INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE "TOWARDS STRONGER PERIPHERIES" SUCCESSFULLY HELD IN BELGRADE

From May 27th to May 31st, the international conference "Towards Stronger Peripheries: New Coalitions and Policies of Solidarity" was held at various venues including the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, the Yugoslav Film Archive, the Cultural Center Magacin in Kraljevića Marka, the Cultural Center GRAD, and the Youth Center of Belgrade. The conference gathered a large number of domestic, regional, and international researchers, practitioners, artists, and policymakers in the fields of theater and performing arts, cultural management, and cultural policy.

Keynote speeches were delivered by Prof. Dr. Eleonora Belfiore from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland - "Aspiring Peripheries and Experiments in Relational Place-Making: on the Importance of Coalitions of Goodwill" and Prof. Dr. Kristina Lelovac from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje - "For a New and More Possible Meeting: REHEARSING FEMINIST FUTURE Platform as Feminist Practice of More-Than-Collaboration in the Contemporary Performing Arts". A central feature of the program was also a dialogue between Prof. Emeritus Emmanuel Négrier from the University of Montpellier and Prof. Dr. Federico Escribal from the University of the Arts, Buenos Aires.

Other presentations included:

• Dr. Ksenija Marković Božović, FDA, "Building Capacities of Artists in the Periphery of Performing Arts: Notes from the South of Europe"
• Dr. Biljana Tanurovska Kjulavkovski, Lokomotiva, Skopje, "Collaborative Turn: New Tactics of Collaboration Reformulating Work Politics and Aesthetics in the Performing Arts"
• Jacques Laroche, Faculty of Media and Communications, "Reigniting Crossborder Solidarity: Reexamining the Art of Aaron and Emory Douglas"
• Prof. Dr. Jose Vicente Pestana, University of Barcelona, "Challenges, Paradoxes, and Tensions in Artistic Cooperation in (and between) Europe and Latin America"
• Asst. Prof. Dr. Jovana Karaulić, FDA, "Artistic Residencies as an Instrument of Cultural Policy"
• Asst. Prof. Dr. Ana Letunić, Academy of Dramatic Arts Zagreb, "Collaborative Decision-Making and Participation in the Independent Cultural Sector: International Networks in the Post-Yugoslav Region"
• Prof. Dr. Luis Bonet, University of Barcelona, "International Cultural Relations from the Perspectives of the Peripheries"
• Prof. Dr. Pedro Costa and Dr. Ricardo Venancio Lopez, University Institute of Lisbon ISCTE, "Cultural Policies in the South: Implications for Territorial Policies"
• Prof. Dr. Jasmina Husanović, University of Tuzla, "Decolonial Approaches to Cultural Production in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Production of Possibilities for Participatory-Democratic Practice"

The conference was co-presided by prof. emerita of the University of Arts in Belgrade, Milena Dragićević Šešić, Asst. Prof. Dr Jovana Karaulić, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts and Prof. Dr. Lluis Bonet from the University of Barcelona.

The conference also featured a performance by Neja Tomšič and the Nonument Group from Slovenia „Circle“, as well as several artistic performance projects developed within the long-term international project "Stronger Peripheries" in Portugal, Italy, France, Romania, Croatia, Hungary, Greece, and Slovenia. On the last day, the documentary film "Vongar" directed by professor of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts Andrijana Stojković was shown, followed by a discussion with the director.

At the conference, colleagues from the University Institute of Lisbon ISCTE presented the results of their assesment work within the Project - audience analysis in the performing arts, the quality of participatory processes, and evaluation of some newer and creative approaches applied in the project. Attendees also had the opportunity to receive a copy of the proceedings from the conference "Having a Voice" held within the same project in November 2022, in which professors and researchers from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts also made notable contributions.

We thank the institutions, organizations, and individuals with whom we collaborated in preparing and holding this event for their support and valuable contributions. The conference was co-financed by the European Union through the "Creative Europe" program, the Ministry of Science, and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia.

A publication with the papers presented at the conference is already in preparation in English and is expected to be published in August this year.

The event was photographed and filmed by Tanja Drobnjak.