Results competition of the Secretariat for Culture of the City of Belgrade were the latest reason for the Democratic Party to react. This time he's looking review of decisions, and publication of the composition of commissions, decision criteria and explanations for all rejected projects.
The Departmental Committee for Culture of the Social Democratic Party reacts and points out the bad and wrong moves of the government. Other opposition parties, associations, civic initiatives also react, but - nothing. Those to whom their announcements and letters are addressed do not respond. However, they do not give up.
We are aware that there is no dialogue.
"We are aware of how incompetent, non-transparent and corrupt the system is that manages culture today, and that is precisely why the Departmental Committee for Culture often does not start from the illusion that it is possible to open a real dialogue with the institutions in such an autocratic framework," he told Vreme. Jovana Karaulić president of that Committee and assistant professor at FDU.
He adds that "there is no reaction from the institutions, but that does not absolve us of the responsibility to speak publicly. We remain consistent in ensuring that the voice against injustice is heard and that we contribute to the widest possible visibility of the scars that the current government inflicts on culture, its institutions, the independent scene and the people who work and create in the overall field."
According to Jovana Karaulić, the government does not treat only the Democratic Party like this, but "every voice of resistance and anyone who tries to point out systemic problems in culture" and cites the example of the Independent Cultural Scene of Serbia, which "for years has been publishing detailed analyzes of competition results, various appeals and warnings", as well as the Association of Dramatic Artists of Serbia, the Association of Fine Artists of Serbia.
The collapse of culture is a political decision
"In fact, the entire cultural community continuously reacts to non-transparency, political criteria and the collapse of the system. On the other hand, what we get are repeated, or even worse, competitive patterns and models of cultural management, both at the city and state level. This shows that the problem is not in individual criticisms, but in a strong political decision to conduct culture through control, suitability and exhaustion of any space for professional integrity".
Jovana Karaulić states that the Democratic Party "in the previous months filed dozens of criminal charges against those who abuse their position and violate the law in various areas of public activity."
It is important to be heard.
Why do they do this if they know that no one will answer them?
"It is important to record who did and who did not act in accordance with the law and the public interest. It is our duty to record and publicly name what is happening. When institutions stop responding to the public, then it is even more important that there is political and social pressure that reminds us that someone follows their decisions, understands the consequences of those decisions and informs citizens about it. Silence would mean agreeing to the normalization of the collapse of institutions, and that is by no means an option."
The Secretariat for Culture decided, for example, that the PEN Center does not deserve a single dinar from the city budget, while a play for local use deserves several hundred thousand. Jovana Karaulić says that as a citizen and professional in culture, she is not surprised by such results.
"They only confirm the level of abuse that this regime produces in almost all segments of society. Culture is no longer seen as an area of public interest, critical thinking and social development, but as a platform for the promotion of loyal and politically eligible actors. This is precisely why today we have a situation in which relevant organizations and actors remain without support, while funds go to projects that speak much more about power relations than about quality and importance for culture."
The result is resistance.
At the same time, "this attitude of the government towards culture paradoxically generates something that goes beyond individual contests and decisions - the homogenization of resistance. In the cultural sector, a sense of solidarity, mutual connection and awareness that the problems we face are not isolated cases, but the result of a deeply collapsed system, is increasingly being created in the cultural sector. Today, this feeling is being shaped into an ever-widening lump of pressure that is growing, despite attempts to ignore and discipline the cultural scene."
"I believe that it is precisely this continuity of public resistance that will lead to this state of affairs finally being clearly named as unsustainable - in the elections, of course." says Jovana Karaulić.
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