To reflect and live the changes

This is the first address to the media Cultures in lockdown.

It was decided to come to him plenary session. The plenum was held in the Hall of the Cultural Center of Belgrade, in the space they occupied on February 18 and named "The Liberated KCB". Only as much was known about this action as Culture in Blockade was willing to reveal in two announcements and a dozen posts on social networks and the website: that they are an informal initiative made up of cultural workers and employees of cultural institutions and from the independent scene, that their goal is a joint struggle not only for changes in culture but also in society, and that they will not stop only at freeing the KCB.

Any attempt by the journalists to speak individually with some of the Kulture members in the blockade would end with a polite invitation to the plenum. Employees of KCB, who were deprived of the Cinema Hall (well, therefore, the program and earnings), also did not want to comment, explaining that the focus should not be diverted from the students.

The conversation with Kultur in the blockade was carried out by e-mail, and the questions of "Vremena" were answered jointly by several members. They were asked to answer as specifically as possible.

"WEATHER" As far as I heard, most of you think that the media is not favorable to KuB. What did they untruthfully convey?? You are closed to the media., you will admit that such a situation allows the media to assume and speculate. Why are you closed to the media??

CULTURE UNDER BLOCKADE: We would not say that we are closed to the media, but that we have decided on tactics and performances that are not conventional. Following the example of the student movement, we decided to preserve the horizontality of the initiative, which, let's remind you, has no leaders or representatives. Like everything else, it was a collective decision that was discussed at plenums on several occasions. People who actively participate in plenums have different professional statuses, different experiences, and thus they can encounter different types of problems in case of public exposure. We explain important aspects of our activities through written announcements on social networks and on our website. However, we notice that the media often overlooks our announcements, so without direct involvement, one-sided reporting occurs.

Can you reveal any other information about yourself?? For example, How were you created?, how many of you are there, Who are your members?, What is your plan??

Culture in Blockade is an informal initiative that operates on the principles of direct democracy and plenum, open to all artists, cultural workers, employees of cultural institutions, as well as all interested citizens. Given that we are an open initiative and not an organization with a hierarchy, we do not have formal members, and therefore no fixed number of people who make up the initiative. Our plenums are public and everyone is welcome to express their opinion, participate in voting on decisions and contribute to working groups.

The months-long student struggle is inspiring on countless levels, and as the students have repeatedly appealed - it is necessary to spread that struggle further into other social spheres. If someone believes that the burden of radical change in our society should be borne entirely by students, that is a legitimate position, but we are more in favor of the fact that everyone should help in their own sector as much as they can. It is easiest to watch from the sidelines as others lead the fight. It does not seem fair to us, let alone solidarity, to go to student protests and demand that everything stop, and then return to our daily activities, as if nothing had happened.

The first request you announced was at the beginning of February, when you protested in front of the Ministry of Culture, was an increase in the budget for culture. However, after your KCB blockade-and you don't mention it anymore. Are you working on its fulfillment and how??

Within our initiative, there are several working groups, including one that deals with the elaboration of goals, from which we do not give up.

The request you mentioned is one of the key ones, because everyone who works and creates in our sector has known for a long time that not enough money is allocated for culture, and we believe that this is clear to others as well. Even the little money that is allocated is distributed in a non-transparent manner, and often to dubious organizations. We will remind you that this is not the only request, but that there are five of them that are related to the department of culture, and in addition to the budget, they concern: the expo2027 project, stopping the demolition of cultural heritage for the sake of investment urbanism, hate speech in the media and the essential request that culture be accessible to everyone. This is not something that the current relevant ministry intends to change, but it is the duty of all of us not to agree to it. Regardless of whether someone is employed in a certain institution or is part of the independent scene, we are sure that we can all come together and agree on these requirements.

If I understand correctly, under liberation, you mean a change in the work of cultural institutions, from the organization of their work to the program. To bring about some change and make it happen, laws also need to be changed. Have you thought about it and how you will implement it?

The freed KCB is currently the only space, outside of student plenums, where we can openly discuss what is happening to us, outside of the established institutional rules and trends that prove to be too inert to directly respond to current events. We want to enable the inclusion in the dialogue of various actors who now have a need for it, to think about the changes that we all have needed for a long time, and at the same time try to embody those changes in the space itself. Thinking about and living changes is something that must exist even before entering the legalistic framework. The student movement itself shows this — plenums are a form of organization and decision-making that goes beyond the prescribed legal framework.

Photo: Skullcheez

In the announcement you answer the most common question of the public "why KCB?", you explain that "cultural centers and former cultural centers are used for party recruitment and extracting money from the budget, with non-transparent decision-making". What specifically did you free KCB from??

That question that keeps coming up is actually not crucial. The public ignores the fact that not a single faculty is blocked because it is "bad". It is certain that there are good practices and good individuals in all cultural institutions, but those institutions are part of a system that subordinates culture, like all other spheres of society, to privatization and market logic. In the field of culture, these processes led to the normalization of unpaid or underpaid work, which pushed many artists and cultural figures into an unsustainable precarious position. Entering the hall of the KCB is not a confrontation with "bad work of employees" or "bad programs" and is not a call to persecution, but a call to open cultural institutions for processes that would lead to radical changes. At a time of great protests, spaces are needed to connect the fronts of the struggle, to review the existing system and to think critically about the changes we want. We support the student demand that institutions should do their job, but we also want to point out that even when "doing their job", institutions work within hierarchical structures and in the service, either directly or indirectly, of the general financialization and deregulation that abolishes the space of critical thought and culture. This can be seen in the example of KCB, which claims in its announcements that it supports students, and at the same time, they did not suspend all programs until February 18 and after we entered the hall. We remind you that on January 18, the students of the University of Arts in Belgrade in an open letter called on everyone to suspend the art programs, and now we are in a situation where the KCB is complaining about the impossibility of realizing the regular program. Such an institution helps maintain the illusion that everything will be fine, only if we bring educated people to leadership positions, ignoring the entire spectrum of problematic practices that threaten the labor rights and dignity of artists, but also workers who are not in leadership positions such as technology, hygiene, security and others. No institution, including the Cultural Center of Belgrade, is exempt from these practices.

Based on that statement of yours, one gets the impression that you decided that the KCB should be released based on a precise insight into its work.. Is the impression correct??

If anyone, with an insight into the work of the KCB, its budget, methods of financing, working conditions for employees - from those who work to maintain the space itself to the artists who are engaged in the programs - believes that a representative city cultural institution should function like this and serve as an example to others - then we are afraid that we are in a much bigger problem. Numerous members of KuB have been intensively cooperating on programs implemented by KCB for years. We will repeat that our position is that the problem is in the system and that KCB is not outside of it, and it is the last moment that we all together explore ways to get out of this crisis. Maintaining the status quo leads nowhere; what does it really mean, that in the middle of general volunteerism, corruption, chaotic decisionism of the city authorities, KCB stands as some special micro world of normality and orderliness? Where did that special privilege come from? At the same time, it is overlooked that there is widespread dissatisfaction, for example, due to the form of privatization of the October Salon by people close to the authorities, who then use the Salon to trade influence. The budget of the October Salon is unknown to us, as are the decision-making processes of the Board of Directors.

What were your reasons for occupying only the cinema hall and not the entire KCB?

At this moment, the hall is suitable for holding a plenum and strengthening cooperation with other sectors and actors of current protests, which is currently the initiative's priority.

What will be released by KCB?? KCB is now a multipurpose space, whether you will keep that concept or not?

For us, a freed cultural institution is one that opens its doors to everyone who wants to hold their plenums and discussions, to participate in designing new social and cultural models and practices, as well as to express all their creative and intellectual potential, which is the direction in which we are moving. One of the key needs we feel is the need for an institution that is agile and open enough to respond to current needs in an authentic way. In this sense, the Liberated KCB is necessarily multi-purpose. It is a space for discussion and organization as much as cultural content and creative work.

Do you have any art supplies ready?, literary, grandstand, film and all other programs that KCB had?

At this moment, the program focuses on expanding the front of struggle and cooperation with students and other organized groups, such as educators. At the same time, a special program was launched in the Liberated KCB Cinema for the people (spectators who came to the screening of the film propose the next one, explain it, it is immediately voted on and shown on the following film evenings - well), a reading group has come to life, jam sessions and creative workshops are held. It is important to emphasize that everyone who has ideas can join us, present their proposals and then, with the consent of the plenum, implement them with the support of others.

You appeared on the wave of student protest, the first night of the KCB blockade-and it was even reported that you are in that action together. Do you collaborate with students?? Or with someone else?

Ours, as well as numerous other struggles taking place across the country, were clearly inspired by the student movement. Among other things, students of Belgrade University and University of Arts supported our protests in front of the Ministry of Culture, and were present at most of our plenums, including the first one in the Liberated KCB. Part of the students still attend the plenums, they ask us open and numerous "awkward" questions to which we then look for answers together. We just organized a conversation with students on March 3, and the main topic was direct democracy and plenum organization, as well as the expansion of the social front. In addition, we have already organized a forum with educators "Fight for the School", we are preparing a special program to commemorate March 8, and we are working on similar content for the upcoming period. Our basic idea was not to create an alternative program, but you never know in advance exactly how it should look and how people perceive freedom - for some it is a workshop, for others it is an exposed drawing, Night Bishop From Below, and for some, a discussion in a way that was unimaginable until yesterday.

What is your plan?, how the blockade of DKC will end-a? What do you expect?, Is it possible that the employees and those responsible for KCB will leave the Hall to you??

What is the plan for the students, how will the months-long blockades end? We don't have an answer to that question, just like we don't have an answer to everything that has been happening around us for so long, including in the Liberated KCB. We are all in a situation full of uncertainty, but we should not lose sight of the fact that people in large numbers woke up, got involved and supported the students like never before. It is up to all of us to share the burden of their struggle and initiate changes in society. We are glad that initiatives like KuB are now self-organizing in other cities, such as Kikinda, and those who participate in the work of KuB continue to actively support student and numerous other protests.