Imagine what energy one woman can have inside herself and what all can be done in the synergy of several women in one place. We offer a part of the answer to that question through the project “The Rise of Women in Culture in the Western Balkans”. To reach a common goal, emphasizing the role of women in creating reality through art, culture and other social spheres, we women, artists, non-institutional curators, experts in the field of digital marketing, research, cultural diplomacy, copyright and feminist movements gathered around different activities.
The modern age is an age of diversity to which art responds with diversity in expression and media. Understanding and acceptance is key. Art connects, which in the visual sense will be presented through two exhibitions “Woman about Woman”, both in real and in virtual space (Virtual reality). Through liaison work of curators and artists, we raise awareness of the female angle of observation and reaction to reality.
As the project is conceived as a process, just as the essence of creativity is in the process from which a visible picture of reality is born, so is the focus on the activities envisaged in the project to explore, educate, talk, collaborate, socialize, and adapt to modern digital technologies through VR (Virtual reality) technologies.
Aware of the need for youthful energy and the desire to encourage it, we have developed a Residential Program that will bring together 30 young artists from the Western Balkans and Europe, as well as encourage them to further cooperation and exchange.
By networking curators from both the non-institutional and institutional sectors, we open up a field for connecting and encouraging future projects with a similar theme. We offer a wider visibility of the content we deal with, the identity of women in contemporary art, culture and society, through the website, filming and broadcasting of the documentary series, as the final publication.
A great feminist contribution to the whole project is provided by the partner leader Association Phenomena, which has been active for fourteen years in the field of promoting human rights, gender equality, improving the position of women in Serbia. As the project is based on the activities and cooperation of non-governmental organizations in culture, in addition to Phenomena, there are associations BeoArt Contemporary, Spes, Sensus, Prizma Association and Lokrajeva Gallery, which provide the project with an artistic side, and some are focused on younger generations.
Thus, the project is based on the 95% participation of women in culture, their gathering and merging, with the aim of raising awareness of the role of women in culture in the Western Balkans. The project activities include a series of lectures, educational workshops and panels focusing on creativity and the role of the non-institutional sector in culture, two exhibitions in real and virtual space, research, a documentary series, establishing a network of curators and publications covering all activities in one place. For identity, we have chosen the term LOVE, which includes and connects all the above aspects.
