The multimedia event “Mileva: Decoding” has won an award at the world’s most prestigious competition in the field of event organisation — the Eventex Awards — in the category Art Event.
The artistic event, realised by the Foundation “Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture,” in honour of the 150th anniversary of the birth of scientist Mileva Marić, was featured in a record-breaking edition of the competition, which received the highest number of entries to date — 1,405 from 58 countries worldwide: https://eventex.com/winners2026
Held last December in the restored Steel Factory in the District, “Mileva: Decoding” is one of five awarded projects in the Art Event category. The others include: a mobile music festival by Poland’s largest publishing house PWM; the “Harmony of Being” event, which transformed a luxury shopping mall in China into an immersive cultural destination; the opening of a museum dedicated to Indian painter and filmmaker Maqbool Fida Husain in Qatar; and the 10th anniversary of the international digital art festival iMapp Bucharest in Romania.
Alongside recognising major artistic events, the Eventex Awards are widely regarded as an indicator of global trends in the event industry. This is reflected in the participation of some of the world’s largest and most recognisable brands, including Coca-Cola, Corona, Mercedes-Benz, McDonald’s, Samsung, Vichy, Expo 2020 Dubai, FIFA Arab Cup, UNICEF, Vodafone, the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Italy, and others.
The award has existed since 2009, and its categories are divided into seven areas: Events, Brand Experiences, Event Technology, Event Production, Venues, Agencies & Teams, and Marketing, Communications & Strategy. The jury consists of leading experts from the global event industry.
“Mileva: Decoding” is a multimedia event dedicated by Novi Sad, as a UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts, to the 150th anniversary of Mileva Marić’s birth. It offers a deeper interpretation of Mileva’s personality and highlights her global significance in a contemporary context. For the first time, such a large number of different authors presented the complexity of Mileva’s character through four programme units and contemporary artistic expressions. More than 100 contributors participated — visual artists, musicians, architects, composers, scientists, professors, psychologists, philosophers, historians, dancers, and experts from the cultural and creative industries from eight countries: Sweden, Austria, Portugal, Hungary, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia. The event was realised on the initiative and with the support of the Organising Committee for the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mileva Marić Einstein.
This is yet another global recognition received in Novi Sad, acknowledged through the work of the Foundation “Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture,” following the award for Best European Trend Brand in Culture (2021), the Melina Mercouri Prize for one of the most successful ECoC titles (2021), inclusion in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of Media Arts (2023), the Special Recognition of the International Award UCLG – Mexico City – Culture 21 (2024), nominations of “Doček” and “Vila” among the best European festivals at the European Festival Awards (2022), and “Flags of the Future” being named among the top five festivals at the European Festival Awards (2022).