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Univerzitet umetnosti u Beogradu u novembru 2025. organizuje interdisciplinarnu konferenciju pod nazivom "Kultura po studentskim standardima", sa ciljem da otvori prostor kritičkog promišljanja kulturnih politika, oslonjen na iskustvima studentskog organizovanja, javnog delovanja i savremenih oblika kulturne produkcije.Konferencija nastaje kao direktan odgovor na višedecenijski pad institucionalne kulture u Srbiji i sistemsku marginalizaciju studenata kao društveno relevantnih aktera. Posebno važan povod za održavanje konferencije predstavljaju rezultati programskog i kreativnog rada studenata tokom blokade Studentskog kulturnog centra (SKC) u Beogradu – institucije koja bi, po svom osnivačkom mandatu, trebalo da bude mesto studentske kulturne autonomije, ali koja je već godinama predmet institucionalne zapuštenosti i političke zloupotrebe. Nasilni prekid blokade i uspostavljanje administrativne kontrole koja će garantovati `sigurni` nerad umesto kreativnog, kritičkog rada, ukazuju na višestruki značaj ove teme u društvu koje je spremno da poveruje vlastima da se tokom blokade uništavalo a ne gradilo.
Konferencija će okupiti naučnike, umetnike, teoretičare kulture, studente i aktiviste, kao i kolektive, kako bi zajedno razmatrali načine da se institucije kulture vrate u domen javnog i studentskog, i da se umesto tržišne logike i represivne kontrole uspostave novi modeli kulturne proizvodnje i odlučivanja – zasnovani na autonomiji, javnom interesu i društvenoj savesti.
Kontekst
U februaru 2025. godine, grupa studenata i studentkinja pokrenula je blokadu Studentskog kulturnog centra u Beogradu, institucije koja je nekada predstavljala stožer alternativne kulture i kritičke misli u Jugoslaviji. Umesto prostora koji služi studentima i nezavisnoj umetničkoj sceni, SKC je više decenija funkcionisao kao administrativna ispostava kulturne birokratije, ne samo bez jasne programske vizije, i bez stvarnog upliva akademske zajednice u njegov rad, već i bez ikakvih, čak i rutinskih predstavljanja studentskog stvaralaštva.
Tokom blokade koja je trajala gotovo šest meseci, studenti su otvorili prostor plenumskom organizovanju, koncipirali i izvodili izložbe, predavanja, koncertne događaje i javne rasprave, te štampali SKC list. Njihov program – ponekad provokativan, ali uvek relevantan – otvorio je nova polja dijaloga unutar kulturne zajednice. Brojni stručnjaci ocenili su ga kao jedan od najznačajnijih pomaka u kulturnoj produkciji Srbije u poslednjih nekoliko godina. Međutim, umesto institucionalnog dijaloga, usledila je reakcija vlasti: 22. jula, u saradnji s upravom SKC-a, policija je nasilno prekinula blokadu, izbacila studente i zatvorila prostor.
Medijska hajka koja je usledila prikazala je studente kao vandale, uz brojne neutemeljene optužbe o uništavanju imovine i krađi opreme. Studenti su sve te navode demantovali, podsećajući javnost da je reč o prostoru u koji su uneli život, program, pa i fizičku brigu o samom objektu.
Ova konferencija nastaje kao pokušaj da se pokrene kritički dijalog o statusu institucija kao što je SKC i da se artikulišu konkretne politike vraćanja takvih ustanova pod okrilje univerzitetske zajednice i u domen studentske autonomije.
Tematska pitanja
Šta danas znači kultura po studentskim standardima?
Kako izgleda model kulturne proizvodnje koji dolazi iz studentskih praksi i kako se on razlikuje od dominantnih institucionalnih i tržišnih modela?
Da li je moguće obnoviti javnu i društvenu misiju kulturnih institucija u Srbiji?
Koji su uzroci degradacije prostora kao što je SKC i koji su mogući modeli njihove revitalizacije?
Ko gradi kulturu: kapital ili zajednica?
Ko bi mogao da je gradi? Kako zamisliti zajedničke, participativne modele re-institucionalizacije kulture?
Može li Univerzitet dati autonomni prostor kulturnim ustanovama u svom okrilju?
Kako integrisati institucije kulture ustrojene prema studentskim standardima pod okrilje Univerziteta i osigurati dugoročnu podršku nezavisnim kulturnim praksama?
Koja je uloga akademske zajednice u vremenima društvene krize?
Na koji način nauka i umetničko obrazovanje mogu ponuditi teorijsku, metodološku i ideološku podršku studentskim i drugim progresivnim pokretima?
Postupak, datumi i logistika
Pozivamo autore i autorke naučnih radova, istraživačkih studija, umetničkih osvrta i studentskih inicijativa, kao i kolektive, da dostave apstrakte (do 250 reči) na srpskom i engleskom jeziku najkasnije do 3. oktobra 2025. Uz apstrakt je potrebno dostaviti i kratku biografiju ili opis kolektiva (do 150 reči). Predlozi mogu biti teorijski, empirijski ili refleksivni, uključujući i prezentacije umetničkih i aktivističkih praksi.
Predviđene forme učešća uključuju:
– saopštenja
– poster prezentacije
– tematske diskusije
– umetničke intervencije
– plenumske forme otvorenih rasprava
Za učešće se svi mogu prijaviti ovde:
https://forms.gle/cdKrEhgPhDN3NHNr5
Nakon recenzije, prijavljeni će biti obavešteni o detaljima. Konferencija će biti održana 3. i 4. novembra 2025. godine, u Rektoratu Univerziteta umetnosti u Beogradu, uz mogućnost hibridnog učešća za saradnice i saradnike iz inostranstva.
Ukoliko imate dodatnih pitanja, pišite nam na adresu: [email protected].
Očekujemo da konferencija Kultura po studentskim standardima pokrene dijalog o budućnosti studentske infrastrukture, institucionalne autonomije i progresivne kulturne politike. U vremenu sveopšte pasivizacije javnih institucija, želimo da otvorimo prostor za nove modele delovanja, povezivanja i osmišljavanja zajedničkog kulturnog, obrazovnog ali i društvenog horizonta.
Dobro došli!
***
Conference call
CULTURE BY STUDENT STANDARDS
University of Arts in Belgrade
November 3 and 4, 2025.
The University of Arts in Belgrade is organizing an interdisciplinary conference in November 2025, entitled Culture by Student Standards, with the aim of opening a space for critical reflection on cultural policies, based on the experiences of student organizing, public action and contemporary forms of cultural production.
The conference emerges as a direct response to the decades-long decline of institutional culture in Serbia and the systemic marginalization of students as socially relevant actors. A particularly important impetus for organizing the conference lies in the outcomes of program and creative work of students during the blockade of the Student Cultural Center (SKC) in Belgrade — an institution that, according to its founding mandate, was meant to serve as a place of student cultural autonomy, but which has been the subject of institutional neglect and political abuse for years. The violent end of the blockade and the imposition of administrative control — guaranteeing “secure” idleness instead of creative, critical work - points to the multiple significance of this issue in a society willing to believe the authorities’ claim that the blockade was an act of destruction rather than one of creation.
The conference will bring together scholars, artists, cultural theorists, students and activists to collectively explore ways of returning cultural institutions to the public and student domain, and to establish new models of cultural production and decision-making — grounded in autonomy, public interest and social conscience — instead of market logic and repressive control.
Context
In February 2025, a group of students initiated a blockade of the Student Cultural Center [SKC] in Belgrade, an institution that once stood as a pillar of alternative culture and critical thought in Yugoslavia. Instead of being a space serving students and the independent art scene, SKC had for decades functioned as an administrative outpost of the cultural bureaucracy, not only lacking a clear programmatic vision, and genuine involvement of the academic community in its work, but also without any, even the most routine, presentations of student creativity.
During the blockade, which lasted for nearly six months, the students opened the space for plenum organizing, conceived and performed exhibitions, lectures, concert events and public debates, and published the SKC newspaper. Their program — sometimes provocative, but always relevant — opened up new fields of dialogue within the cultural community. Numerous experts described it as one of the most significant advances in Serbia’s cultural production in recent years. However, instead of an institutional dialogue, the authorities responded: on July 22, in collaboration with the SKC management, the police violently broke up the blockade, expelled the students and closed the area.
The media campaign that followed portrayed the students as vandals, with numerous unfounded accusations of property damage and equipment theft. The students refuted all such claims, reminding the public that this was a space into which they had brought life, a program, and even physical care of the building itself.
This conference emerges as an attempt to initiate a critical dialogue on the status of institutions such as SKC and to articulate specific policies for returning such institutions under the umbrella of the university community and in the domain of student autonomy.
Thematic questions
What does culture mean today by student standards?
What does a model of cultural production emerging from student practices look like and how does it differ from dominant institutional and market models?
Is it possible to restore the public and social mission of cultural institutions in Serbia? What are the causes of the degradation of spaces such as the SKC and what possible models exist for their revitalization?
Who builds culture: capital or the community?
Who could be the one to build it? How can we imagine collective, participatory models of re-institutionalization of culture?
Can the University provide autonomous space for cultural institutions?
How to integrate cultural institutions organized by student standards under the umbrella of the University and ensure long-term support for independent cultural practices?
What is the role of the academic community in times of social crisis?
How can science and art education offer theoretical, methodological and ideological support to student and other progressive movements?
Procedure, dates and logistics
We invite authors of scientific papers, research studies, artistic reflection and student initiatives to submit abstracts (up to 250 words) in Serbian and English no later than October 3, 2025.
Along with the abstract, a short biography (up to 150 words) should also be submitted.
Proposals can be theoretical, empirical or reflective, and may also include presentations of artistic and activist practices.
The forms of participation include:
– oral presentation
– poster presentation
– thematic discussions
– artistic interventions
– plenary forms, public dialogues or similar
To participate, everyone may apply here: https://forms.gle/cdKrEhgPhDN3NHNr5
After the reviewing process, the applicants will be informed about the details. The conference will be held on November 3 and 4, 2025, in the Rectorate of the University of Arts in Belgrade, with the possibility of hybrid participation for colleagues from abroad.
If you have any further questions, please write to us at: [email protected].
Program committee
Prof. Mirjana Nikolić, PhD, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Prof. Irena Ristić, PhD, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Prof. Zoran Todorović, DA, Faculty of Fine Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Prof. Emerita Milena Dragićević Šešić, PhD, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Assoc. prof. Jasna Žmak, PhD, Academy of Dramatic Art, University of Zagreb
Prof. Silvija Jestrović, PhD, School of Creative Arts, Performance and Visual Cultures, University of Warwick UK
Assoc. Prof. Jelena Ćalić, PhD, University College London UK
Prof. Ivan Medenica, PhD, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Prof. Katarina Jovanović, DA, Faculty of Music University of Arts in Belgrade
Assoc. Prof. Olivera Batajić Sretenović, DA, Faculty of Applied Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Prof. Marko Lađušić, DA, Faculty of Applied Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Prof. Miodrag Šuvaković, PhD, Faculty of Media and Communications Singidunum University Belgrade
Prof. Jasmina Čubrilo, PhD, Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade
Assoc. Prof. Vladimir Nikolić, DA, Faculty of Fine Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Assist. Prof. Nemanja Nikolić, DA, Faculty of Fine Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Assist. Prof. Ognjen Obradović, PhD, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
T. A. Milan Đorđević, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Organizing committee
T. A. Milan Đorđević, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University
Assist. Prof. Ognjen Obradović, PhD, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Katarzyna Ewa Stojičić, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Ivan Velisavljević, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Ana Stojković, DA Candidate, Faculty of Fine Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Nevena Novaković, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade
Veronika Podrjadova, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade
Saška Ristić, student, Faculty of Fine Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
We expect the conference Culture by Student Standards to spark a dialogue about the future of student infrastructure, institutional autonomy and progressive cultural policy. In a time of widespread passivisation of public institutions, we want to open up space for new models of action, collaboration and envisioning a shared cultural, educational and social horizon.
Welcome!
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Rektorat Univerziteta Umetnosti, Улица Косанчићев венац 29, 11000 Београд, Србија, Belgrade, Yugoslavia
