"The Culture Lobby" project

Alternative History of Cultural Awareness

The artists are under the impression that opinions widely differ according to the location of interviewees, and there is also a variety between opinions of certain age groups. The young mostly express hope for studying in EU and the implementation of some European education models at Serbian universities. 'The replies to what would change included a whole list of things, from home pig slaughtering (a ban villagers in Vojvodina are anxious about), to public toilets in Belgrade'


By MILENA STOŠIĆ (milena.stosic@wavemagazine.net)
from Vranje, SRBIJA
Translation: MARIJA KOVAČ


By the means of photographs, audio recordings and surveys, The Culture Lobby project is trying to examine cultural memory in the process of EU integration in the Western Balkans, in the countries yearning to join EU and the question it asks is: 'What do you think will change or disappear in your everyday life when your country joins the European Union?' Two artists from each of the Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo under UN resolution 1244) were to collect the subjective views of citizens in the cities, towns and villages of a participating country that is not their own. The Project Manager is from KIOSK (an NGO based in Belgrade) and it works in cooperation with regional centres for contemporary art. Founders and donors of the programme include British Council Creative Collaboration, Fund for an Open Society (Serbia), European Cultural Foundation and others.

Aleksandar Grozdanovski and Ljupčo Temelkovski, video artists from Bitola (Macedonia), conducted a 16-day research in Serbia, the result of which will be presented on the internet as an e-book, an interactive exhibition and a GPS map, with which viewers will be able to take the cultural journey through the region.

- This is an experiment, a creative process. We are creating an alternative history of cultural awareness at this time, and that is something that has never been done, never like this - explained for WAVE magazine Aleksandar Grozdanovski on the 15th day of his research, in Vranje.

- Our tour has included 13 towns in Serbia, namely Subotica, Belgrade, Vršac, Plandište, Loznica, Užice, Novi Sad, Novi Pazar, Niš, Bor, Jagodina, Vranje and Bujanovac. The interviewees were either random passengers in the street or somebody local cordinators suggested. There are usually 5 to 10 interviews in each town and they are people form different walks of life (from farmers to intellectuals) - says Grozdanovski. This kind of data selection is not typical of standard public surveys, but is certainly says a lot about what people in these countries know and think about EU and what a potential EU membership would mean to them on a more personal level.

- I have a very high opinion about this project because there is not usually anything like this. Replies clearly show how much people actually think about EU. We had some completely unrealistic answers in which you could see the people expect an utter financial rebirth of their countries when they enter EU. Some chatted for half an hour on the subject. In the end we will choose two, maybe three sentences to go with each picture, and the audio recording will be available as well. GPS coordinates will tell you exactly were the photos were taken or interviews made - stated Ljupčo Temelkovski. Personally, he had an impression that people in some parts of Serbia were not well informed about EU and its importance to Serbia or themselves.

- Many people could not care less for EU because they are fighting on daily basis to survive. They don't think that EU membership is likely, either. Deep depression has taken over Bor, for example, and it is seems that people there live in a (black) dimension of their own.

Grozdanovski also feels that people lack the information, but they are mostly communicative and willing to talk.

- We haven't had any problems, apart from Jagodina and Vranje,where some people didn't know what to say and others chose to stay anonymous.

The artists are under the impression that opinions widely differ according to the location of interviews, and there is also a variety between opinions of certain age groups. The young mostly express hope for studying in EU and the implementation of some European education models at Serbian universities.

- The replies to what would change included a whole list of things, from home pig slaughtering (a ban villagers in Vojvodina are anxious about), to public toilets in Belgrade. The whole tour was very interesting. I wish we stayed in Novi Pazar a day longer - says Grozdanovski.

Temelkovski adds that what makes Novi Pazar interesting is its large muslim population. 'The people are in the textile business there and they often mentioned how the market would expend and that would enable them to sell their products better.'

This research has some interesing , suprising and opposing findings, even in Serbia exclusively. Combined with what Albanians filmed in Macedonia, Serbs in Kosovo, Croats in Montenegro, Montenigrins in Bosnia nad Bosnians in Albania, the artistic outcome will without a doubt be very informative.

- The result is unpredictable because the artists involved have different styles. A lot of material will have to be made a whole. The final exhibition will travel through the Balkans, then on to Europe and on, and on - concludes Grozdanovski.

Link: www.theculturelobby.com


(Published: 11.11.2009.)