Children and young people will be in the focus of the European Capital of Culture during April and May. Three programmes ‘Schools of the Future’, ‘Flags of the Future’ and ‘Fairy Tales of the Future’, with 460 artists from 30 countries, will be presented through 270 different cultural events.
Escape to the ‘Schools of the Future’
Novi Sad’s ‘schools of the future’ will become stages for plays, exhibitions, musicals and experimental programmes. Supreme foreign artists, as well as the local ones, will become lecturers in 18 schools in Novi Sad. The world-renowned conductor Karmina Šilec stands out, as well as famous European choreographers such as Panda van Proosdij and Stefan Lutherman from the Netherlands and Giovanni Zazzera and Rhiannon Morgan from Luxembourg. The four most prestigious dance ensembles will work with students at the new Ballet School and the Serbian National Theatre: the Jo Strømgren Kompani (Oslo), the Batsheva Ensemble (Tel Aviv), Malpaso (Havana) and Ballet Jazz (Montreal). In the visual arts in the ‘Schools of the Future’ programme, the lecturers will be the Japanese artist Akinori Oishi and the painter Chantal Mike. Plays from eight European countries, prepared by their peers with European directors, will also be presented to Novi Sad students from 5 to 8 April as part of the EYE.NET theatre festival.
Unusual and different approaches to the education of children and youth are joined by local artists such as satirists from ‘Government Job’ (Državni posao), YouTuber Yasserstain, as well as musician Marko Šelić Marčelo and DJ Vladimir Aćić, who will perform on 8 April, as well as many others. Museums, galleries, cultural stations and cultural centres have joined the ‘Schools of the Future’ programme, which will thus become new centres of education for all citizens.
Critical thinking and expression through ‘Flags of the Future’ during the last days of April
In the ‘Flags of the Future’ programme, which will be held from 28 to 30 April, young artists will reshape the renewed Creative District with their work. For three days, with more than 70 events, dance, performances, plays, activations, exhibitions, concerts and workshops will revive the space of authentic industrial heritage of Novi Sad. ‘Flags of the Future’ singles out four unusual exhibitions. From children’s works, which include generations of children more than half a century, student works that show their everyday life, new contemporary art practices, to works by young artists who have the opportunity to express themselves through innovative art forms, such as the first Novi Sad open-air gallery – young people shape the Creative District in their own style. In this segment, five performances stand out, a street dance festival, an art circus, and the program by A1 Serbia – environmental workshop ‘Better Air for All’, as well as the workshop ‘Me as a Digital Editor’, led by two influencers, Aleksa Todorović and David Pavlović. Also, for the first time in Novi Sad, more than 30 young musicians from all over Europe, the region and Serbia, will present themselves through a variety of music genres. In addition to young jazz ensembles from seven European Capitals of Culture, Szabolcs Bognar, Turbojazz, Frontline Vibers, Kenny Berry, Nihil, Zoe, Scheiserbiterlemon, Phantom, Luka Rajic, Marko Louis and many others will perform. The ‘Flags of the Future’ programme is supported by: IDEA, DDOR and A1 Srbija.
Fairy tales in a new perspective – the world of magic through ‘Fairy tales of the future’
Thanks to the ‘Fairy Tales of the Future’ programme, old stories will get a new perspective. Novi Sad and its surroundings will tell 200 new and unique stories through operas for children, puppet shows and interactive theatre ensembles, which will unite artists from 13 countries. Along with prominent authors, such as Kokan Mladenović, who will organize an unforgettable ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ on the city streets, Serbian Athens will host some of the most important theatre ensembles for children from Europe, such as the Dublin Theatre Festival, Ameno from Spain, Grus Grus Theatre from Finland, Ljubljana Puppet Theatre from Slovenia, Czech Alpha Theatre and many others.
‘Schools of the Future’, ‘Flags of the Future’ and ‘Fairy Tales of the Future’ are part of the ‘Future of Europe’ programme arch, one of the eight programme arches that make up the programme concept of the European Capital of Culture 2022.
Photo: Vladimir Veličković, Ana Kašćelan, Promo
