Culture for Democracy: Supported Projects within the Call for Cultural and Artistic Project Implementation in Serbia

News CFD Fond

As part of the Culture for Democracy (CfD) project, Heartefact launched a call on April 23, 2025, for the submission of proposals for the implementation of cultural and artistic projects that contribute to the development of society, local communities, and contemporary cultural and artistic practices within the independent sector in Serbia.

The call was intended for organizations registered in the Republic of Serbia, for projects focusing on various fields of contemporary cultural and artistic creation, including performing arts, visual arts, literature, music, audiovisual arts, comics, photography, design, cultural policy, and cultural management.

An exceptional response—totaling 273 applications—reflects the critical position of the cultural sector in Serbia in the context of the current political and social climate. Based on the Commission’s evaluation, 22 projects have been selected for support, with a total budget of 21,500,000.00 RSD. Although this amount exceeds the originally planned budget for this call, we believe that, amid the ongoing crisis and with public calls for cultural funding either canceled or indefinitely postponed, such support is more necessary than ever.

The supported projects encompass a diverse range of artistic disciplines and themes, including socially engaged theater, experimental and ecological art projects, visual arts, culture of remembrance, youth-oriented initiatives, projects that include persons with disabilities and promote social inclusion, gender-focused programs, and more. Special attention was given to geographic distribution, aiming to prioritize projects outside of Belgrade and Novi Sad—while remaining fully aware that organizations from these two cities are equally affected by the crisis.

Supported projects within this call:

1. Artists Association Project EXP – Intersection – 1.700.000,00 RSD

2. Festival of ecological theater for youth and kids – FEP – My Little House, My Little Freedom – 1.600.000,00 RSD

3. Joint Artistic Work – Under the Domes – The Hammam Internationale – 1.200.000,00 RSD

4. Centre E8 – Reflektor Theatre – Tradition of Resistance: Community Theatre as an Act of Political Memory – 1.200.000,00 RSD

5. Association of Visual Artists Užice – Cultural (de)centre – Reflector Gallery – 1.200.000,00 RSD

6. Citizens Association Guardians of Serbia Movement – POV-stage: The Prophetess – 1.200.000,00 RSD

7. Station – Dancer in the Dark – 1.200.000,00 RSD

8. Klara i Rosa – BOOST – 1.100.000,00 RSD

9. Citizens Association New Network – Documentary Movie: God Is Just Beyond the Rainbow – 1.000.000,00 RSD

10. Fine Crafts Club – The Blue Hallway and the Black Kitchen – 1.000.000,00 RSD

11. PLAVO Theatre – Theatre Laboratory – In Defense of the Margins of Society – 30 Years of PLAVO Theatre – 900.000,00 RSD

12. MM Base– In the Palms of the Land – 900.000,00 RSD

13. Academic Initiative Forum 10 – Virginia Woolf Back Among the Townfolk – 900.000,00 RSD

14. Intercultural Theatre III/40– Political Theatre on the Position of Roma Women in the Balkans – A Woman in the Land of Blood and Honey – 900.000,00 RSD

15. Citizen Association Livrit – Xade Fest 3 Edition – 900.000,00 RSD

16. Citizen Association Academic Scene – Balkan Network of Short Film – 800.000,00 RSD

17. Pančevo Film Festival – Pančevo Film Festival – 800.000,00 RSD

18. Boulevard Books d.o.o. – The playing bookstore – 700.000,00 RSD

19. Centre for Girls – Empowered to create – feminists artistic residency in Sicevo – 700.000,00 RSD

20. Intermunicipal Organization of the Association of the Blind – Kraljevo – Inclusive Dance – 600.000,00 RSD

21. Association for affirmation of children creation – This is us – 600.000,00 RSD

22. Drama Studio Proscenium – All together to Proscenium – 400.000,00 RSD

Launched in October 2021, the Culture for Democracy (CfD) project represents Switzerland’s first comprehensive and long-term initiative in the field of arts and culture in Serbia. Heartefact implemented the first phase of the CfD project between 2021 and 2025, during which 89 projects were supported with a total of 1,021,185 CHF. The second phase of the CfD project will be implemented from 2025 to 2028.

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A seminar was held for the new generation of the Human Rights Leadership program

Heartefact, in partnership with the Slovenian 8th of March Institute, from March 27 to 30, 2025, organized a seminar within the project Human Rights Leadership. The goal of the seminar was to empower 18 activists from different parts of Serbia who were selected through a public call to participate in this one-year program.

Nađa Mišković at the residency in Romania as part of the Playground project

Our young playwright Nađa Mišković spent last week in Romania, in Targu Mures, where during her residency at Teatrul Ariel she worked on her text “Will we see the sun?” based on the motifs of the Turkish folk tale “80 eyes”.

Sarajevo successfully hosted the beginning of the Atelier program for young playwrights

Last week, Sarajevo successfully hosted the first module of the Atelier program workshop for young playwrights as part of the new Sarajevo Theater Showcase/New Theater Market project, funded by the European Union through the Creative Europe program.

Sarajevo Theatre Showcase – open call for the inaugural atelier for playwrights

Sarajevo Theatre Showcase announces an open call for the inaugural Atelier for Playwrights. We invite participants from the following countries to apply Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Kosovo, Slovenia, and Serbia.

The new Sarajevo Theatre Showcase launched in Sarajevo as part of the European project New Theatre Market

Today, a press conference was held in the Sarajevo War Theater (SARTR) on the occasion of the start of the New Theatre Market project, the crown of which is the newly established Sarajevo Theatre Showcase, which will be held in the second week of September in Sarajevo. The leader of the project is the SARTR theater with partners: Heartefact from Serbia, Ulysses Theater from Croatia, Binario Vivo from Italy and Para Film & Theatre from Norway.

The Festivity of Otherness was held in Paris

From January 9 to 11, 2025, the Festivity of Otherness was held in Paris. After the Zagreb version of the festival in November, when three plays created as part of the Eclectic of Otherness project co-financed by the European Union were shown on the theater stage of the Arterarij organization, Heartefact House hosted the Belgrade version of the festival in December last year. Lavoir Moderne Parisien hosted the Parisian version of the festival, rounding off the first three editions of the festival.

Heartefact Fund is looking for the Financial and Administrative Grant Officer to support the implementation of the Culture for Development project in North Macedonia

Heartefact Fund is looking for the Financial and Administrative Grant Officer to support the implementation of the Culture for Development project in North Macedonia. Funded by the Swiss Agency for the Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Culture for Development project will be managed by the Heartefact Fund and is launching in January 2025 with a four-year duration.

Heartefact Fund is looking for the Program Grant Officer to support the implementation of the Culture for Development Project in North Macedonia

Heartefact Fund is looking for the Program Grant Officer to support the implementation of the Culture for Development Project in North Macedonia. Funded by the Swiss Agency for the Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Culture for Development Project will be managed by the Heartefact Fund and is set to launch in January 2025 with a four-year duration.

We Presented the Slavic Soundwalking Application to Senior Citizens

In Belgrade, we held an incredibly inspiring meeting with representatives of several civil sector organizations working with senior citizens and their quality of life.

The Festivity of Otherness was held in the Heartefact House in Belgrade

From December 5 to 7, 2024, the Festivity of Otherness was held in Belgrade. After the Zagreb version of the festivity in November, when three performances created as part of the Eclectic of Otherness project co-financed by the European Union were shown on the theater stage of the Arterarij organization, Heartefact House hosted the Belgrade version of the festival.

Final partners’ meeting and poetry performance in Ljubljana as part of the POT-VOT project

From November 25 to 27, 2024, in Ljubljana, in Pionirski dom, the last partners’ meeting was held as part of the Poets of Today, Voices of Tomorrow project. After more than two years of various activities dedicated to the promotion of contemporary poetry among young people and the general population, the last meeting of 5 partners from Slovenia, Serbia, Finland, Hungary and Poland was used to recapitulate and evaluate the project.

Sofija Dimitrijević at the Playground residency in Rome

At the beginning of November, playwright Sofija Dimitrijević participated in the first of 12 residencies within the Playground project, which Heartefact implements with partners from Italy, France and Romania. The innovativeness of the project lies in the fact that it was designed with the idea of establishing a more complex and comprehensive cooperation between the various professions involved in the theater process – playwrights, directors, translators and performers.

Billboard campaign “Poets of today, voices of tomorrow” in Belgrade

From November 11 to 17, Heartefact ran a billboard campaign in the main pedestrian street in Belgrade, in Knez Mihailova, with the aim of promoting the poetry of our young contemporary poets. The verses of Jelena Marinkov, Aleksa Krstić, Tihana Smiljanić, Milica Milosavljević and Marija Dragnić, in the design of Miroslav Živanov, were found in several locations along the entire street.

Second Slavic Soundwalk Through Belgrade

Starting at 12 PM, we gathered at the Main Post Office, the first location, and then continued walking while listening to the stories at different locations, including the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, the Hall of the Cultural Center of Belgrade, and finally concluded the walk at Atelje 212.

The first Festivity of Otherness as part of the Eclectic of Otherness project ended in Zagreb

From November 7 to 9, 2024, the first Festivity of Otherness was held in the theater venue of the Arterarij organization in Zagreb. As part of the festival, three performances from Serbia, France and Croatia premiered, and the festival is moving to Belgrade in December. The third location is Paris in January 2025.

The exhibition UKRAINE: LOVE + WAR (2014-2024) will be held in Belgrade from November 15 to 23

The Open Society Foundations – Western Balkans invites you to the opening of the exhibition UKRAINE: LOVE + WAR (2014-2024) which will take place on Friday, November 15, 2024 at 6 p.m. at the Europe House in Belgrade (Zmaj Jovina 8). The exhibition is inspired by the book of the same name published by FotoEvidence, which is a testimony of the devastating impact of Russian aggression on Ukrainian society, captured through the lenses of 95 international photojournalists.

We’ve developed toolkits for non-formal teaching about sound and light design and video operations in theatre!

During this year, we held three masterclasses for theatrical technicians in light and sound design and video operations within the Beyond Stage Mastery project. The masterclasses were led by experts Luigi Biondi, Alessandro Olla, Lazar Nikolić and Ivan Đurović. As a result of the masterclasses we’ve developed manuals as toolkits for non-formal teaching about sound and light design and video operations.

A three-day conference of the European network Fabulamundi – New Voices was held in the Heartefact House

From October 5 to 7, 2024, a three-day conference of the European network of playwrights Fabulamundi-New Voces was held in Heartefact House in Belgrade. After the meetings in Rome, Venice and Paris, Belgrade had the opportunity to host 19 playwrights from a dozen European countries and representatives of theaters and art organizations that are part of the network.

Heartefact’s Visit to DokuFest in Prizren for 13 young students and activists

From August 7 to 11, 2024, Heartefact organized a visit to DokuFest for 13 young film directing and production students, cultural workers, artists, and activists from Serbia. The documentary and short film festival is held annually in Prizren, and this year’s 23rd edition brought together numerous directors from the region, Europe, and around the world. In addition to the film program, participants attended masterclasses, exhibitions, concerts, performances, and met with cultural workers from Prizren, such as Vatra Abrashi from Autostrada, Linda Lulla Gashi, Alba Cakalli and Samir Karahoda from DokuFest, and Bengi Muzbeg from the Lumbardhi Foundation.

Aleksa Krstić from Heartefact Institute on the Oko Balkana radio show at Radio Belgrade

Why does Heartefact translate contemporary literature from Kosovo into Serbian? This was one of the key questions our Aleksa Krstić discussed on the “Oko Balkana” show on Radio Belgrade’s Second Program.

Exchange of Researchers from Serbia and Kosovo as part of Research Visiting Program

In June, Heartefact organized an exchange for 10 young researchers from Serbia and Kosovo as part of our Research Visiting Program. The group from Serbia visited Pristina and Gracanica, while the group from Kosovo visited Belgrade. During these visits, they met with representatives from over 20 organizations from Kosovo and Serbia, as well as university professors, activists, and artists.