In this conversation, we discussed the EYE-Net 2.0 project and the impact of the title of European Capital of Culture on the Serbian city.
Between the 5th and 8th of April, our team was in Novi Sad to attend the EYE-Net 2.0 Youth Theater Festival, which was part of the Novi Sad 2022 programme.
During this trip, we met in person Bojan Milosavljević, Coordinator of International Cooperation Projects at the Foundation “Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture”. Read our conversation below:
1 _ What is the EYE.Net 2.0 project and how it was presented within the context of Novi Sad 2022 European Capital of Culture?
Bojan Milosavljević: The project European Youth Engagement Network 2.0 has been approved and co-funded by the “Europe for Citizens” Programme of the European Union. The lead partner is the Foundation “Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture”. The project runs from January 2021 until December 2022, involves 16 partner organizations from 9 countries, and aims to improve the quality of youth culture, political awareness, critical thinking and international solidarity of young people.
A total of 9 international activities are planned within the project. One workshop and 8 festivals in – Novi Sad (Serbia), Prague (Czech Republic), Sansepolcro (Italy), Maribor-Ptuj (Slovenia), Athens (Greece), Toulouse-Clermont Ferrand (France), Berlin (Germany) and Kaunas (Lithuania).
Within the project activities, one youth theatre play in each partner country is produced. A total of 8 performances. The duration of plays is around 45 minutes, and after or during each performance, an interactive debate with a young audience is planned.
With these performances, as a mobile festival, we will tour 8 partner countries. The whole process will be filmed by an international film crew which will make a documentary.
The festivals are planned as a part of the main program of two European Capitals of Culture – Novi Sad 2022 (Serbia) and Kaunas 2022 (Lithuania).
2 _ Between the 5th and 8th of April, eight theatre groups, composed of young people from different European countries, got together to think, act and discuss some of the most important and contemporary themes of our European societies. Do you feel this exchange of realities and ways of thinking was fruitful for young people?
B.M: Based on the experience so far and the evaluation of the implementation of the EYE-Net project, we are quite sure that participation in this project has been very fruitful for young people from all partner countries. They gain a lot from the research phase, from travels, artistic exchanges, and international debates. This project is a life-changing experience for most of them.
With this project, we intend to inspire the research of alternative models of political education. We hope to empower and network the young generation to help them create a better world, with more social justice, equality, empathy and peace.
3 _ What are the next steps of the project?
B.M: Until now we realized a preparatory workshop and two festivals, in Maribor and Ptuj in Slovenia and Novi Sad in Serbia. In the coming months, we plan to realize six EYE-Net 2.0 festivals, in Athens (Greece), Toulouse-Clermont Ferrand (France), Kaunas (Lithuania), Sansepolcro (Italy), Prague (Czech Republic), and Berlin (Germany). And one of the expected results of the project is a documentary.
We are also developing EYE-Net 3.0 edition. We have already submitted the project application to the open call of the European Remembrance Program for 2022. The project brings together partners from Slovenia, France, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
Braga 27 is one of the partners in this application. So, if this project is selected for funding, Braga will have the opportunity to host the EYE-Net festival in 2024. I hope and look forward to that.
4 _ Do you feel the ECOC has already introduced changes in the city?
B.M: Yes, of course. I see changes on several levels. Dozens of reconstructed and new cultural spaces, hundreds of new international ties and cooperations, a new generation of cultural managers and artists, new topics and methodologies of work, increased city budget for culture and developed new audiences.
The European Capital of Culture title is not a one-year project, it’s a long-term development project of at least 10 years. 5 years of preparation work and 5 years of sustainability and legacy work.
The specific and important context of our ECoC title is that the Republic of Serbia is in the status of candidacy for the EU membership and our state is in the process of EU integration. With all complexity of that issue in these challenging times. The main message of the Novi Sad 2022 project is “For new bridges”. So, we intend to make new ties between people and artists from European countries and Serbia. As part of the contribution to the process of European integration in our country, our mission is to introduce Europeans to Serbian culture and introduce Serbia to the European cultural scene.
I work in the Foundation “Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture” in the position of coordinator of international cooperation projects. From my perspective, I see that a large number of artists and people from European countries are coming to Novi Sad for the first time. And that is one of the very concrete indicators of the creation of new bridges. Of course, the Covid-19 pandemic and the terrible war in Ukraine have brought and still bring many challenges and limitations, but we are trying to respond with patience, creativity and humanity.
Novi Sad and Serbia don’t have developed cultural cooperation with Portugal. So, our particular focus is to create initiatives to improve cultural cooperation between our two countries. We are currently implementing a youth exchange in Novi Sad with 8 people from Portugal, and in the fall we will have an exhibition of Portuguese photo artists in cooperation with Encontros da Imagem Festival.
