‘Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation, as the holder of the European Youth Engagement Network 2.0 – EYE.net 2 international project, hosted partners from six countries last weekend in Novi Sad, from 7 to 11 July.

The preparatory workshop, as the first activity on the EYE.net 2 project, due to the easing of epidemic measures, gathered 30 managers, artists and young people from the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Lithuania, France, Greece, Germany and Serbia.

The main goals of the workshop were networking of partner organisations, defining the date of implementation of activities, production of plays in all partner countries, defining marketing strategy and signing partnership agreements. Each partner presented their organisation, team and previously implemented projects, as well as the topics of their plays and work methodology.

The Slovenian group will work on the topic of ‘fake news’, the Serbian and Greek groups will deal with the topic of ecology, while the French and Lithuanian groups will focus on solidarity, the German group on the topic of anti-fascism, the Italian group on the topic of economy, and the Czech group on Euroscepticism. As a very important issue, the issue of subtitling and translating plays to the audience was also raised.

Apart from the Drž – ne daj theatre troupe from Novi Sad, some of the organisations participating in the project are: Associazione Culturale Capotrave / Kilowatt, as one of the most important Italian festivals for young groups of the new Italian theatre Polyplanity, a Greek organisation that is a member of the International Society for the Performing Arts-ISPA and the International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts-IETM, the two most significant international cultural networks, then Divadlo v Dlouhé, a Czech theatre that works directly with the Young Spectators Club Klub mladých diváků, as the only institution in the Czech Republic that offers collaborative theatre performances to primary and secondary school students and their teachers, as well as the Pazaislis Music Festival, one of the most influential cultural events in Lithuania that promotes classical music.

The EYE.net 2 project is supported by the ‘Europe for Citizens’ EU programme, and includes 15 partners from Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Serbia, the Czech Republic, France, Italy and Germany. Within the project, the production of eight author’s youth engaged plays will be implemented. The work methodology combines youth work and different techniques of interactive, applied theatre. Young people will have the opportunity to analyse and reflect on current socio-political topics and actively engage in dialogue on the future of the EU.

The newly created productions will be performed in all partner countries, and young people will have the opportunity to travel and collaborate with their peers and artists from different parts of Europe.

The plays will be performed within the main programme of the two European Capitals of Culture, Novi Sad 2022 and Kaunas 2022.

Photo: Uroš Dožić