For a relatively short time, since Novi Sad won the European Capital of Culture title in October last year and since the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ foundation was founded early this year, the Sector for International Cooperation of the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ project established cooperation with numerous international organisations and institutions.
After the promotion of the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ project to international partners, and after establishing cooperation with teams that have implemented or are currently implementing ECoC projects in Pécs, Rijeka, Timișoara, Wrocław, and other, then with numerous European cultural institutions, foundations, and experts, the negotiations about partnership and cooperation with the city of Wellington in New Zealand have initiated.
Vuk Radulović, Manager of the Sector for International Cooperation of the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ foundation, met with Nataša Petković Jeremić, who is actually a native of Serbia, but currently lives in New Zealand, and is the Head of the Sector for Culture of the City of Wellington. She came to Novi Sad in order to see the concept of the Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture project.
The meeting was a success, and according to Vuk Radulović, Nataša Petković Jeremić showed great interest for potential cooperation, therefore it was agreed to continue discussion on exchange of artists from Novi Sad and New Zealand, and projects that could be implemented jointly.
Mr Radulović emphasised that interest of artists from Wellington and New Zealand confirms that the ECoC project is not only European, but also a global project. He supported this claim with the fact that, apart from cooperation with New Zealand, a cooperation with artists from Japan has been initiated during the visit of Shuji Kogi, Secretary-General of the Japanese committee EU – Japan Fest with the seat in Tokio. There are also plans for similar projects that would be implemented with artists from the United States of America.
