The new project called ‘Age Against The Machine’, initiated and supported by the ‘Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation, officially began on Friday, 11 April, with the first meeting of representatives of all five partner countries participating in the project.
Dealing with the challenges faced by the elderly and the topic of ageism is a logical sequence for the ‘Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation, given that in the title year we created the Other? Europe programme arch, which enabled the voices of the marginalized and discriminated to be heard. Now we have gone a step further and internationalized dealing with the topic of ageism, within the framework of the European Commission’s CERV – Network of Cities programme, with partners from Denmark, Portugal, Italy, Poland and the Netherlands. This EU programme dealing with human rights is a continuation of the Europe for Citizens platform, within which the ‘Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation has already implemented two large international projects (EYE.Net 1 and 2), which dealt with youth activism through theatre expression’ said Lazar Jovanov, the co-author and main coordinator of the project.
The project, which deals with the topic of ageism, i.e., the fight against discrimination and violence against the elderly, aims to create an international network of five cities that will publicly advocate the fight against ‘ageism’, using a combination of different participatory applied theatre methodologies. Through the ‘Age Against The Machine’ project, existing discriminatory practices of senior citizens in various areas of social life, especially senior women, will be researched, presented and re-examined.
‘Our focus during the research process and work on creating a play with an intergenerational group will be social policies, specifically labour rights and employment of the elderly, violence against the elderly, as well as ageism and stereotypes in culture and media,’ said Branka Bajić Jovanov, the co-author of the project, group coordinator and process leader.
A total of 12 activities are planned as part of the project, including one initial training in Novi Sad for mentors and project coordinators, five ‘Age Against The Machine’ festivals in the cities of project partners (Holstebro, Cuneo, Évora, Goleniów, Novi Sad), one conference and five premieres of theatre performances with communities in the project partner countries (Poland, Serbia, Portugal, Denmark, Italy) starting from November 2024 to November 2025.
‘I am the main researcher at the University of Évora, the centre of artistic research in Portugal. I am happy to be involved in the project because we will deal with the methodology of all partners. We will also deal with the diversity of topics, as well as how these topics are treated in relation to theatre techniques and methodology. At the end of the project we will write a report, so our involvement in the project is more research. We also coordinate this project, as do other partners. We will have a workshop with older people, but also with younger people, we will participate in festivals, therefore, apart from the research part, we will equally participate in the project,’ said the representative of the project from the partner country of Portugal, Ana Maria Moya Pelitero.
An important partner in the project is the Red Cross of Serbia, whose members Nataša Todorović and Milutin Vračević, are expert support for all partners in the research process in relation to the topics of ageism, which relate to various forms of institutional discrimination, including the review of existing legal regulations in Europe and partner countries.
The general goal of the ‘Age Against The Machine’ project is to increase the awareness, knowledge and interest of European citizens and decision-makers regarding aging and the position of the elderly population.
You can find more information at novisad2022.rs
