There were a bunch of artists who used this and said: “We ARE systemically relevant”. It cannot be that system relevance includes only that which is countable and that which is measured in prices, numbers and values. The filling station is relevant, but the cinema is relevant as well, for other reasons. How can we combat the serious undermining of culture that you mention? By speaking about it further and, as a cultural institution, by trying to reopen platforms, rebuild stages, make even bigger projects, increase the budget and support local artists and the culture sphere. The Goethe-institute and the German Federal Foreign Office, together with some other organisations, established the International Relief Fund which has, for the second time, provided support to mainly NGOs in dealing with the negative consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. And we could support local NGOs not just by coproducing projects, but by supporting them in a tangible, budgetary way, including by purchasing the technical equipment that they need or, for example, covering staffing costs. This fund is present in several countries – Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and a couple of others – and it could serve to prove that this is situation where even dinosaurs like the Goethe-institute are able to react quickly and adequately. At least two of your projects – “Playing Narratives” and the platform “Next Generation” – are aimed towards the youth. Could you tell us more about this and the responses you’ve received? “Playing Narratives” is a project that targets young professionals and those who want to become professionals in the gaming field. It is about bridging the gap from a comic story to a game i.e., how to develop it. The idea originated with our French colleagues and is our joint project. For us, it was interesting to see how immense the support was from Serbian companies that operate in the gaming business. These companies have been really interested, because they also know that they can get a grip on these talented youngsters through such a project.
“Next Generation” is the creative platform that we established in 2010 in order to deepen our communication with the youth. We have been focused on a few projects over the last several years. In cooperation with visual performance artist Darko Dragićević from Berlin, we realised the projects – “Failure as Practice”, “Lie & Theft as Practice” – the book will be presented soon – and we are now in the third phase, “Inequality as Practice”. The young artists who participate in this platform have a possibility to attend workshops
The importance of culture is evident, as it can help people overcome their fears. And fear is palpable when a life-threatening virus is waiting just around the corner with Darko and other visiting professors, mainly from Berlin, sharing the specific experience of connection in the collective body and working on a given topic. Before the pandemic, this project was well noted in Berlin, and the cooperation we’ve already established with the Tanzfabrik Festival will continue. For us, this means the building of bridges between Berlin and Belgrade. Among other programmes within the scope of the “Next Generation” platform, we currently have a programme in which
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