At a time when the leaders of cultural institutions in Belgrade and Vršac were replaced this month with those who are not qualified for those positions but are therefore loyal foreigners, the Board of Directors of the Opera and Theater "Madlenijanum" chose Gordana Matić for the director of that institution. On his own accord, without the directive of the departmental authority. A director whose biography inspires confidence.
Matić was from July 2019 to June 2023 director of the Film Center of Serbia, when he learned from the media that he had been dismissed. He is a director by education, he completed his postgraduate studies at the University of Arts in Belgrade and as part of the UNESCO program of the Lumière 2 University in Lyon, majoring in culture and media management. He directed several theater plays, television and short films, a feature-length documentary-feature film Žućko - The story of Radivoj Korac and feature film Shootings in Marseille, 30 episodes of the documentary-fiction series Serbian medieval heroes, as well as two seasons of the series Calcaneal circles.
News we are not used to
Well, it was news we were not used to. Speaking for "Vreme", about the unusual for Serbia way in which he was elected, Gordan Matić seems to be justifying himself.
"We are talking about an institution that has existed and worked for 28 years, despite everything and against everything. In a country where culture has been treated for decades as an expense (which is acceptable) and not as a cherished value, a private house of opera and theater format — unique in this part of the world — has not only survived, but has built its own identity and its own standard. That, if you think about it, is almost inexplicable. Or, it is perfectly explainable — because behind it are the people who invested in art not out of obligation, but out of conviction."
Proof that it is possible otherwise
Did he feel like he didn't belong in this country? He says "maybe for a moment. But then I remembered that this very contradiction, between what 'Madlenianum' is and what surrounds us, is perhaps the most eloquent proof of why such institutions must exist. As proof that something else is possible. That it can be done."
The repertoire of "Madlenianum" does not deal with socio-political topics, and Gordan Matić is known as someone who publicly and loudly reacts to the wrong moves of the government.
"Yes, I react to injustices. And I will not stop doing that. But I think they invited me because they recognized that this trait is not in conflict with the role of the director of such an institution, but that it can be its natural extension. A man who believes in values and who publicly defends them is the same man who will defend artistic values within the institution. There are not two versions of me: one who speaks about injustices outside and the other who is silent within the walls of the 'Madlenianum'. Integrity is, fortunately or unfortunately, indivisible. After all, 'Madlenianum' has never been an institution that turned its head away from the world, but it should not be a tribune. It should continue to talk to the times in which it exists."
Programme
Gordan Matić proposed the following program to the Board of Directors of "Madlenijanum":
"First — artistic excellence as the only compass, without compromise towards easy passability and without fear of the demanding. The audience is smarter than it is often given credit for. Second — opening the institution to the world: co-productions with European houses, applying for international funds, guest appearances that put 'Madlenianum' on the map of relevant scenes, not just Belgrade addresses. And third — modernization in the broadest sense: from digital infrastructure, to the way we communicate with the audience and build a relationship with them as by the community, not by the number of tickets sold."
Freedom and its pressures
The Madlenianum Opera and Theater is the only private institution of its kind in the region. It does not depend on the will and taste of the party currently in power - it is free. Gordan Matić says that this freedom does not exclude pressure. "It's just replacing one type of pressure with another. Instead of wondering if someone from the ministry or board will approve your program, you wonder if the audience will recognize what you've offered them. Will they come. Will they return. It's actually a more difficult test, because it's brutally direct and there's no one to blame but yourself. You can't hide behind institutional status."
He states that the pressure of the market is also very present, "the need to justify every dinar, to fill the hall, to think about incomes that simply do not exist in state houses as an existential category".
And that's where we get to the point, says Gordan Matić. He reminds that "Madlenianum" all the time "existed without the protective net of the state budget, which means that all its success is really its own. It is not the result of systemic support, but the result of the decisions, investments and beliefs of specific people. This builds a special relationship towards the institution — inside it and towards it from the outside. And that relationship, that feeling that something is valuable and fragile at the same time, I think the audience recognizes".
Privilege without purpose
He believes that he will not have to adapt to that freedom, because his entire work so far, from film to pedagogical work, was marked by choices of topics and forms that did not follow the line of least resistance. "In 'Madlenianum' I now have a stage, the trust of the owner - the Board of Directors, and the audience. I intend to use that freedom responsibly and meaningfully. Because freedom without responsibility towards art, but also towards the viewer who gives you his time — is not freedom. It's just indiscipline with a better image. Privilege without a purpose. And the Madlenianum is an institution that has known exactly what its purpose is for almost three decades. My task is not only to preserve that purpose, but to expand it — to a new audience, to new partners, new generations, new areas of cooperation. With this freedom in my hands and such a legacy, I feel a privilege," says Gordan Matić, the new director of the "Madlenijanum" Theatre.
Real journalism costs money, and we will not be bought by tycoons and corporations. Support us with a one-time or monthly donation. The time for it is now!
