In the year in which it is part of the project "Zrenjanin - National Capital of Culture 2025", everything should be bursting with cultural content, many events were not realized.
However, the City is still silent about this, even though the year of culture in Zrenjanin ended on March 21.
The list of planned and unrealized projects within the Zrenjanin Capital of Culture was published by the portal zrenjaninski.com. There was no answer as to why they were not implemented. We would like to draw attention to the fact that this list contains only manifestations, without planned infrastructural changes, which, according to the announcement of the then Minister of Culture, Maja Gojković, should have been - 10.
It was abandoned:
Zrenjanin won the title of national capital of culture in March 2025. And already at the start - a problem. The opening ceremony was not held, due to the overall situation in the country.
The arrangement of public spaces for the maintenance of cultural events under the name "Urban Pockets", as well as the event "We grow with music", which was supposed to be realized by the Association of Citizens "New Barcelona", was abandoned.
The city also gave up on the event "Children of the World Play for Peace", which was supposed to be realized by KUD "Pionir", then "Bine of Peace" realized by CEKOM, as well as "Begej Fest", which was supposed to be realized by the City Brass Orchestra.
The manifestation "On four wheels - Combine", which was supposed to be realized by the "Photo Expo" association, did not take place either because the city gave up on it.
He also gave up on "Mudding", in the idea of the Association of Fine Artists of Zrenjanin (ALUZ), but also on the project "On earthen paths made of mud from Banat" organized by the Fine Crafts Club.
The Jewish community of Zrenjanin had the idea of organizing the promotion of Jewish cultural heritage, but the city gave up on that, as well as the exhibition dedicated to Todor Manojlović and Sava Šumanović in the National Museum due to lack of money.
The "New Reading of Perlez", which was planned to be organized by the Association of Citizens "Baštinar", was also abandoned, and the City Public Library "Žarko Zrenjanin" abandoned the project "Koji vam je andrak".
The city did not even become the "Banat Philharmonic Capital", because that project was also abandoned.
Announcements at the beginning of the PK
That planned for The capital of culture will not be fully realized, it could be sensed already on the first day after the beginning: the heirs of the composer, academician and university professor Isidore Žebeljan announced that they demand that her name, works, quotes, photos and her music be completely removed from the program of the Zrenjanin manifestation.
"We cannot allow the name and work of Isidore Žebeljan to be part of the Mephistopheles charade of this government, which attacks the people during peaceful protests, that is not Isidore's world," the announcement stated.
Then, the artistic director of the "Slobodan Bursać" Choir Festival, Vladimir Coka Stojković, canceled the festival because he did not want to participate in the "manifestation, financed by the authorities, which proved who and what he is".
Then, in mid-April, the mayor of Zrenjanin, Simo Salapura, canceled the competition for the co-financing of programs of public interest that were supposed to be implemented as part of the "Zrenjanin - Capital of Culture of Serbia 2025" project. It turned out that there were no funds in the city budget intended for those purposes, although 30 million dinars had been previously allocated. Even to this day, it has not been explained where that money is.
Then, this summer, Goblin's participation in Beer Days was rejected, and artists and their exhibitions were kicked out of the National Museum gallery, and finally Lazarus Fest, a festival that brings together performers from the country, region and abroad, underground culture and metal sound, was canceled in October.
Budget
It is not even clear how much the Zrenjanin Capital of Culture cost the City and the Republic.
In March 2024, Maja Gojković stated that the Ministry would give 300.000.000 dinars to the new Capital of Culture. During the duration of the project, there was no confirmation that the money had been paid.
Then she also said that "the City of Zrenjanin is participating with a large amount of money in this project." Now that everything is over, the public hears that it was not more than a few million dinars.
Leskovac
Since March 21, Zrenjanin is no longer the Capital of Culture. Just as there was no ceremonial opening, there was also no ceremonial closing.
The current capital of culture is Leskovac.
There was no formal opening there either, only the Minister of Culture Nikola Selaković opened the exhibition "Serbian Medieval Monuments in Danger", and said that it was the beginning of the program "Leskovac - Capital of Culture". If he hadn't said that, it would have been the opening of the exhibition like every other one he attended, especially since it is the exhibition from 2024, realized on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the entry of Visoki Decani to the UNESCO list of cultural heritage.
But Leskovac is just at the beginning and has the right to expect that everything will go according to plan. The Ministry of Culture has set aside 298,1 million dinars for the Leskovac Year of Culture, while an additional 100,2 million dinars have been allocated from the budget of the city of Leskovac for that purpose.
Three previous capitals
The National Capital of Culture is a program of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia announced in 2021. Čačak was the first Capital of Culture in 2023, followed by Užice and Zrenjanin.
Of these three cities, the title of National Capital of Culture was felt in Čačak, where important cultural programs designed on the occasion of that project took place throughout the year, which left their mark both in the city and in Serbia, while the year of culture through Užice and Zrenjanin passed more or less like any other.
With the fact that Zrenjaninska will still be remembered for unfulfilled projects.
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