and Programmes, National Foundations – Who? What? Where? How?, Belgrade, April 2001;
4. Cultural Management and Cultural Industry in the Balkans – Music / Visual Arts, Belgrade, June 2001;
5. Present and Future Role of Foundations in Cultural Funding and Policymaking in the Balkans, Belgrade, October 2001;
6. Cultural Cooperation in the Euro-region Danube-Kris-Moris-Tisza, Novi Sad, May 2002;
7. Models for the Protection of Rights in the Field of Literature, Belgrade, October 2002;
8. Funding the Future – Role of Cultural Foundations, Funds and Endowments in the SEE, Belgrade, December 2002;
9. High Music Education – Different Aspects, Problems, Development and Results in the Context of Contemporary Culture Situation; Sofia, December 2002;
10. Cultural Tourism in the Euroregion Danube-Kris-Moris-Tisza – Museums and Archaeology – * Possibilities for Cooperation, Novi Sad, February 2003,
11. Protection of Author Rights in the filed of literature, film, applied arts and traditional knowledge, Belgrade, December 2003,
12. Development Aspects of Cultural Tourism in the Western Balkans – Music Festival in the Sounds of the Places, Summer 2004.
Publications:
Through the cultural policy edition we wish to inform and educate cultural practitioners and artists on their rights and obligations, with the aim of encouraging them to initiate the necessary positive changes in cultural milieus. This is the reason why most of our publications can be downloaded from our website free of charge.
• Green Paper on Cultural Policies of Local and Regional Authorities in Europe (Les Rencontres and BalkanKult)
• Intellectual Property – A Powerful Tool for Economic Growth by Dr. Kamil Idriz, WIPO
• Arts organizations and their educational programmes by Tuula Yrjö-Koskinen
• Culture State – Individual Museum by Dr. Andreas Joh. Wiesand
• Present and future role of foundations in cultural funding and policymaking in the Balkans, collection of works
• Funding the future – manual for fundraising in the arts by Andrew McIlroy
• The developing aspects of cultural industries, collection of works
• Models for the protection of rights in the field of literature, collection of works
• Balancing act – 21 strategic dilemma in cultural policy by Francois Matarasso and Charles Landry, Council of Europe
• The role of the European Community concerning the cultural article 151 in the Treaty of Amsterdam, Dr Joost Smiers
• Culture, cultures, Rudy Demotte
Partners:
BalkanKult has already found many partners in the region and within Europe who share its goals and vision.
Some of the regional partners include: Bulgarian Music Information Centre, Sofia, Bulgaria; The Board of Culture, Religion and Heritage of Timis Country, Romania; Montenegro Mobil Art, Podgorica, Montenegro; Rruga Me Pisha Foundation, Tirana, Albania; Centre for Contemporary Arts, Skopje, FRY Macedonia; Center for Contemporary Arts, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova; NGO Development Foundation, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; National Forum for Culture, Sofia, Bulgaria; Beletrina, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Association NEBO, Zagreb, Croatia.
Main partners and financers from Europe in past three years are: Nordic Council of Ministers, Stability Pact for SEE, Council of Europe, Joan Records Music Company, Italian Institute for Culture, European Cultural Foundation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Kopinor, ERICarts (European Research Institute for Comparative Cultural Policy and the Arts), Les Rencontres (European Association of Cities and Regions for Culture), Goethe Institute Inter Nationes, Zentrum fur Kulturforschung, Association Progetto Musica, ACTAVIS, ZDRAVLJE Actavis Company, Delegation of the European Commission in Belgrade, etc.
Published: 2006-05-24
Copyright © 2003 BalkanKult. All Rights Reserved.