On Wednesday, 20 December, the implementation of the final part of the ‘Audience in the Focus of Cultural Institutions’ programme began with the workshop about audience development in the building of the Historical Archives of the City of Novi Sad. The goal of the programme is to encourage improvement of the existing and development of new practices in audience development

The aim of the workshop is to strengthen and support cultural institutions in Novi Sad in their continuous work on developing cultural habits, needs and competencies of citizens of Novi Sad. It lasts until 21 December and it is organised by the ‘Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation. More than 50 representatives of cultural institutions that are founded by the City, Province or State and have their seat on the territory of the city of Novi Sad participate in the programme.

During the opening of the workshop, the participants were addressed by Ivana Boroja, Assistant to the Provincial Secretary for Art, Dalibor Rožić, Member of the City Council in charge of culture of Novi Sad, and PhD Tijana Palkovljević Bugarski, Director of the Gallery of Matica Srpska and Chairperson of the Managing Board of the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ Foundation. Ivana Boroja stressed the willingness of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina to help and support networking of cultural instructions on the territory of Vojvodina on projects dedicated to raising capacities, especially in terms of audience development and capacity for project activities. Ms Boroja invited participants to interact and contribute to the success of this workshop. Dalibor Rožić stressed the importance of cooperation between cultural institutions, and cooperation between them and the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ Foundation on developing audience and capacities of institutions, because these goals are mentioned in the Strategy of Cultural Development of the City of Novi Sad. Ms Palkovljević Bugarski shared the knowledge and experience that the Gallery of Matica Srpska acquired regarding the audience development, and invited the participants to initiate the creation of the Strategy for Audience Development for all cultural institutions on the territory of the city of Novi Sad: ‘We need dedication, persistence, and perseverance in this process, because just as programmes cannot be implemented quickly, nor created overnight, neither can audience.’

Introductory lecture on the topic of ‘Audience Development from the Perspective of European Capitals of Culture’ was held by Christian Potiron, cultural manager and advisor of the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ Foundation. Two-day training and workshop is led by Goran Tomka, researcher and lecturer at the UNESCO Department for Cultural Policy and Management, University of Arts in Belgrade, and Višnja Kisić, PhD in musicology and management of cultural heritage, Secretary

General of the Europa Nostra Serbia and lecturer at the UNESCO Department for Cultural Policy and Management, University of Arts in Belgrade.
The ‘Audience in the Focus of Cultural Institutions’ programme is part of the long-term dedication of the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ Foundation to make culture and art accessible to citizens of Novi Sad, as well as to visitors from Serbia and abroad.