BALKAN
CULTURAL
CO-OPERATION
CULTURAL
CO-OPERATION
Conference on Cultural Bridging between North and South-East Europe held in Copenhagen
Copenhagen was the venue of a recently held conference called "Cultural Bridging" ("Between North and South-East Europe") which was supported by several important Danish cultural institutions, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nordic Ministerial Council and organized by The Danish Cultural Institute. Participants in the dialogue between the North and the South, which covered topics regarding the cooperation and development in arts and culture, were more than 70 representatives of the cultural life from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland, as well as from Albania, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.
Serbia was represented by Dimitrije Vujadinovic (cultural network BalkanKult and Balkan Association of Publishers - BAP 2000), Branislava Andjelkovic (Center for Contemporary Arts), Dejan Vrazalic (Vans), Prof. Aleksandra Jovicevic(Faculty of Drama Art) and Uros Djuric (REMONT Workshop).
"The conference has succeeded in bringing a dash of fresh air into the cultural dialogue between South-East Europe and other parts of the European continent, in this particular case - the Nordic region, and in that regard, went even further than the Sarajevo Conference called 'Reconstructing Cultural Productivity in the Balkans' which had been held last December", says Dimitrije Vujadinovic, with whom we talk about the results of the Conference. Last year Vujadinovic initiated and was, together with the ERICarts-Institute and Finn-Ekvit, one of organizers of the Sarajevo Conference, which had been the very first meeting devoted to the problems of cultural co-operation in the South-East European area after all the war events that took place in the last decade.
"It was an exceptionally useful meeting which was undeniably needed for fostering the dialogue between the two bordering areas of the European region. It is especially significant that all the participants have shown readiness for cooperation, in both regions, regardless of the differences existing within and between the two regions. The majority of actual contacts and agreements on cooperation took place during the informal part of the Conference, through direct talks and conversations. The background of the "Cultural Bridging" Conference is, actually, a preparation of the Nordic region to start a huge program for cultural cooperation between the North and the South of Europe", says Vujadinovic.
What was the atmosphere in which the future cooperation was being prepared?
- The atmosphere was very constructive and well intentioned, even among the representatives of the Balkan region themselves. In general, I can see the successfulness of the Conference in several features: first, a well-intentioned attitude expressed by all the participants. Then, a great readiness, a substantiated need and a mutual benefit for cooperation was emphasized. The moderators of the Conference, Kattrin Winkelhorn, Trevor Davies and Finn Anderson have successfully directed the flow of the Conference towards turning the objective, interesting and essential diversities, which exist not only between the two European regions but also within them, into possibilities for cooperation! All of us who represent the region and its cultures have felt the same, and as a curiosity I would like to point out that the Albanian representative was all the time together with the Serbian colleagues and I have even given him several proposals for projects which could be started together with the artists from Serbia and Albania".
How do the Nordic people see us today?
- I think that they do not know us well. They know for certain artists and works of art (e.g. Kusturica and his films) but do not sufficiently know about the cultural situation in the region. The Conference has shown that the notion of "time" does not have the same meaning in the both regions. The representatives from the SouthEast region have warned that the economic, political and educational circumstances in their countries do not allow any long-term time planning nor postponing of realization of inter-cultural realization. This underlines the necessity of joint efforts in realization of fast and effective inter-cultural projects which, certainly, does not exclude long-term planning... What gave a special significance to the conference was the presence of young participants, primarily members of the artistic groups and networks who managed -"with no big talk" - to establish cooperation or planned to do so in nearest future.
Unlike the Nordic societies, which are also exposed to risk of falling into entropy due to a possibility of losing collective vitality, and due to their "comfort" and "over-organization", the Balkan region has the same problem, the entropy is threatening but due to quite different reasons - poor economic situation, lack of organization and political instability...Both regions have something to exchange, to offer to each other", says Vujadinovic.
How come that the Nordic countries grew interested in cultural cooperation with South-East European countries?
- The Nordic region which has its Nordic Ministerial Council, financed in the past few years one huge programme and many cultural projects in South Africa and invested 700 million DEM. This was not specifically said in the Conference but it has been mentioned that now, after the program in South Africa is completed, the Nordic countries would like to open a long-term programme of cultural cooperation with the Balkan region.
It is very interesting and worthwhile mentioning that the organizer of the Copenhagen Conference was the Danish Cultural Institute, supported by the Nordic Ministerial Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which might imply that Denmark will lead the Nordic countries in cultural cooperation with our region.
What was the topic of the Serbian delegation?
- We were very well represented by the experts from NGOs and cultural industry. My impression is that the people from Serbia were more successful than the others in contracting certain projects of cooperation. Thus, Dejan Vrazalic from Belgrade agreed with the Danish Film Institute on realization of a series of intercultural projects – ranging from guest-visits at the regional film festivals up to a distribution of Danish films in the South-East region and a distribution of Yugoslav films in Danish cinemas.
BalkanKult can be pleased with its participation and I think it contributed to the successfulness of the Conference's activities: apart from numerous direct contacts established, it has been agreed with Mrs. Toni Liversage, translator and Slavist, to make two list of books, one "Danish" and one "Serbian", which will be translated and published in both languages, and also to publish one Danish children book of poems, already translated into Serbian, in Yugoslavia. The Danish Literary Information Center has expressed readiness to support this publishing cooperation and the representatives of the institution and of BalkanKult (within which the Balkan Association of Publishers 2000 -BAP 2000 is functioning) agreed to continue the talks in October at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The beginning of the Danish-South-East European cooperation will be marked with the editing and issuing of a second issue of the "Poet" magazine. BalkanKult has decided to start preparations for the creation of a database with referential information covering the culture in the Nordic countries, which can be of importance for intercultural cooperation between the two regions..."
Published: 2000-10-05
Updated: 2003-11-20
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