Conference at the Exit Festival
‘Using Dialogue to Develop the Chinese Quarter’
Sunday, 9 July at 7:30 p.m., Activism Street

The City Administration for Culture of Novi Sad and ‘Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation defined the way to establish the culture of dialogue regarding the appeal of the Mayor of Novi Sad about the further development of the so-called Chinese Quarter.

The goals of the project, stated in the application form, refer to the preservation of the ‘Petar Drapšin’ industrial complex and re-purposing it for implementation of cultural programmes, training and discussions, with the end goal to create a self-sustainable space and Youth Creative Polis.
The activity plan for preservation of the so-called Chinese Quarter resulted in adoption of the ‘Detailed Regulation Plan’ for preservation of the space from further decay, all the while taking into account the identity in infrastructural and essential sense. The Detailed Regulation Plan lays down the Forum for Culture as an instrument for communicating with the public in the development phase of the project.

On the other hand, we also initiate Let’s Talk – series of open discussions with the citizens of Novi Sad and expert public, in order to identify current issues in the sphere of cultural system of the city, and to improve projects within the European Capital of Culture. During the last year, within the candidacy process of Novi Sad for the ECoC, this project was adopted by the Artistic Council, and as such it is in the Bid-book.

Let’s Talk will be organised by the members of the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ Foundation, and participation will be open both for expert public and for intersected citizens.

Based on the timetables of the City Administration and Foundation, the following four phases of the dialogue are proposed: The first phase is the ‘Using Dialogue to Develop Chinese Quarter’ conference as an introductory process for development of the dialogue. This conference has been initiated by the ‘Danas’ daily with the goal to introduce the process of the dialogue to the wider public. However, for all those who are not participating at the conference, the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ Foundation organised live-stream, via Facebook page, starting at 7.30 p.m. The last fifteen minutes will be dedicated to Q&A session with panellists.

The conference panellists are: Nemanja Milenković – Novi Sad 2021 Foundation; Vukašin Grozdanović – OPENS; Zdravko Vulin – producer; Pera Mirković – representative of artists from the so-called Chinese Quarter; Slobodan Jović – Association of Architects of Novi Sad. Following the conference, there will be the first Forum for Culture – 10 July.

Next phase is the research process for starting the dialogue, which includes mapping the space of the so-called Chinese Quarter; survey of the citizens (2021 respondents); examples of good practice the transformation of industrial heritage; online form where citizens could give suggestions on the website of the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ Foundation.

The third phase of the dialogue includes organisation of three Let’s Talk sessions and three Forums for Culture.

The final phase of the dialogue, based on the democratic and transparent process, is the initiative of the City Administration for Culture and ‘Novi Sad 2021’ Foundation, which acts as mediator in communication with expert public and citizens. The result the initiative should be harmonisation of conclusions on further development of the former industrial complex ‘Petar Drapšin’. This will be the first time that an open and comprehensive dialogue is used to articulate clear guidelines for transformation of industrial heritage in Novi Sad, and even in the region, combatting different interpretations made so far.