On December 22, otherwise known as the Yugoslav People’s Army day, a group of 200 artists and activists from Novi Sad occupied the deserted army barracks, Dr. Archibald Reiss, forming the first squat/community center on the territory of Serbia.
Although Novi Sad has been known as one of the major cultural centers of former Yugoslavia, in this day and age, it has no spaces that could be used by non-governmental agencies, or offer cultural and outreach programs for youth, women and LGBT minorities. The city of Novi Sad claims it has no funds to purchase the building which is supposed to be up for sale by its owner, the Ministry of Defense, with an estimated worth of 6 million Euros. However, the activists were told that they could remain in the building for as long as it stays abandoned and not used by its rightful owners.
Since occupying the building in question, the newly-found Community Centre DC Novi Sad has organized three art exhibits, eight educational and humanitarian workshops, nine round table discussions, twelve music programs, five performances, six film screenings and numerous fitness programs.
Aleksandra Sekulic, who assisted in curating my exhibit for the Novo Doba festival at the Center for Cultural Decontamination and later on curated my show at the Animanima animation festival in Cacak, Serbia, suggested setting up the same exhibit on the 14 of January at the Community Center as well; as a supporter of this initiative I accepted gladly. The staff of the Novo Doba festival, Johanna Marcade and Mileta Mijatovic (Fanzin Ceger), were invited to present the exhibit and do a live, free of charge silk-screening session of my designs as they had previously done in Belgrade.
Occasional visits by the military police went by without any incidences, until last Friday, January 13th, only a day before my exhibit was to open. Shortly after 9am, local time, members of the military police, appearing somewhat rougher in their approach than during previous visits, informed all non-military personnel to vacate the building. The activists saw this as a definite sign that they should peacefully vacate the premises at once, having no choice but to leave their personal belongings and works of art behind, none of which have been returned so far.
The activists have decided not to give up on the idea of forming a legitimate Community Center; on the contrary – they are planning to go on with the planned exhibits, on the street itself, in front of the building – should they manage to get the confiscated artwork back. The mayor of Novi Sad, Igor Pavlicic expressed his remorse that “the events unraveled this way”, but reminded the public that the initiative has not been approved by the municipal authorities and the Ministry of Defense; he also promised some kind of compensation for the Community Centre in the near future – how and when – remains to be seen.
On their Facebook page the Ministry of Defense and the Army of Serbia issued the following statement: The Ministry of Defense and the Army of Serbia fully support all cultural and social activities as evidenced by numerous exhibitions, concerts and book presentations in which we have participated. We appreciate the idea of a community center and dissemination of culture and tolerance; however, on this occasion, we wish to point out that we do not support the way the Community Centre has attempted to provide the space for such cultural activities.
All photos courtesy of the Community Center DC Novi Sad.