Kick off conference has been realised in Belgrade 15/01 – 17/01/2021 in the New Gallery of Visual Arts and online on the youtube channel and on the facebook page (https://www.riseofwomen.net/). Organized by Beoart Contemporary, a partner from Serbia in the project “The Rise of Women in Culture in the Western Balkans”, co-financed by the European Union, it is dedicated to topics addressed by the project through general activities – identities of women in contemporary visual art in the Western Balkans through cooperation and networking of curators and artists, as well as adaptation to new technologies of the modern age. Many answers to this topic were encountered through a diverse program with the participation of experts in their fields, which was initiated and moderated by Biljana Jotic.
Biljana Jotić and Shquipe Mehmeti, North Macedonia
Biljana Jotić and Anamaria stibij Šajn, Slovenia
Biljana Jotić and Udruga Prizma, Croatia
Biljana Jotić and Fenomena association, Serbia
In two days of different program content, the project team – partners (Association Fenoemna – partner leader and Beoart contemporary from Serbia, then the Association Prizma from Croatia, NGO SPES from Montenegro, Lokarjeva Gallery from Slovenia and Association Sensus from Northern Macedonia) were presented. General project activities follow (communication strategy, research, documentary series and VR technologies). Guests from Sarajevo, Vildana Džekman and Saša Knežević (Foundation „Cure“, from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) presented the feminist festival PitchVise. Sanja Solunac (visual artist and feminist activist, author of a work that is an integral part of the visual identity of the project) and Milica Ružičić (visual artist, president of the sculpture section of the Association of Fine Artists of Serbia and author of the podcast ComitetKe) presented their activism through the oldest feminist art colony and podcast – a new form of communication.
Biljana Jotić, Vildana Džekman, Sasha Knežević, feminist festival PitchWise and fonudation “Girls”, Sarajevo, BiH
Biljana Jotić and Milica Ružičić, visual artist, president of sculptoral section of ULUS, autor of podcast ComiteTke
Biljana Jotić and Sanja Solunac, visual artist, activist, feminist art colony “Sićevo”, author of intervention of skin, an integral part of visual identity of project
Biljana Jotić and Aleksandra Vuković, “Nura” agency, communication strategy
The second day of the conference was dedicated to the guidelines through a tour of the touring exhibition “Women about Women”, a play by Ivana Ranisavljevic and a panel discussion with general topics on women’s identities in contemporary visual arts (participants: Dubravka Đurić, professor at the Faculty of Midia and Communications; Aleksandra Lazar, art collections of the Wiener Staedttische Foundation, independent curator and researcher in London; Iana Stantieru, executive director of the Europe’s Art Gallery and Ivana Ivković, visual artist). The moderators of the panel were Biljana Jotic and Masha Elezovic.
Ivana Ranisavljević, performans “Traces of soft tissue”
Dubravka Djurić, Iana Stantieru, Aleksandra Lazar, Ivana Ivković
Biljana Jotić and Masha elezović, moderatos
In the gallery space of Beoart contemporary association organized a gathering with artists from Serbia (Andjela Grabez, Gordana Belic, Vesna Vesic, Natalija Miladinovic, Leonora Vekic, chosen by Biljana Jotic) in cooperation with the new Gallery of Visual Arts, as well as a performance (Ivana Ranisavjevic), and outside the gallery is a study visit to current art exhibitions of 21st century art in Belgrade, in collaboration with the Walking Belgrade agency.
Natalija Miladinović, Vesna Vesić, Anđela Grabež, Leonora Vekić, Biljana Jotić and Gordana Belić
Leonora Vekić, Valentina Macura, Biljana Jotić, Jelena Aranđelović, Vesna Vesić, Ana Vujović, Gordana Belić i Sanja Tomašević
