In addition to working on programme development for the title year with applicants from the non-governmental sector that are dominant in the Bid-Book, the ‘Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation opted for additional engagement in order to support and raise capacities of the non-institutional scene. The work carried out with cultural institutions last year was a success and the Foundation has started the similar strategic approach by developing the culture of dialogue with representatives of non-institutional scene of Novi Sad this year.
First activities are focused on processes of mapping that should enable us to take concrete steps. Ms Lia Ghilardi, expert for mapping in the field of culture, came from London in order to work with representatives of non-institutional cultural scene and members of the Foundation team, and to share her long-standing international experience.
During the two days in two cultural stations, Egység and Svilara, participants exchanged their opinions and experience, discussed frequent problems artists and associations face, creative potentials that are present in the city and its surroundings, development of market, connections and models of cooperation, as well as their responsibility towards cultural development.
Ms Lia Ghilardi, internationally recognised leader in the field of cultural development, talented and well informed creator, cooperates with leaders of civil sector, urbanists, architects and artistic organisations in Europe in order to offer creative and integrated solutions for challenges that are part of life in contemporary urban spaces. She said that she was positively surprised with wide variety of activities in the field of culture that are happening in Novi Sad, but cultural institutions lack communication with non-institutional scene and vice versa and therefore, the Foundation is a great moderator in the process, i.e. important bridge in connecting different stakeholders.
‘There is a lack of cooperation at the moment and we have to create an opportunity in order to establish the communication, which is a challenge for many other cities in Europe, as well as for Novi Sad’, stressed Ms Ghilardi and added that it can be seen that the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ Foundation strives to use creativity and potentials of non-institutional scene of Novi Sad, and make it the integral part of the programme, give it the possibility to be more visible, to raise awareness of what they do and show how they can contribute to the city, even after the title year.
We would like to remind that the Foundation supported the work of institutional scene in many ways during 2018, like the ‘Audience in Focus’ public call, where the Foundation offered financial support for cultural institutions for development of new approaches in the field of audience development, public calls for mobility and accessibility, free foreign language courses for employees in cultural institutions, projects of non-formal education, projects of partnership building, and the biggest project – ‘Project 33’, which is focused on strategic planning of work of cultural institutions in Novi Sad.
During the title year, people find programmes most attractive and they remember new spaces the most, but the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ Foundation stresses that new people and processes are equally important, and even more so, because they are the precondition for implementation of programmes, strengthening institutions and artists who work there, and for audience to experience the culture as the way of life. Processes that last and are invisible for general public should contribute to capacity building of cultural programmes and acknowledge all stakeholders of the cultural scene and their potentials. The process of mapping the non-institutional scene of Novi Sad is the first step towards increasing its visibility and strength.
