Partners - My Balkans

In a variety meanings of the word PARTNER we chose the one related to work and business where it defines one person associated with another in some action or endeavor, one or two or more people, business, organizations, etc. that work together or do business together, collaborate on a specific project, program, initiative.

If you share any of the above, My Balkans is inviting you to become a PARTNER, to collaborate with us, to brainstorm together, to cooperate in promoting the cultural and social mission we are based on, to co-produce excellent artistic ideas, spread the word about the importance of our unity and engagement
That is all we are asking from a PARTNER.

We need each other in this time of uncertainty and we share these thoughts:
‘Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much’ (Hellen Keller)

‘It is in the long history of humankind that those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed (Charles Darwin).

‘Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress and working together is success (Henry Ford)

If you would like to discuss a partnership or a collaboration please email us at mybalkans@mybalkans.art

Thank you.

SARTR | Sarajevo War Theatre

The Sarajevo War Theatre (SARTR) was founded on May 17, 1992, bringing together actors and collaborators from three professional Sarajevo theatres that had to suspend their activities due to the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the four-year siege, actors and other theatre professionals from Sarajevo’s theatres aligned themselves with SARTR and performed over 200 plays.

Founded during the siege, SARTR stands as a testament to the phenomenon of spiritual and cultural resistance against fascism and aggression. SARTR not only preserves the memory of that period but continues to strongly promote universal values: the richness of diversity, anti-fascism, the sanctity of peace, activism, internationalism, and compassion for all those who suffer injustice around the world. With its legacy, SARTR strives to be a place of conscience and courage.

Heartefact

Heartefact is a multi-disciplinary organization that convenes and maintains fora where cultural and social reality is critically questioned, the past is remembered and learnt from, individuality is encouraged and talent is celebrated, creative and forward-thinking individuals are empowered to try and allowed to fail—so that the cultural and public space for all people is diversified, enriched, made vibrant and more accepting towards differences.

Heartefact’s mission is to provide and guard critical spaces of remembrance, reflection, engagement and artistry, where knowledge and learning are pursued so that common challenges are addressed, and where individuals and groups are empowered to contribute to social change through artistic expression, and through creation of or engagement with critical content.

heartefact.org

Little theatre “Duško Radović”, Belgrade, Serbia

Little Theatre “Duško Radović” was founded in 1948 as the “Puppet Theatre of the People’s Republic of Serbia”. Since 1968 it has been operating in the first purpose-built children’s theatre in Yugoslavia.

Little Theatre “Duško Radović” have drama and puppet shows, which it performs within two programs: Stage for children and Stage for young people. On our repertoire, there are various classical and contemporary genres, adapted to the age of the audience: from Shakespeare for the youngest, through interactive performances, physical theater, kamishibai theater, modern and classical pieces for children and teenagers, all the way to children’s opera.

www.malopozoriste.co.rs

Making Waves

Initiated and co-presented by Insula 42 Association (previously Film ETC), in partnership with leading American film organizations, Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema is the leading comprehensive U.S. festival dedicated to showcasing and celebrating the best in Romanian contemporary cinema.

From its start in 2006, the Romanian Film Festival in New York was nourished by the belief that the Romanian cinema deserves to be exposed on a sustainable basis to American audiences. Under the leadership of cultural entrepreneur Corina Șuteu, with Mihai Chirilov as artistic director and Oana Radu as festival manager, the festival has become a fixture on the city’s cultural scene, helping “define and establish the southeastern European country as a stronghold of socially incisive, independently minded personal cinema” (Wall Street Journal). Since 2012, Making Waves has been a fully independent festival of Romanian contemporary cinema and culture, made possible through the support of numerous institutional funders and individual donors, including a large number of Romanian artists who believe that audiences at home and abroad deserve unfettered access to the best of Romanian contemporary culture.

makingwaves.filmetc.org

Clio

CLIO was founded in 1990 as a private publishing company. It has initiated fifteen libraries within which around 850 titles in total have been published so far. These titles include modern literature from all over the world, collections of short stories, essays and criticism, history, social sciences, ecology, multimedia, marketing. The ARS project, for example, consists of seceral libraries: theatre, music, film, art, etc. A special library includes monographies on individual artists. Agora has been initiated to publish books on culture, sociology and anthropology, and in Polis we publish history. CLIO also publishes two periodicals, one dealing with music and the other with Slavic cultures.

The main characteristic of the company is a consistent publishing policy based on permanent cultural and democratic values and constant endeavour to supply readers with impartial and objective information, to create a dialogue, and to offer a high-quality choice which encourages an active relationship between the publishing company and readers. After all, these are necessary steps to be taken in order to follow the path of democratic progress, and books do encourage an open type of communications with the public.

Facing numerous and different difficulties in its activities, which are due to the presently prevailing circumstances in Serbia, CLIO has nevertheless managed to form a team of people for each of its libraries (concerning history, ecology and enviromental studies, sociology of culture and anthropology, world’s literature, marketing, arts, multimedia and museology) trying to do their best in order to promote the values represented by the company. To that purpose, great efforts have been done to publish Serbian editions of various famous publishing companies’ titles and to make them accepted as textbooks at the local universities. That is an important step towards promoting knowledge, high-quality and non-ideological approach to information of all kinds which is the basis for achieving a better education.

www.clio.rs

La MaMa

Founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart in New York, La MaMa is a home for artists of all identities, races, ages, and cultures. At La MaMa, artists are provided the space, support, and creative freedom to explore new forms of expression and to make new work. La MaMa believes art is a force for change. Violence, discrimination, and systemic racism will not stop without a unified resistance. La MaMa is committed to battling bigotry and intolerance in all its forms, and to providing inclusive spaces for our local, national, and global community. “A multicultural hive of avant-garde drama and performance art. La MaMa is a remarkable springboard for an impressive roster of promising playwrights, directors and actors.” – New York Times

www.lamama.org

No Borders Orchestra

No Borders Orchestra is symphony orchestra comprised of outstanding professional musicians from the former Yugoslavia. Besides its artistic excellence, NBO has educational and strong social and political significance. It is based on the deconstruction of stereotypes, overcoming nationalism, racism, xenophobia and the gory legacy from the past. No Borders Orchestra has emerged from the desire to create a regional professional symphony orchestra, a project which calls for a new kind of communication and involvement in the society.

www.nobordersorchestra.org

Qendra Multimedia

Qendra Multimedia is a cultural organization based in Pristina, Kosovo. Its main focus is in contemporary theater and literature. It is considered to be one of the most interesting and provocative theater companies in South Eastern Europe. Qendra was founded in 2002 by a group of young artists aiming to create an alternative form of art production to address political and social issues with clarity and imagination. Qendra produces and co-produces fresh and innovative theater performances and other literary and cultural events, for local and international audiences. Artistic exchanges with international partners are crucial in the work of Qendra Multimedia.

polipfestival.wordpress.com

Dragan Klaic Foundation

The Dragan Klaić Foundation is based in Belgrade, Serbia, and has the mission to help i the higher education development with the regional cooperation in the areas of arts and culture – with a specal accent on the education in the fields of cultural policy and management in the culture and arts. The Foundation’s unique and wide goal is to help the inetrcultural dialogue in the Balkan region and throughout Europe.

KC Grad

GRAD – European Centre for Culture and Debate, also known as KC GRAD, was opened in 2009. It is a product of a joint initiative of Cultural Front Belgrade and Amsterdam based Felix Meritis Foundation. KC Grad is situated in an old warehouse located in the old, neglected and rundown industrial neighborhood in the very heart of Belgrade, on the banks of the Sava river. KC GRAD organizes conferences, debates, book promotions, workshops, music programs, film screenings and many other events. Through all its programs and activities as well as cooperation that are established on regional and European level, KC Grad harness the power of culture and arts to contribute the social cohesion, cultural participation, mobility of artists and cultural workers and promotion of human rights.

www.kcgrad.rs

K.R.O.K.O.D.I.L.

K.R.O.K.O.D.I.L. is an acronym in Serbian. It stands for: Literary Regional Gathering That Alleviates Boredom and Lethargy. Association KROKODIL is dedicated to the production of literary, cultural and sociopolitical programs and projects with the aim of developing literary audiences among those that are interested in culture as such. KROKODIL is also dedicated to the promotion of dialogue, reconciliation and reconstruction of broken links, particularly in the region of the Western Balkans, as well as deepening mutual understanding and acceptance of differences within the wider European and global context.

www.krokodil.rs

The Center for Cultural Decontamination

The Center for Cultural Decontamination (CZKD) is a nonprofit cultural institution whose work is based on critical thinking, and cultural and artistic production. Through cultural and social engagement, which has included thousands of people, CZKD articulates initiatives of politization and repolitization of public space, culture and art. Established at a time of war and transitional devastation, the Center has managed to develop into an institution of resistance. Opened at the “First Decontamination”, on January 1st 1995, with the firm belief that nationalism, xenophobia, and any kind of violence can be questioned in the same way that they are developed – through culture, art and public speech. Since then the Center has been an institution of critical thinking and the affirmation of the right to rebel, without separating human rights and justice, art, culture and truth. Since its foundation, CZKD has organized several thousand various programs: plays, performances, exhibitions, concerts, public discussions, film screenings, workshops, seminars, conferences, lectures and complex performance experiments. CZKD is a place of political and cultural dialogue, a public space that is open for both critique and affirmation.