Current Project

From Diaspora to diversities

The project From Diaspora to diversities was inspired by the necessity to address to the notion of diaspora and it’s broader understanding in the context of changed ambient of increased mobility, globalization and different ways in experientiality of cultural diversities. Within the frame of main theme focus, the project was especially initiated by the need to address and to reflect artistic practices of the Western Balkans artists who have different diasporic background and experiences. It could bring new insight of the diasporic notions that would diminish the old-fashioned abuse by the nationalistic circles.It starts from the argument that today the diaspora in the cultural field has different meaning and forms than it was few decades ago. In the context of globalisation, artists, as well as, other people on the move, have different motives then before. It is a zeal for gaining new experiences, personal development, enjoying cultural diversity. In this aspect the project would carry interdisciplinary research of the curatorial practices and artistic portfolios. It would explore diversity management models by the regional and European organisations. It would provide new theoretical framework to inspire change in the understanding and therefore different policies. Policies that will include improvement of the international careers, professional development, residential and co-production stays and other practices of cultural nomadism. Our aim would be to view the diaspora as go-between the different societies, carriers of hybrid plurality and subjects of negotiated identities. They rather question than transfer rigidities of identity – religious, ethnic, gendered -over spaces and cultures. The project would make an impact on the wider socio-cultural and political level in the region, thus improving the understanding, but also the status of the artists and the proliferation of the cultural practices. With the planned pan-European dimension, we would give the “diasporic” artists transformative visibility. It would help their visibility as dialogical cultural diversity in the new communities. The project would also like to raise the question from the other site, as a kind of feedback: how is the cultural diversity of those, coming from “out” accepted and understood from the “domestic” art scene and what is they experience on this topic. Can we say that interaction happens, can we speak here about “added values”?

Partner Organizations