Secretariat for Culture of the City of Belgrade announced the results competition for the financing or co-financing of cultural projects for this year.
About 200 projects and programs of institutions, associations and companies were selected, which will receive a total of slightly more than 99 million dinars.
The results were announced for all 13 competitions announced on February 7. This means that they were published a month later than the legal deadline of 60 days, but, considering that there were no city tenders in the previous two years, and that the Ministry of Culture is still in the process of announcing, this delay is negligible.
No explanation
Only the results were published, that is, the selected projects and the amounts they received from the city budget. No explanations have been released as to why they were chosen.
The members of the commissions that elected them are not listed either.
Also, rejected projects were not published, nor why they were rejected. It is possible to find out about this from their announcements - for example, the Serbian Literary Society did not receive support for any project, not even for the "Biljana Jovanović" and "Voja Čolanović" awards, the regular forum program, nor for the Literary Magazine.
Among those chosen, there is a small number of those who have public recognition.
Again, the absence of actors from the independent cultural scene who are active in criticizing city and state cultural policy is obvious. The only association from the independent scene that received support in the entire competition is Bazaart, which stands for performance art salon - festival of contemporary dance and performance. ReArtification received 400.000 dinars.
But that's why a large number of folklore programs, as well as companies or associations close to the authorities, are supported.
The Serbian Dance Council received the largest amount for the 22nd Belgrade Dance Festival - three million, and in the field of leading artistic groups, KUD "Gradimir" received 1,1 million dinars for the cultural and artistic program, "Spomenar" Folklore Veterans Society for the folklore festival "Nine Magnificent KUDs of Belgrade" received one million dinars, as well as KUD "Šumadija" for the 24th International Folklore Festival. For the "Serbian National Games", the Čukarica Cultural Center received 900.000.
Literature
There is not a single publisher in the competition for literature (creation and translation). The Association of Literary Translators of Serbia received the most - 600.000 dinars each for the forum program and the 51st International Belgrade Translation Meeting, while the Association of Literary Translators of Serbia received a total of 1,15 million dinars for six projects.
MUSIC
In the field of music, the Association of Orchestral Artists of Serbia received the largest amounts - 1,8 million dinars for the project Young Voices of Serbia, Association "Bellezza Serba" - 1,5 million for Opera among people, and the Association "COPIA 88" and Predrag Kotur PR - 1,2 million each for projects Serbian musical heritage - concert anthology, respectively Personalities of the Old Town and our present.
As is known, behind the association "Bellezza Serba" stands Maša Vraneš, daughter of SNS MP and director of the National Theater Opera in Belgrade, Ljubica Vraneš.
Association COPIA 88 also belongs to the family business of Vranešova, her cousin Milan Atanasjadis.
There is also the Association of Orchestral Artists of Serbia, whose Board of Directors member is Uroš Jović, otherwise the executive director of the NP Opera. This association is located at the address of the National Theatre, Francuska 3 in Belgrade., and for the jubilee 30th Ring Ring festival only 200.000 dinars.
Theater
In the field of theater, the Center for Culture Rakovica received a record amount - 1,4 million for the Festival of Festival Winners, while the company of the actress "Tamara Krcunović PR" received a million dinars for the project Autobiography of a Pumpkin. However, 500.000 dinars were set aside for the jubilee, 50th festival of pantomime and monodrama.
There is not a single theater in the competition for theater activity, but that is why the Orthodox sports organization "Holy Serb and I" is there, which received 450.000 dinars for the performance Vrlinko Dobric, while the company "Monte Media" from Niš is the actress Olivera Ježina for a theater play A roommate received 400.000 dinars.
Fine art
In the field of fine, applied, visual arts, design and architecture, the record holder in terms of individual amount is the Center for Culture and Education in Rakovica, which received 900.000 dinars for the project Earth as an archive. The artistic association "Dzhet Klok" received 800.000 dinars for International sculpture workshop Ada.
The galleries with Grafički kolektiv, Galerija Štab, Blok galerija and Marksenik received only 500.000 dinars each for the annual program of the renowned X vitamin gallery, and the oldest association in Serbia - the Association of Fine Artists of Serbia (ULUS) received only 400.000 dinars for the annual program of the ULUS Gallery and 430.000 for the "Cvijeta Zuzorić" Art Pavilion.
ULUS's Biennale of Youth project was not even considered in this competition, 0 dinars were allocated to encourage the art and creativity of young people.
The Kaleidoscope Culture Center is not supported for the project of the international exhibition of sacred art The light of the logos, for which he received support from UNESCO, but that is why the College - Academy of the Serbian Orthodox Church for Art and Conservation for the exhibition Holy incorporeal forces - the eye of our time.
Film
In the field of film art, the company "Gargantua films" received the largest amount of 2,8 million for a documentary film In search of Pupin, while two million were awarded to the company "Košutnjak film" for a feature film Revolt in Brutus and the company "Bit 011" for the working title project The bitter smell of tannin.
Eight film manifestation projects were also supported, and the largest amount of 2,2 million dinars went to Zemun Fest for Zemun Festival 2026, and the Božidarac Cultural Institution, which received 1,2 million dinars for Summer in Vračar - film and jazz under the stars. However, Kolar's endowment received only 300.000 dinars for Movie summer on the terrace of Kolarca.
Heritage
In the area of cultural heritage, the Association "Izražajnost" deserved the most - one million dinars for the audio guide Belgrade stories. The tourist organization of Zemun received 800.000 dinars for Summer on Gardoš, while the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts received 700.000 dinars each for the exhibition of the Vladimir Veličković Fund award and for the exhibition Saint Sava.
This is just an illustration of how the Secretariat for Culture of the city values the creativity of the capital and what is important to it and what is not. The answer is both the same and devastating as it was many, too many years ago.
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