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  • Block-5 | WCSCD

    REACHING OUT TO THE MARGINS Once we start questioning the infrastructure of art, the first thing that stands out is the centralisation of institutional activity - be that geographical dislocation, distribution of finances and resources, and last but not least, the narrow focus on the actors and beneficiaries of the ‘art machine’. Peripheral city districts, vulnerable social groups, ecologically fragile and otherwise problematic areas - are generally at the bottom of the list. Although art can be the tool to highlight and empower particular discourses, the discourse of the ‘marginal’ still stays on the margin, and is of interest to few artists and institutions. In this section we propose to look away from the center, step outside the institutional walls and frameworks, and go exploring the periphery. This block is curated by Anastasia Albokrinova, artist, researcher and curator. BLOCK 5.1 Intro REACHING OUT TO THE MARGINS: A GLANCE AROUND Let us first define the notion of ‘margin’. This simple exercise is not only a question of understanding, but also a tool to situate yourself in the center-periphery model and a possible key to reinvent it. How do you define what is marginal/peripheral? Is ‘margin’ a place/ a social group/ a practice? Are you part of a margin/what margin you belong to? What is a margin? Make a list ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ Task Reaching out to the margins can be something outstanding to your daily experience and arouses a number of questions. How to act? What to pay attention to? How to talk with people? How to not just gather information, but build action based on reciprocity? You can continue the list. Think of a margin you can reach. Choose a time to visit it. Make this first encounter open-ended. Try to gather maximum information and welcome any experience, but don’t forget to take care of yourself and be careful towards others. Remember: your margin visit might be only for this exercise, but what we actually need is establishing a long-term relationship. So you will need to find a way to come back. And this coming back should be with purpose. During your journey you will need to discover what is your purpose other than the visitor. Take this set of words as a departure point to tell about your ‘margin’ experience. Navigate through them, stopping and expanding those that were of use to you in your journey. Add new notions that you find important. intuition improvisation limitation risk trust autonomy collaboration confrontation curiosity exchange exhaustion affective labor Use visual + text format to document and reflect on your journey. You can be free in the choice of visual approach - it can be a photographic image, a drawing, a collage, etc. Additional materials In this journey we will draw inspiration from the practice of Skart, an art collective founded in 1990 by two students at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade - Dragan Protic and Dorde Balmazovic, also known as Prota and Zole. Their story throughout 3 decades is told by Sea Yildiz in a book “Building Human Relations Through Art. Skart collective (Belgrade) > from 1990 to present” published by ONOMATOPEE 224 IN 2022. SKART_Error as a trace of humanity Self-feedback At this point you can stop and reflect on what was done. Here are some questions that may help: What were your spontaneous impulses? Where were you driven? What scared you away? Did you surprise yourself? Did you face your limitations? What will you do the next time you come back? BLOCK 5.2 Intro REACHING OUT TO THE MARGINS: A GESTURE You’ve found your ‘margin’. First time you went with an empty head and empty hands, now you can come back having something in both. But what is this ‘something’? It lies in the narrow gap between the ‘possible’ and the ‘visionary’, the ‘banal’ and the ‘weird’, the ‘caring’ and ‘cautious’. Task Draw a line. On the left end write the smallest, simplest or funniest gesture you could do at your margin. Now turn to the right end of the line and dream big: what could you do if you had unlimited resources? Now start filling the line on its sequence. What would be your gesture if you had ‘this’ or ‘that’? What could you do if you united forces, found allies? What could be done if you partnered with an institution? Select a point on this line that sounds doable. Make a ‘to-do’ list to make this gesture happen. Now think of your gesture in the paradigm of time. Is it a one-time intervention or a structural approach? Is it spectacular or non-spectacular? What change it may bring, how may it impact the established infrastructure? May it hurt? May it heal? Being aware and prepared, reach out to the margin again and make your gesture. Additional materials SKART_The beauty of working together Self-feedback Now is time to estimate your actions: What went as planned, where you had to improvise, what appeared to be unrealistic? What would you change if you did it again? Finally, how could you implement this exercise in your structural thinking about profession? Let’s also zoom out and think institution-wise: What would you propose to do for the institutions to be more sensitive / aware of the margins? Would that be a program/ a structural change, a staff member proposal? What resources would that require?

  • EVA International | WCSCD

    Events Lecture Series Participant Activities Lecture by Matt Packer / EVA International Saša Tkačenko, Flag from the WCSCD series, 2018. Photo by Ivan Zupanc THE CURATORIAL COURSE WHAT COULD/SHOULD CURATING DO? IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE A PUBLIC TALK BY: MATT PACKER EVA International MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART BELGRADE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27 2018 AT 6 PM In collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade, the lecture within the series of public programs organized by WCSCD will be presented by Matt Packer — the Director of EVA International – Ireland’s Biennial of Contemporary Art. The series is designed to offer new and different perspectives on the theories and practices of exhibition-making. The presentation by Matt Packer will evolve around EVA – Ireland’s longest running organisation of contemporary visual art. First established in 1977 to stimulate visual arts in the mid West region of Ireland, it since developed a model of inviting international guest curators to adjudicate (and in more recent editions curate) exhibitions of work by Irish and International artists. EVA adopted a biennial model in 2012 which continues today; the most recent edition, the untitled 38th EVA International, was curated by Inti Guerrero and took place across six venues in Limerick / Dublin in Spring-Summer 2018. Drawing on a number of specific episodes in EVA’s 40 year history, the recently appointed Director of EVA International will present examples of how EVA has coincided and responded to broader cultural and political changes, both within Ireland and internationally. These examples include EVA’s presentation of The Artists’ Campaign to Repeal the 8th Amendment during the 2018 referendum campaign to overrule restrictive abortion legislation in Ireland, and the recurring address of partition between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. ABOUT THE LECTURER: Matt Packer is the Director of EVA International – Ireland’s Biennial of Contemporary Art. Previous roles include Director, CCA Centre For Contemporary Art Derry ~ Londonderry (2014 – 2017); Associate Director, Treignac Projet (2013-2016); Curator of Exhibitions & Projects, Lewis Glucksman Gallery (2008 – 2013). As an independent curator, he has curated numerous exhibitions in Ireland and internationally, including They Call Us The Screamers, TULCA Festival of Visual Arts, Galway (2017), Disappearing Acts, Lofoten International Art Festival, Norway (2015) (with Arne Skaug Olsen); When Flanders Failed, RHA, Dublin (2011) (with Stephen Brandes); and Ice Trade, Chelsea Space, London (2007) (with Kim Dhillon). He was part of the selection committee for the British representation at the Venice Biennale 2017. He has written for numerous magazines, journals including Frieze, Kaleidoscope, and Concreta. The WCSCD curatorial course and series of public lectures are initiated and organized by Biljana Ciric together with Supervizuelna. The lecture by Niels Van Tomme is made possible with the help of MoCAB and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with the additional support of Zepter Museum and Zepter Hotel. Project partners: The Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade; GRAD—European Center for Culture and Debate; EVA International – Ireland’s Biennial, ’Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation and Zepter Museum. The project is supported by: the Goethe Institute in Belgrade; Istituto Italiano di Cultura Belgrado; the Embassy of Sweden; the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; the Embassy of Ireland in Greece; the Embassy of Indonesia; the EU Info Centre; Pro Helvetia – Swiss Art Council; and galleries Eugster || Belgrade, HESTIA Art Residency & Exhibitions Bureau, and Zepter Hotel, Royal Inn Hotel and CAR:GO. Media partners: EUNIC Serbia, RTS3. < Mentors Educational Program How to Apply >

  • The roar, which never vanished

    < Back The roar, which never vanished Sultan Mussakhan The image of tigers and lions hunting their prey is solid in our memories due to their distinctive representation in the culture of modern-day humans. They are charismatic and murderous. They are indeed hypostasis for what we call as good and evil. So far, history says that they were understood as more evil than the good, which led to their total extinction in Central Asia in XX century, still echoing their majestic influence on people until today. This article mainly focuses on the role of tigers in the new cultural dynamics of modern Kazakhs as their role never vanished and with a further deeper understanding of them generating the new ideas of what is good, to begin with. This article will also combine one of their unique habitats – the shores of Lake Balkhash – as they can have a common destiny: to extinct or to rehabilitate. The history and formation of the modern landscape of Lake Balkhash can be traced back to the Early Pleistocene with evidence of the first colonization by Homo erectus . Epoch after epoch the people habiting the shores and lakesides by Balkhash were replaced and ended up by the rooting of Homo sapiens sapiens – or modern-day humans – generating pastoralist communities with their unique vertical migrations from deserts to alpine mountains as we can still observe today [1] . The Late Pleistocene was the period when large felines as lions and tigers started to vastly expand in Central Asia including the shores of Lake Balkhash. As it follows, it is not a big surprise that the charismatic felines of Central Asia were in close interaction with many human species creating a nexus for the further firm image of them as beautiful, powerful, but dangerous beings. If the archaeological and paleontological evidence is scarce on felines’ representation and their influence on first humans, we have plenty of evidence of how felines had their specific place in Bronze Age cultures as Andronovo people . We believe that these are the people who learned how to work with bronze, were the first nomads to colonize the whole of Central Asia, and had trading patterns with the adjacent other cultures. Besides, they were the first ones who depicted the large felines in petroglyphs. Today, we can map almost 170 different petroglyphs of different periods in Kazakhstan (Bronze age, Iron Age, and Turkic period) with various images of large felines and 30 petroglyphs are identified as lions ( Panthera leo persica ) and 18 as tigers ( Panthera tigris ) ( see fig. 1 and 2) [2] . Figure 1. A tiger petroglyph at Eshkiolmes, Kazakhstan. Belongs to the Iron age [2]. Figure 2. Tiger petroglyph Southern Balkhash region and the Khantau mountains, the Bronze Age, researched by A.G. Medoev [3] Lake Balkhash and deltas of various rivers enriching its waters were the natural habitats for the Caspian tiger or how we like to call it today as the Turanian tiger. Its Latin name comes as Panthera tigris virgata what also means in Kazakh as “zholbarys” – the striped feline. Even though the extinction of the last known tiger is recent, there is an attempt to reintroduce the closely related tiger subspecies Panthera tigris altaica from the Russian Far East to the shores of Lake Balkhash by WWF [4] . At first glance, a person who has never seen the Turanian tigers would believe that this is another ambitious yet indoctrinated project where the human takes over nature with an indulgent hand of help, albeit the best gaze would be to look at it as we are asking sorry that we brought so much pain to Lake Balkhash and disastrously treated it. So, who are those tigers and what would they bring to us? Once they inhabited from Turkey to Northwestern China, and their geographical range included almost all of the Central Asian countries. However, with the sedentarization and colonial attitude of the Russian Empire and further with the Soviet Union, not only aboriginal people were endangered, but the flora and fauna too, disturbing the intimate co-existence and ecosystem. The tugay woodlands were reshaped as well as the riversides to grow various cultures of valuable plants. With the loss of natural habitat, the preys of tigers were endangered or completely extinct too, rapidly declining in their population. Previously flourishing tigers almost along all major rivers in Central Asia, went extinct until the 1950s due to systematic poisoning and haunting. Yet, the Ili river- the largest river enriching the waters of Lake Balkhash – was one of three predominant places that could support a dense population of Caspian tigers is under intense human colonization and threat [5] . The situation has several related current events with the Yellowstone National Park in the United States, where the landscape was damaged due to the lack of large predators and the solution was to introduce wolves into the ecosystem [6] . There is one specific historical artwork by Said Atabekov “Way to Rome”, which is highly related to the extinction of Caspian tigers. The artwork represents a Kazakh-style carpet with a soldier’s hat on it (see fig. 3). Interestingly, both the style of the carpet and tiger have vanished for the modern days. The work symbolizes the homicidal policies towards the ethnicities of Central Asia. Probably, this is the only carpet left with the recent tiger representation in Kazakh traditional arts. Both Kazakhs and tigers shared a common destiny in the past. Figure 3. Said Atabekov, from the series of work “Way to Rome” (the last carpet with a portrait of the Turanian tiger). 2020, 70х105 cm. With the new project on the reintroduction of Caspian tigers to the Ili-Balkhash reservoir, it is another attempt to restore what was severely damaged in recent times. It is a hope to restore the actual ecosystem and give another chance for ourselves to co-exist and co-evolve. What is the value of reintroduction? There is a known species Panthera tigris altaica that is believed to be almost genetically identical to and descendants of Caspian tigers. As they are considered as the zenith of the food chain, the proper work on livestock management should be done. Thereby, the restoration of the ecosystem should be prepared from the lower ecological niches for reintroduction. So far, the Ili River delta can support almost 100-150 Amur tiger individuals and the first introduction will count up to 25 individuals [4]. There is a chance that the river delta would become a further National Park supporting the local socio-economic development as long as giving another hope that there will be more dialogue on human activity on Lake Balkhash and communication with Xinjiang (China) where the river takes place. This project can be classified as transboundary because yet it increases the interaction between the Asian countries and probably will be another bridge of cooperation. The introduction of the tiger is a part of decolonial optics too. It shows how the ecosystem depends on all components of the biodiversity including the dangerous predators and the sensitive ecosystem should be treated with more care. This optics bends towards the development of more ecocentric ideas, I believe. We also cannot defy that charismatic feline will be a bridge to personify Lake Balkhash and the Ili River delta with its gorgeous gaze and roar. Yet the appearance of tigers can become another appeal to save the waters of Lake Balkhash and the environment nearby. As we know, the tiger is a part of the national identity of both Turkic and Asian ethnicities. Once the endangered Kazakh people like the tiger itself could probably reflect their destiny to understand how close and co-existential they were as part of the fragile ecosystem teaching its lessons that there could be always a chance to survive, to flourish, and to respect where you live in. The introduction of the tiger and its value to the ecosystem, to the people, and the identity of Kazakhs can be only hypothesized and imagined, but it is another platform to synthesize, rethink, and re-evaluate what we are today. Personally, I think that biology and ecology narratives have to be decolonized by opening a wide window to the co-existence among all living species and the reintroduction of tigers is one step closer. References (apa style): [1] Deom, J. M., Aubekerov, B., Sala, R., & Nigmatova, S. (2012). Quaternary evolution of the human habitats in the Ili-Balkhash region from paleolithic to modern times. Toward a sustainable society in Central Asia: An historical perspective on the future , 49-58. [2] Schnitzler, A., & Hermann, L. (2019). Chronological distribution of the tiger Panthera tigris and the Asiatic lion Panthera leo persica in their common range in Asia. Mammal Review, 49 (4), 340-353. [3] https://edu.e-history.kz/ru/publications/view/1279 [4] https://wwf.ru/regions/central-asia/vosstanovlenie-turanskogo-tigra/ [5] Chestin, I. E., Paltsyn, M. Y., Pereladova, O. B., Iegorova, L. V., & Gibbs, J. P. (2017). Tiger re-establishment potential to former Caspian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata) range in Central Asia. Biological Conservation, 205 , 42-51. [6] Smith, D. W., Peterson, R. O., & Houston, D. B. (2003). Yellowstone after wolves. BioScience, 53 (4), 330-340. Sultan Mussakhan is a Ph.D candidate in Biological Science at Brock University ( Canada) as well as member of Art Collider. Previous Next

  • Contributors | WCSCD

    Contributors Zian Chen Dunja Karanović Jovan Mladenović Teodora Jeremić Beatrice Rubio-Gabriel Veronika Dashkova Ash Moniz Larys Frogier Yabebal Fantaye Brett Neilson Robert Bobnič Kaja Kraner Tjaša Pogačar Aigerim Kapar Jasphy Zheng Chen Liang Jelica Jovanović Bota Sharipova Nataliya Chemayeva WaterCafè Kulshat Medeuova Dragan Stojmenović Su Wei Anvar Musrepov Tjaša Pureber Solveig Suess Asia Bazdyrieva Hu Yun Alexey Ulko Sinkneh Eshetu Zeleke Aziza Abdul Fetah Ocean & Wavz Shasta Stevic Bermet Borubaeva Katarina Kostandinović Sarah Bushra Siniša Ilić Robel Temesgen Zdenka Badovinac Nikita Yingqian Cai Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev Mifta Zeleke Biljana Ciric < Projects Curatorial Inquiries Menu >

  • Block-1 | WCSCD

    SELF - POSITIONING Self-positioning starts not during a conference or a business handshake. It is rooted in your personality and shaped by the many contexts in which you exist. Self-positioning is also framed by the notions of ‘normative’ deriving from colonial, gender and a multitude of sociopolitical frameworks. To be able to liberate ourselves from predominant discourses and find our unique ways to act in the world we need first to discover and question our core attitudes - to ourselves, to the art system, to the global ‘other’. BLOCK 1.1 An input for this task is provided by Biljana Ciric, WSCSD program initiator. To start with, we offer you a set of questions. They may seem quite abstract, but can act as a trigger for a more in-depth analysis of self and further expand on your professional identity. What moves you? What has you? What is your position in relation to colonial difference? Who are you in relation to others? Task Position yourself within the world. Tell about your practice, but try to avoid showcasing your works. Think and understand who do you cite. Through citation you create relation and history. Revise your vocabulary. Who are you citing? By which terms do you define yourself and your practice? How can you overcome the colonial vocabulary? Put this into a text or a text+images format An advice: before staring each session we propose you to devote your practice to someone. Additional materials Listen to Hicham Khalidi, Director of the Jan van Eyck Academie, and Rolando Vázquez, Associate Professor of Sociology, University College Roosevelt speaking in “Transforming Institutions: On Social and Climate Justice ” Podcast. Self-feedback Did you discover something about yourself? What is your main trigger/ question? BLOCK 1.2 Together with artist and curator Anastasia Albokrinova we will focus on communication and creative approach. I am an impostor i imitate i play i squeeze in others’ skin i sign fake papers i make void agreements i take peoples’ money and give them to others i pretend i don’t know what’s curating and thus i own the freedom to reinvent it i fool those who want the truth i do things nobody notices i nourish useless processes i intervene in the order of things i ask why this should be that way and not the other i ask who said that i feel sometimes my game has gone too far i fear i have no legal right but somehow i’m where i should be Anastasia Albokrinova, 2022 Let's start with What are the alternatives for direct speech or image+text presentations? Thinks about the fears do you face while trying to step out of the pattern. Is it being vulnerable, shy, ignorant, insecure or else? Think of ways to embrace and face these fears. Make a list with three columns: Fears / Ways to face them / Means to transform fear into action. Task Relying on the content you developed before, try to experiment with the ways you deliver it. Can you use drawing, gestures, sound, movement, multilinguility, gamification? Develop an alternative way for self-presentation. Deliver it to other people. Additional materials Listen to Hicham Khalidi, Director of the Jan van Eyck Academie, and Rolando Vázquez, Associate Professor of Sociology, University College Roosevelt speaking in “Transforming Institutions: On Social and Climate Justice ” Podcast. Self-feedback What are your expectations when communicating yourself to others? What limitations did you face? What is your authenticity you can play with? Did a self-positioning process help you better understand why you do things that you do, the way you do? Online sharing session We invite you to share your self-positioning presentations with a group of fellow students of the WCSCD online course. We will focus on giving and receiving critique, discuss what is a good and bad experience in communication. The meeting is a recurring event with a limitation of 10 participants. Estimated duration: around 1.5 hrs. To take part subscribe for a proposed time in the table below. During the session you will have 10 to 15 minutes to present and receive feedback. Form: Date/ Time (GMT)/ Number of places left/ (organizer provides nearest time/date options and limits the number of attendants) Enter your email to receive a zoom link for the meeting. Email Book Session (user receives a zoom link for a set time) Modules

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  • Walking as a Way of Knowing – Belgrade | WCSCD

    Walking as a Way of Knowing – Belgrade This spring and summer, the WCSCD program is set to unveil a captivating series of events in Belgrade, offering unparalleled experiences that blend culture, history, and architecture. From March onwards, we invite you to join the "Walking as a Way of Knowing – Belgrade", a series of walks within the city, which will be presented each season. These unique explorations are led by local artists, curators, and architects, designed through their own research interests, providing different pulses of Belgrade. While drafting these walks, we had in mind Donna Haraway's thinking that only a partial perspective promises an objective vision. (Haraway, Situated Knowledges) These walks are designed to showcase the multifaceted Belgrade, revealing its marginalized histories, and vibrant multicultural identity through the senses and insights. As Australian thinker Stephen Muecke argues that there is a need to study specific, local places in order to “put things more on the scale of everyday living.” [1] Hence, our first season of walking together started in March, and it will continue until the end of June. Each walk will have its own unique focus on the diverse and ever-changing city landscape and show how we can experience it through different senses. Visual artist and poet Dea Džanković will lead a walk that is deeply attuned to the city’s evolving environment, showing hidden gems of the city. Jelica Jovanović , an architect and a member of Grupa arhitekata, will take you through the topographic history of the Non-aligned movement, a platform for the countries, predominantly situated in the Global South, which refused to enter alliances with either of any major dominating blocs. And finally, freelance journalist and artist, Dunja Karanović will uncover some of the marginalized aspects of Belgrade’s recent history related to feminist activists, their anti-war protests, calls for solidarity, and artistic interventions in urban spaces. All walks in May and June start on Saturdays at 4:00 pm. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to your walk. Pre-booking is required via email or instagram Send us your full name and title of a walk Please note that all group walks have limited capacity Price tickets: 1,760 dinars We do not accept debit or credit cards [1] Muecke, Benterrak and Roe, Reading the Country , 21. 1) May 11 Poetic Nostalgia with Dea Džanković Language: English Duration: 2 to 3 hours Walk starts at 4:00 pm Meeting point: Kralja Petra 82 (corner of Kralja Petra and Cara Dušana street) It’s a walk through Belgrade that is deeply attuned to the city’s evolving landscape. As a passionate artist and observer, I grapple with the city’s swift gentrification and the relentless march of uninspiring modern architecture erasing its historical essence. While many of Belgrade’s iconic landmarks and streets succumb to change, scattered pockets of poetic nostalgia endure in secluded corners, passages and buildings. This tour will showcase these overlooked gems, weaving tales that capture the authentic heartbeat of old Belgrade amidst its transforming skyline. Dea Džanković is an interdisciplinary artist based in Belgrade, Serbia. She holds a BA degree in Media and Arts production from the Academy of Arts in Belgrade (2014), and two MA degrees in Visual Arts, first being from Sabanci university in Istanbul (2016), and latter from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade. As of 2022, she became a finalist of the Mangelos award and a member of the new media section of ULUS. Her art practice spans various mediums, including performance, installation, photography, filmmaking, music, and text. Her artworks are inspired by the societal constructs, taboos, and boundaries of her environment, exploring the effects of social conditioning on the individual and collective psyche. She aims to involve the viewer in a transformative experience, enabling them to engage with the artwork on a personal level by creating spaces for intervention, where one can expose, examine, and hopefully transcend the imposed conditioning. @deadzankovic 2) May 18 The Non-Aligned Movement with Jelica Jovanović Language: English Duration: 2 to 3 hours Walk starts at 4:00 pm Meeting point: Obelisk of the Non-Aligned Countries near Branko Bridge In September 1961 Belgrade was the host of the first summit of the "non-engaged countries" which would later become the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM): the platform for the countries, predominantly situated in the Global South, which refused to enter alliances with either of the two dominating blocs. There are many material landmarks all over Belgrade, commemorating the events and people of the Non-Alignment - some are more, some are less obvious. We will start our tour at the Obelisc near the Branko's bridge, which was built to commemorate the 1961 Belgrade conference, and continue towards New Belgrade, to explore some of the more intangible memories of the NAM in one of its founding places. From Obelisk we will continue towards New Belgrade, and observe the Sava Amphitheatre, which was once planned to be the Friendship Center of the Non Aligned Movement, and then when we cross onto the New Belgrade side we will continue our walk through the Ušće Park and towards the Friendship Park, a unique memorial park of Belgrade which is a living monument to the NAM diplomacy of the socialist Yugoslavia, where all the foreign high officials visiting the country would plant a tree. Jelica Jovanović is an architect, architectural historian, heritage preservation professional and researcher. She is a PhD student at University of Technology in Vienna, working on thesis on preservation of mass housing of Yugoslavia, graduated from Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade with a revitalisation project of the Museum of Yugoslavia History. She is a founding member and president of the NGO Grupa arhitekata, within which she organizes summer schools and workshops revitalizing vernacular architecture in Serbia and works on architectural heritage and sustainability related research projects. She is a founding member and former secretary of Docomomo Serbia, within which she works as the digitization coordinator and on documentation projects. She was coordinator of the project “Unfinished Modernisations: Between Utopia and Pragmatism” for Association of Belgrade Architects, coordinator of the regional platform “(In)appropiate Monuments”, curatorial assistant of the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) for the exhibition “Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia 1948–1980”, coauthor of the platform “Arhiva modernizma”, coauthor of the research project and the book "Bogdan Bogdanović Biblioteka Beograd". 3) May 25 Feminizing the city with Dunja Karanović Language: English Duration: 2 to 3 hours Walk starts at 4:00 pm Meeting point: Studentski Kulturni Centar, Kralja Milana 48 As Rebecca Solnit put it, names subtly perpetuate the gendering of a city. The 1990s conflicts in the ex-Yugoslav region have prompted a re-traditionalization of gender roles and spurred nationalism that has become increasingly evident in present-day cultural policies and public spaces. Street names, squares, and monuments reflect a revisionist, one-sided understanding of history that celebrates violence and oppression. The aim of this walk is to map out and uncover some of the marginalized aspects of Belgrade’s recent history – the names and actions of feminist activists, their anti-war protests, calls for solidarity, and artistic interventions in urban spaces. By naming, remembering, and walking in the footsteps of Žarana Papić, Borka Pavićević, Women in Black (Žene u crnom), and other women who shaped and imagined a more peaceful and inclusive Belgrade, we can start collectively creating an alternative map of the city. Dunja Karanović is a visual artist and journalist based in Belgrade, Serbia. She holds an MA degree from the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and Management at the University of Arts in Belgrade and an MFA from the China Academy of Arts. In her practice, she explores ways of bridging cultural policy, theory, and practice through interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches that foster radical friendship and collective care. Her research is focused on mainstreaming care in cultural institutions and reimagining them as slower, softer, and more inclusive spaces. She is a regular contributor of Liceulice magazine. She is passionate about feminist art histories, embroidery, the small, and the marginal. @dunja_karanovic

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