Human Rights Leadership Program Seminar Was Held

HRL News

From December 11 to 15, 2025, Heartefact, in partnership with the Slovenian 8th of March Institute, organized a seminar within the Human Rights Leadership Program. The goal of the seminar was to empower 22 activists from different parts of Serbia, selected through a public call to participate in this one-year program.

Following two successful previous generations, Heartefact selected and gathered a new group of leaders who will receive continuous mentoring, educational, and financial support in advocating for the human rights of minority and marginalized groups in Serbia, with the aim of increasing their visibility and contribution to positive social change at the local level.

Participants in the program come from Niš, Inđija, Čačak, Brodarevo, Lazarevac, Novi Pazar, Belgrade, Novi Sad, Sokobanja, Trstenik, and Bečej. They work on a wide range of human rights issues, including:

LGBTI+ rights and visibility,
the rights of persons with disabilities and people living with rare diseases,
the position of women—particularly women from rural areas, women over 50, and single parents,
mental health and family support,
social and transitional justice, including the rights of Roma communities, national minorities, migrants, and children in deteriorating education systems.

During the seminar, the 8th of March Institute worked with the group on developing advocacy campaigns with the potential to result in concrete changes at the local level. Special focus was placed on identifying ways to run effective campaigns that do not require large financial resources, but instead rely on creativity, strategic thinking, and community mobilization. Heartefact chose the 8th of March Institute as a project partner due to its international reputation for conducting advocacy campaigns that lead to tangible solutions to local problems, including legal changes and improved public policies, with the aim of creating a fairer and safer society for all.

As part of the program, participants also had the opportunity to meet and exchange experiences with four alumni of the previous generation — Nikola Brkljač, Matija Stefanović, Anđelina Trifić, and Katarina Gačević — who have achieved significant results in their local communities, including launching new organizations, implementing successful initiatives, and securing financial support for their actions and campaigns.

In the continuation of the project, participants will have the opportunity to continue working with the 8th of March Institute through individual consultations, and to apply for financial resources provided by Heartefact for the implementation of their own advocacy actions and campaigns.

Heartefact implements this program in cooperation with the 8th of March Institute, a leading activist organization from Slovenia with decades of experience and numerous successful initiatives in advocating for important socio-political change. The program is part of a broader project supported by the European Union, through which Heartefact works intensively to improve the state of human rights in Serbia. Through work with activists, artistic production, public campaigns, and other advocacy initiatives, the project aims to contribute to sustainable change and the development of an inclusive society that respects and protects the rights of all citizens.

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Human Rights Leadership Program Seminar Was Held

From December 11 to 15, 2025, Heartefact, in partnership with the Slovenian 8th of March Institute, organized a seminar within the Human Rights Leadership Program. The goal of the seminar was to empower 22 activists from different parts of Serbia, selected through a public call to participate in this one-year program.

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Sarajevo Premiere of the Play “They Are All Gone” Held at SARTR

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The First Sarajevo Theatre Showcase Presented Numerous Young Artists to the Regional and European Theatre Public

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The project “Culture for Development” announces to the public the names of the projects that received support within the first call!

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Public presentation of the play Doughnuts held as part of the New Voices workshop

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First Seminar for Youth from Serbia Held as Part of the Regional VIBE Program

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Andrej Nosov Wins the “Ljubomir Muci Draškić” Award for Directing the Play “They Are All Gone”

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Tenth Award for the Play “How I Learned to Drive” at the 52nd INFANT Festival

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With the panel “Silence Is Not Golden,” we launched a campaign that encourages to speak up!

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Public Reading of Last Year’s HF Competition Winning Play Held at Heartefact House

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Call for Project Proposals: Artistic Grants for Implementation of Cultural and Artistic Projects

Jana Milivojević at the residency in France as part of the Playground project

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

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

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

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

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We Presented the Slavic Soundwalking Application to Senior Citizens

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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

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Sofija Dimitrijević at the Playground residency in Rome

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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.

Introducing the Second Cohort: Six Kosovo-Serbia Research Fellows Selected

As part of the second cycle of the Kosovo-Serbia Fellowship Program, Heartefact has chosen six researchers who will explore new and constructive narratives regarding the relations between Kosovo and Serbia, ranging from language and translation issues to education, EU-facilitated dialogue, normalization process and other relevant political and social areas. During the three-month research period, participants will spend one month in either Belgrade or Prishtina. Throughout the program, they will have the opportunity to influence dominant narratives and offer new perspectives to the public on the topic of their research.

Culture for Democracy Project: Supported Projects for On-the-Job Training and Capacity Building for Organizations and Professionals in the Field of Culture / Job Shadowing

The Heartefact Fund announces the selected organizations and individuals in the field of culture and the arts who will receive grants under the Culture for Democracy (CfD) project for on-the-job training and capacity building of organizations (Job Shadowing).

A five-day seminar was held as part of the Human Rights Leadership Program

In partnership with the Slovenian Institute 8th of March, Heartefact organized a seminar as part of the Human Rights Leadership Program. The seminar aimed to empower 23 activists from various parts of Serbia, selected through a public call for participation in this one-year program.

Workshop for youth “Transforming a personal story into a theatre play” held in the Heartefact House

Two weeks ago, a six-day workshop “Transforming a personal story into a theatre play ” was held in the Heartefact House, led by the author and director Patrik Lazić, who was joined by the playwright and professor of dramaturgy from Romania, Elise Wilk.

Poetry performance “Poets of Today, Voices of Tomorrow” in Poland

At the end of March, in the Polish city of Gliwice, a poetry performance “Poets of Today, Voices of Tomorrow” was held as part of the project of the same name in which Heartefact participates with partners from Slovenia, Finland, Hungary, and Poland.

Open Call for theatrical technicians from Albania, Kosovo and Serbia to participate in five-day masterclass in Video Operation in theatre

Heartefact Fund in partnership with Centar of Visual Arts Multimedia is pleased to announce an open call within the Beyond Stage Mastery project, supported by the British Council through Culture and Creativity Learning Lab grant scheme as a part of the project Culture and Creativity for the Western Balkans (CC4WBs). CC4WBs is a project funded by the European Union that aims to foster dialogue in the Western Balkans by enhancing the cultural and creative sectors for increased socio-economic impact.

Open Call for theatrical technicians from Albania, Kosovo and Serbia to participate in five-day masterclass in Light design for theatre

CULTURE FOR DEMOCRACY PROJECT: NEW PUBLIC CALL FOR PROPOSALS OPEN

New call for financing cultural and artistic organisations and professionals is open for proposals submission within Culture for Democracy Project targeting programatic and organizational development of cultural organziations.

Project Culture for Democracy: Supported new projects under ArtBoost Grant line

Within the framework of the Culture for Democracy project, the Heartefact Foundation has supported three new organizations through the Art Boost Support grant line, with a total amount of 68.000 CHF.

Heartefact’s Queer Caravan began in Pirot and Niš

On Tuesday, the Heartefact Queer Caravan began at the National Theater in Pirot, during which Heartefact’s plays with queer and minority perspectives will be performed in around ten cities in Serbia. After Pirot, the next stop for the caravan was the National Theater in Niš, where Patrick Lazić’s play Our Son was also performed last night. After each performance, a discussion between the audience and actors is organized to further expand on this important topic. Through this Caravan, Heartefact aims to bring plays with queer themes to smaller towns and cities in Serbia where such content is traditionally less included in repertoires.

EXTENDED: Open Call for theatrical technicians from Albania, Kosovo and Serbia to participate in five-day master class in Sound Design for theatre

The objective of this training is to transfer high-quality, relevant, current, professional knowledge, share experience and give advice to theatre technicians, young professionals from Serbia, Kosovo, and Albania. The main theme of the Master Class is “Sound Design for theatre” and the aim is to equip young theatre technicians with the skills and knowledge necessary to effectively work on the theatre productions.

At the Heartefact House, a staged reading of the winning text by Marija Rakočević, “The Woman Ties the Ponytail,” was held

Last night, the twelfth consecutive award ceremony for the Best Contemporary Engaged Full-Length Drama Text in Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovenian, Macedonian, or Montenegrin was held at the Heartefact House.

Project Culture for Democracy: supported new projects under Art Boost grant line

Within the framework of the Culture for Democracy project, the Heartefact Foundation has supported five new organizations through the Art Boost Support grant line, with a total amount of 13,701,000 RSD.

Culture for Democracy project: Announcing supported projects from the call for artistic expressions

Culture for Democracy Project Selects Awardees in the Fourth Call for Artistic Expressions Support.

The premiere of the new theater production “Climax” was held at the Heartefact House

On December 14th, the premiere of the new theater production “Climax,” directed by Patrick Lazić and dramaturged by Dunja Matić, took place at the Heartefact House. The inspiration for this project came from the controversial film of the same name by globally acclaimed director Gaspar Noé.

Artistic residencies in Belgrade: Yllka Brada and Tadi

As a result of the open call for artistic residencies of the Reconnection 2.0 project funded by the European Union Office in Kosovo, and implemented by Qendra Multimedia [Prishtina] and Heartefact Fund [Belgrade], two artists have been selected, Tadi and Yllka Brada, who will reside in artistic residencies during November and December 2023 in Belgrade.

With standing ovations for Our Son, Heartefact’s queer caravan kicked off in Lazarevac

Over the next year, Heartefact’s socially engaged plays will visit places in Serbia where independent theater performances are not frequent, especially those with minority and queer perspectives.