The Evening School program took place through three educational blocks in January and February 2021, featuring a series of guest lectures and discussions.
This interdisciplinary and alternative educational program aimed to facilitate the free flow of ideas, knowledge, and experiences essential for understanding the language of contemporary culture and society. It also sought to develop conditions in Montenegro for participation in regional and global knowledge exchange. The program primarily targeted younger generations who are just beginning to explore various social and artistic practices and theories, as well as others who expressed interest through a public call. One of the key objectives of the Evening School was to create a platform for establishing new communications, exchanges, and lasting collaborations among participants, as well as with our organization and partners. Therefore, the program was designed to encourage active participation through a series of meetings organized into three thematic blocks.
First Program Block – ORIENTATION / January 2021
This block featured a series of lectures and discussions from various disciplines, aimed at creating a space for dialogue and reflection on the contemporary cultural and social context in Montenegro. The goal was to assess the current state, improve understanding of the opportunities and positions of cultural workers, and address the question: What can we do?
- Ana Ivanović / Who, after all, needs a museum?
- Mirko Radonjić / Potential Meeting Spaces – The Theater System and Collective Action
- Nemanja Bečanović / Contemporary Montenegrin Cinema between the West and the West
- Nikola Zečević / National Culture as a Political and Nationalistic Construct
- Natalija Vujošević / The Visual Culture of Contemporary Montenegrins – Simulation and Zombie Tradition
- Paula Petričević / The Montenegrin Memoir of Female Emancipation in the 20th Century
- Sonja Dragović / In Search of Own Rooms: Discovering, Occupying, and Creating New Spaces for Art and Culture in Montenegro
- Vladimir Đurišić / Music and Ideology: A Brief Overview of Historical Relations with Emphasis on Localization and Orientations in the Contemporary Landscape
Second Program Block – SUPPLEMENTARY EDUCATION / February 2021
This segment presented organizations and individuals from the region whose practices are based on reflective and interdisciplinary approaches in the art world. They focus on alternative education systems, examining different learning approaches and mechanisms for creating and distributing knowledge about art, culture, and society.
- Albert Heta / Summer School as a School: Experience from an Interdisciplinary Artistic and Educational Program in Pristina (Kosovo) – lecture will be in English
- Ana Dević / Learning through Action at WHW Academy
- Danilo Prnjat / Alternative Education and Artistic Projects
- Miran Mohar / If We Don’t Organize Ourselves, Others Will Organize Us!
- Tjasa Pogačar / Journal as a Tool, or How to Do Things with Publishing – lecture will be in English
Third Program Block – ARCHIVES – UNDERSTANDING SOCIETY / February 2021
This block covered neglected histories, artistic archives, and the role of archival practices in contemporary art, presented through examples and practices from the region and Europe.
- Bojana Piškur / Art and Culture within the Non-Aligned Movement. What to Do with This Legacy Today?
- Jelena Vesić / Exhibitionary Documentary and Politics of Historicization: The Case of the Student Cultural Center
- Kumjana Novakova / Archiving Solidarity
- Zdenka Badovinac / Artists’ Archives – War, Auto-Histories, and Piracy
The realization of this project was supported by the Ministry of Culture (through funds received from the public competition “Let’s Raise the Curtain on the Independent Cultural Scene”) and the Petrović Njegoš Foundation, ISU’s partner on the project “Archives of the Cetinje Biennials.”