Monthly Archives: June 2017
Creative Europe in EUTEKA library in Ćuprija
What is the Creative Europe programme and what chances for regional and European cooperation does it offer to cultural institutions from Serbia? What are the experiences of Serbian institutions which participated in projects funded by this programme? How to participate, where to ask for help, where to get information?
These are some of the questions that were discussed on Friday 30th June in the National Library “Dušan Matić” in Ćuprija, member of the EUTEKA network of libraries, when representatives of the Creative Europe Desk Serbia held a presentation of the largest programme for funding content in culture functioning within European Union – Creative Europe.
The presentation in Ćuprija library was attended by representatives of cultural institutions from this municipality, and also municipalities of Jagodina and Paraćin, and what Creative Europe is and what are the experiences of users of this programme was spoken about by Dimitrije Tadić, Head of the Creative Europe Desk Serbia, the body implementing the Creative Europe programme, and Luka Kulić from the Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina, an institution that successfully participated in two programmes and which is currently realising the third project funded by this programme.
The message conveyed by both speakers was, in fact, an encouragement to domestic cultural institutions to dare to participate in this kind of competitions, to ask questions, to connect and overcome fear and prejudice prevalent here when it comes to participating in competitions for EU funds. Both speakers believe our space, history and culture are interesting to cultural professionals in Europe, and that we, on the other hand, have the ideas and diversity and that we can be a good partner in big cultural projects financed by this fund.
Dimitrije Tadić used this opportunity to briefly present to participants the basics of the Creative Europe programme and direct their attention to what its main goals are. “Europe wants to position itself on the global scene through culture and this programme is not only a funding programme, it also represents a functioning mechanism for culture on the European level”, he said. Until now, representatives of Serbia participated in approximately 40 projects funded by this programme, while we also had one institution which was the carrier of the project – the Institute for Balkanology. The position of project carrier is very complicated and demanding and it requires time and skills to master all procedures. Nevertheless, Tadić said, you should participate in competitions as partners to the main project carrier because every completed project raises the capacity of the participating organisation and makes it more prepared for the next participation.
Luka Kulić from the Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina advised his colleagues not to be victims of prejudice due to which they hesitate to get involved in applying processes. This Museum went to the first project in cooperation with the Museum of Contemporary Art from Zagreb, and now it is a part of a huge third European project where there are ten partners involved.
“We possess the freshness of ideas and we are, for people from cultural circles in Europe, still unchartered territory. Great interest in our socialist heritage is prevalent and many cultural institutions in Europe are working on projects including this element and they are seeking adequate partners from this region”, he emphasised.
Guests of the Ćuprija library, after the discussion with their colleagues, visited the Legacy of Dušan Matić, poet and a pioneer of Surrealism in Serbian literature, preserved in this library. The Legacy consists of a study room of the famous thinker, who lived in Ćuprija, together with his drawings, award and personal belongings and this is being kept in this library for over two decades.
Possibilities of Financing Cultural Projects through EU funds
Creative Europe Desk Serbia and the Provincial Secretariat for Culture, Public Information and Relations with Religious Communities organised a one-day counselling intended for representatives of cities and municipalities in AP Vojvodina entitled “Possibilities of Financing Projects in the Field of Culture Through EU Desk Funds”, on 21st June 2017 in the great hall of the Assembly of AP Vojvodina.
Participants had an opportunity to get familiar with the Creative Europe programme, and also other programmes from the field of culture and with examples of good practice of provincial cultural institutions. These programmes represent an opportunity for local self-governments from Vojvodina to improve the cultural image of AP Vojvodina together with the Provincial Secretariat and to promote their cultural achievements and heritage in the light they deserve, especially bearing in mind the fact that European year of cultural heritage will be marked during the next year, 2018.
The aim of organisers of the event was for interested parties to get informed about the conditions and ways of applying, but also to debate important questions related to perspectives of cultural development in municipalities and cities of AP Vojvodina.
Joint Meeting of European Commission and Creative Europe Desks of Participant Countries
Creative Europe Desk Serbia has an obligation to participate in defining goals and priorities of the programme in cooperation with other countries participating in the programme. Due to this, this year, during the period from 14th June to 17th June, representatives of Creative Europe Desk Serbia participated in the meeting with the European Commission.
The two-day event in Malta was attended by 85 team members from 31 countries. Meetings of representatives of the Desks are an opportunity to strengthen European cooperation, summarise achieved results and transfer experiences. During the first day an introductory lecture was organised about changes in programme management and the refurbished theatre of the university campus in La Valletta. Moreover, successful projects which are being implemented, such as the project AMUSE, were presented.
AMUSE (Artistic Multi Sensorial Experience) represents “An artistic experience for multiple senses”– an artistic project headed by the Malta Society of Arts (MSA) the goal of which creating new interpretations of meanings of the senses (such as the tactile, kinaesthetic and proprioceptive) and their role in art. The completion of the project will be marked by an exhibition of works for multiple senses which will take place in 2019 in MSA premises in Palazzo De La Salle in Valletta.
The meeting also included a presentation of the framework for the initiative entitled “Music Moves Europe” as support to European music sector. The initiative started in the end of 2015 through meetings with key actors in music in order to identify main challenges faced by this sector. The results of this dialogue can be found in the report of the work group for AB music. This dialogue unveiled the need for support to creation of music, promotion of music diversity and research of possibilities offered by online and offline music distribution. Music is one of the most popular forms of art, widely consumed and a lively expression of European cultural diversity. It also significantly contributes to European economy. The music sector produces income of over 25 billion Euros yearly and employs more people than the film industry.
After the presentation of projects and the initiative during the first work day, 4 parallel thematic workshops were held with the goal of encouraging exchange on the topics of:
Communication and the use of social media;
CE Desk Management: Desk and its inner structure and organisation (internal);
CE Desk Management: Desk and the Creative Europe programme (external);
New business models;
Representatives of the Desk attended the first workshop where the discussion was about how social media influences the dissemination of results and winning new audiences.
During the second day, a representative of the EU Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) presented the results and statistics so far related to the sub-programme Culture of Creative Europe.
Considering the fact that Malta will be the representative of culture in 2018, examples of realised programmes were presented: revitalisation of an old theatre, organising film festivals, renewing cultural institutions, permanent activities in squares and other public spaces.
A very important information is that this and next year cultural heritage will be among priorities of EU programmes (Horizon, Erasmus +, Cosme, etc.), and especially of the Creative Europe programme – hence, the meeting was held in the future European capital of culture.
Public call for participating in the seminar “Creative Europe – project preparation”
*The deadline for applications is extended until Friday, 21st. of July.
The Culture Desk Creative Europe Serbia in cooperation with the Cultural centre “Vuk Karadzic ” Loznica, will organize the seminar “Creative Europe Programme – project preparation” from 7th until 10th August 2017 in Tršić. The call is intended for all institutions and organizations from Serbia planning to apply for the Creative Europe programme.
The topics that will be covered by the seminar are contemporary practices and concepts in the international cultural cooperation, cultural heritage and contemporary art; management of international projects; European cultural policy and priorities of the Creative Europe programme.
Apart from the representatives of the Desk Creative Europe Serbia, lecturers on the seminar are Nikola Krstović (Research assistant, Center for museology and heritology, Faculty of Phylosophy, University of Belgrade) and representative of Take over project and project MAPS, co-funded by Creative Europe Programme.
Aim of the seminar
The aim of the seminar is raising the quality and preparing projects to apply for the creative Europe programme, raising the programmatic – organizational capacities of institutions and organizations from Serbia, but also contributing to decentralization in the field of culture. Apart from this, the seminar will be organized for the sake of enhancing communication, cooperation and exchange of experiences of cultural institution and organization representatives from cities and counties of Serbia.
Criteria
The main criteria for the selection of participants are the quality of project proposals and potential partnerships.The quality of project propositions is measured against: compliance with topics and priorities of the Creative Europe programme, innovative nature of the concept and its professional basis.
Conditions of the public call
1. The number of vacancies is limited to twenty five participants;
2. Up to two persons from a single institution or an organization can apply to participate in the seminar;
3. The Culture Desk Creative Europe Serbia and the Museum in the open “Staro selo“ will cover food and lodging expenses, however participants of the seminar will cover their travel expenses.
Submitting an application
You can find here the application form.
The application for the seminar should contain the following information (up to three pages:
– A short description of the project the institution or the organization wants to apply with for the Creative Europe programme or if they believe the project proposition has a potential to be used for applying;
– A list of potential partners on the project;
– A short description of the institution/organization (mission, aims, main activities);
– An indication of the position of the person or persons applying to participate in the seminar.
The application should be sent to the email address of the Culture Desk Serbia – kreativnaevropa@kultura.gov.rs.
Deadline for applications
Applications can be submitted until 16th July 2017. Applications received after the defined deadline will not be taken into consideration.
