The Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia and ‘Novi Sad 2021– European Capital of Culture’ organised the presentation of the ‘Novi Sad 2021– European Capital of Culture’ project for representatives of the cultural institutions in Serbia in the Klub Poslanika. The aim of the meeting was introducing managers of cultural institutions with ways and possibilities of involving in this project of national importance in order to present the Serbian cultural heritage in the best possible way in the title year.

Vladan Vukosavljević, Minister of Culture and Information, stressed the importance of this prestigious title for the Serbian culture and presenting its splendour to the whole world.
‘The European Capital of Culture is a true cultural stage where everything worth seeing in the Serbian culture will appear, and it is up to us to use this as one of the key points for presenting the cultural treasure of our country’, said the Minister.

Praising the recent efforts and achievements of the ‘Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture’ in the implementation of the project, he emphasized that cultural institutions will be able to show their capacities and cultural potential to a diverse and undoubtedly large audience who will visit Novi Sad by participating in the programmes, but he added that there is not much time left for that.

‘That is why we need to start very serious discussions, negotiations and organisation as soon as possible. Time is now, as well as for the selection of events, exhibitions, main and accompanying programmes in order to get ready for 2021’, said Vukosavljević and invited cultural institutions to intensively cooperate with the Foundation.

Nemanja Milenković, CEO of the ‘Novi Sad 2021– European Capital of Culture’ Foundation stressed that the most important thing is that the project is being implemented jointly because synergy contributes to increasing the visibility of the institutions and programmes themselves, as well as creating a new audience and improving the overall cultural image of the country.

‘If we manage do this in a common synergy, there will be benefits for all of us on a long-term basis. With this project, we will again show how much culture is the engine and driver of a society’, said Milenković.

The managers of cultural institutions and cultural workers were also addressed by Asja Drača Muntean, acting Assistant Minister for International Cooperation in the Field of Culture and Art, Tijana Palkovljević Bugarski, President of the Steering Committee of the ‘Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture’, Dušan Kaličanin, Programme Director of the ‘Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture’ and Lazar Jovanov, PhD, Head of the Curator Sector. They presented in detail the mission, vision, structure of the project, programme concept and achievements accomplished so far, as well as ways of involving cultural institutions and future programmes.

The readiness to assist cultural institutions in the implementation of programmes and projects of the ‘Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture’ team was particularly emphasized, as well as interconnecting and connecting with cultural institutions across Europe.

The participants of the meeting agreed that Serbia has a lot to show in 2021, when the whole country will be under the spotlights of the local and world public. The conclusion of the meeting was that these are the crucial years for the long-term raising of cultural capacities of all institutions.