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We are very happy to inform you that the Balkan Incentive Fund for Culture has awarded grants to four new collaborative projects for 2011, with lead partners coming from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Slovenia. All together, BIFC has supported 11 projects in 2011.

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Representatives from the BIFC Regional Hub in Ljubljana (a BIFC advice and information center) and the European Cultural Foundation office in Amsterdam (the founder and manager of the fund) are organizing a presentation about the BIFC, as well as a workshop for people who are interested in applying for BIFC grants. The event will take place on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at ODA Theatre, Pallati i Rinisë dhe i Sporteve nr. 111, Prishtina, Kosovo. As there are only a limited number of spaces available for the workshop, please apply by email at: info@bifc-hub.eu by January 19, 2012. Just send us your name and the name of your organisation.

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As one of the final events in the frame of the project “Touch Me Festival 2011: Energy Ab/Use”, which is focusing on sustainable energy in relation to climate change, you can visit the spatial intervention “Virtual Hole – Sun 1:1” by Tao G. Vrhovec Sambolec at the Gallery Kapelica (Ljubljana, Slovenia). The intervention will be on display between December 15 and January 13.

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Between December 7th and the 15th, Institute Cona is presenting the main event of the project “Radio Arts Space”, which is simultaneously taking place on the FM frequency 88.8MHz, in the online programming of Radio Cona, in the ŠKUC gallery and at various public locations in the city of Ljubljana. The “Radio Arts Space” programming is also presented by international radio partners across Europe.

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The organizers of the project “Radio as Art Space” are announcing the workshop Radio and Public Space – Performing/Non-performing, where the participants will be able to get acquainted with radio and its role in crossing the borders between private and public space. The workshop will be held by Torsten Michaelsen, a member of the group Ligna, and will take place on Sunday, 20.11.2011, from 19.00 to 22.00, Monday, 21.11.2011, from 15.00 to 17.30, and Tuesday, 22.11.2011, from 15.00 to 20.00, at JSKD (Javni sklad za kulturne dejavnosti), Cankarjeva 5, Ljubljana.

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Photon Association from Slovenia, together with partners Art Organization Film&Film from Croatia and Remont – Independent Artist Association from Serbia, have developed the project “Aftermath/The Changing Cultural Landscape”, which will examine the role of art photography in documenting and commenting on the social, economic, cultural and political changes in the former Yugoslavia in the period of transition from 1991 to 2011.

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The BIFC Regional Hub in Ljubljana (a BIFC advice and information center) is organizing a presentation about the BIFC grants as well as a workshop on networks and networking. The event will take place on Thursday, November 3, 2011, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (presentation) and from 11:15 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (workshop) at Bookstore Karver, Podgorica, Montenegro. The workshop is open to professionals working in independent or state-led organizations active in the field of culture. Apply by email at: info@bifc-hub.eu by October 28, 2011, with a short CV (max. 100 words) and a short description of your organization (max. 50 words).

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We are informing you that the representative of the BIFC Regional Hub is taking part in the “Cooperation Brunch with International Foundations” that is taking place on Sunday, October 30th, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Ljubljana in the frame of the “Cross-Border Experience” Conference. The brunch discussion will engage with the structure, agenda and consequences of (NGO) grants politics run by the EU as well as the role of independent foundations and private institutions in the cultural politics and NGO-founding situation in SEE and Turkey.

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Curatorial-theoretical-engaged collective Red Min(e)d is organizing the first event of the “Bring In Take Out – Living Archive” project, which is dedicated to feminist art in the (post)Yugoslav space. The event will take place in Zagreb in the framework of the conference “REDacting TransYugoslav Feminisms: Women’s Heritage Revisited”, organized by the Center for Women’s Studies Zagreb, and will bring together some of the most prominent names of post-Yugoslav feminism.

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We are very happy to announce that the Balkan Incentive Fund for Culture has awarded grants to three new collaboration projects for 2011: “Bring In Take Out – Living Archive” by the CRVENA Association for Culture and Art (Bosnia and Herzegovina), “Individual Utopias Now And Then – Dis/continuity of generation dialogue or what do we have in common?” by New Media Center_kuda.org (Serbia) and the project “Is Justice Fair?” by Stichting Cultural Aid (Netherlands).

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Exit Europe – New Geographies of Culture is a book that places the activities of the independent cultural scene in the region of the former Yugoslavia within the broader cultural and social context. The publication comprises in-depth articles about the independent cultural scenes in five different countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia) as well as a broad overview of the development of regional cultural cooperation among independent organizations. The publication can be read online and downloaded in pdf format at the following link: http://exiteurope.net (English version) or at http://exiteurope.net/hr/ (Croatian, Macedonian, Slovenian and Serbo-Croatian versions)

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Representatives from the BIFC Regional Hub in Ljubljana (a BIFC advice and information center) and the European Cultural Foundation office in Amsterdam (the founder and manager of the fund) are organizing a presentation about the BIFC, as well as a workshop for people who are interested in applying for BIFC grants. The event will take place on Thursday, September 29th, at Media Center, Kolodvorska 3, Sarajevo. As there are still a few spaces available for participation in the workshop, we are accepting applications by email at: info@bifc-hub.eu.

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The Alexander Rave Foundation scholarships for young curators, restorers, museum technicians and cultural managers from a transition or developing country allow for three-to-six-month practical training periods or non-paid work at a German museum, gallery or similar non-commercial institution in the area of the fine arts.

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The idea of the project “Western Balkan Rural Communities Cultural Connections and Cooperation” is to create links and initiate cooperation between small and rural communities of the Western Balkans, to implement innovative approaches to rural cultural development as well as to offer opportunities for different stakeholders to implement cultural and artistic projects and to start regional cultural exchange.

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Between January and July 2011, the Balkan Incentive Fund for Culture received forty project applications and has supported four new cultural collaboration projects: Aftermath/Changing the Cultural Landscape, Touch Me festival: energy/ab/use, Western Balkans Rural Communities Cultural Connections and Cooperation, and Woodstock of Knowledge. The main applicants of two of the projects come from Macedonia, while one comes from Croatia and the other from Slovenia.

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The Belgian organization SMartBe organized a special reflection group meeting on the issue of creating a “European Network to Support Professionals of Creativity” in Brussels on June 9th and 11th. The meeting’s aim was to reflect upon the needs of creative professionals across Europe and possible solutions to the current roadblocks to the building of a European-wide network that would secure career paths, provide administrative and financial solutions and provide legal and economic advice and assistance.

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As part of the project ASKA/Western Balkans Women Performing Artists Network, the regional conference of the network founders entitled “Women’s Voices in the Western Balkans Performing Arts” was held in Tivat-Kavac (Montenegro) from June 3rd to June 5th. The conference was attended by 24 women participants, including a number of women artists and art theoreticians from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. NOVA – Feminist Culture Center, an NGO from Montenegro, is carrying out this project along with its partners “Zene na delu” (Serbia), “Fondacija CURE” (Bosnia-Herzegovina) and “Teatar Thalassa“ (Croatia), and is supported by the Balkan Incentive Fund for Culture and the Montenegrin Ministry of Culture.

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The Pleskavica Festival is taking place from June 9th until the 19th in different locations around Ljubljana, where more than 40 international artists, theoreticians and dramaturgs are participating in the festival. The festival is being developed and realized within the frame of the project "Woodstock of Knowledge", organized by Lokomotiva – Centre for New Initiatives in Arts and Culture (Macedonia), Fico Balet (Slovenia), Hybris Konstproduktion (Sweden), danceWEB Europe (Austria), Nomad Dance Academy (Slovenia), Maska (Slovenia) and BUNKER (Slovenia).

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The University of Arts in Belgrade, Serbia, in cooperation with University Lyon 2, France, is organizing a joint MA program in Cultural Policy and Management (Interculturalism and Mediation in the Balkans). Interested candidates are invited to apply by 13–15 June, 2011, and 19–20 September, 2011.

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In the frame of the project “Radio As An Arts Space”, Cona Institute is sending out an open call for the submission of contemporary sound art works from the field of radio art and sound art. Artists and art groups creating in the field of radio art and sound art are invited to apply with existing or new works. Selected works will be included in the exhibition “Radio As An Arts Space”, which will be broadcast by radioCona and will appear at in situ locations in December 2011.

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Within the framework of the side program of the Druga Godba Festival, the international workshop on alternative ways of financing in the cultural sector, entitled “High Hopes for Sustainability in Financing and Audience Attendance”, took place at Cankarjev Dom on Thursday, May 12, 2011 from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The facilitators of the workshop, Dr. Frans Brouwer and Meta Štular, presented the possibilities for alternative ways of financing in different European countries and the various experiences thereof. The workshop was attended by 15 professional cultural organizers.

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Competition for best contemporary engaged full-length dramatic text in Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin or Albanian language is announced. Authors with residence in any of the territories of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia or Kosovo are invited to send unpublished and unperformed texts by June 30th 2011.

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A call for participation is out for “Tandem – A Cultural Managers Exchange Programme – Turkey-European Union”. This a new initiative by Stiftung Mercator (Essen) and the European Cultural Foundation (Amsterdam), together with MitOst (Berlin), Anadolu Kültür (Istanbul) and Istanbul Bilgi University (Istanbul). It offers the chance for 15 cultural organizations based in Germany and other EU countries to create a co-production together with Turkish partner organizations specifically from Anatolian cities. Deadline for applications is May 31st 2011.

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An international workshop on alternative ways of financing in the cultural sector, "High Hopes for Sustainability in Finances and Audience Attendance", will take place at Cankarjev Dom in Ljubljana on Thursday, May 12, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. as a side program of the Druga Godba Festival. The workshop facilitators, Mr. Frans Brouewer and Ms. Meta Štular, will explain the possibilities and experiences regarding alternative financial sources in various European countries. The workshop is organized by the BIFC Regional Hub in the frame of the initiative Platform for South East Europe. Participants can apply at info@bifc-hub.eu up until May 6, 2011, with a short CV in which they specify their experiences in fundraising.

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In Belgrade, the conference “Rethinking Socialism: Twenty Years Later” will take place between May 6th and May 8th. The conference is the third in the series of conferences of the international research project “Unfinished Modernisations – Between Utopia and Pragmatism: Architecture and Urban Planning in Former Yugoslavia and Its Successor States”.

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Between April 19th and 23rd, the 6th edition of the Balkan Dance Platform (BDP) will be taking place in Ljubljana as a special focus within the framework of the 17th Exodos Festival. BDP is one of the more significant events in the field of contemporary dance in the region, promoting contemporary dance in the Balkans and placing its development in the wider international context. The 6th edition of the BDP will be featuring 18 choreographers from eight different countries.

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Last October, the Dutch organization Stichting Cultural Aid, together with partners Public Room (Macedonia), Kriterion (Bosnia and Herzegovina), the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (Croatia) and Academy of Arts, Belgrade (Serbia), organized a film workshop that focused on the presentation, analysis and debate of scenes around domestic violence presented in cinema in the context of respective home cultures, mentalities and social behaviors. The video material from the workshop will be presented in the frame of the Dutch film exchange program “Highlights of the Lowlands 2” in Cinematheque Skopje (Macedonia) on April 21st.

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A presentation of the BIFC Regional Hub will take place at the Balkan Dance Platform in Ljubljana on Thursday, April 21st, 2011 at 12:00 p.m.

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From April 14th to April 17th, the first meeting of the program “New Politics of Solidarity” will take place in Prishtina, Kosovo. The program “New Politics of Solidarity through Cultural and Knowledge Production”, which is a joint program of Qendra Multimedia (Kosovo), the Center for Cultural Decontamination (Serbia) and Center “Grad” (BiH), fosters new forms of solidarity through the flow of knowledge, cultural exchange and artistic production between the people of Tuzla, Prishtina and Belgrade.

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On Friday, April 8th, on International Roma Day, the 1st international edition of the Festival of Roma Culture Romano Čhon / The Month of Roma Culture will be taking place in Berovo, Macedonia. The festival has been held in Slovenia since 2008. The agreement to raise the festival to an international level was made at one of the partnership meetings of the project “Export Knowledge – Import Art”, which is aimed at establishing a connection between Roma artists and active Roma associations from different European countries.

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In the frame of the two-year project “Unfinished Modernisations”, a conference entitled “Learning From Modernisations” will take place at the Cultural Informative Center (Salon 19/19) on April 1st and 2nd in Skopje, Macedonia. The conference “Learning from Modernisations”, organised by the Coalition for Sustainable Development, forms part of the two-year collaboration project “Unfinished Modernisations: Between Utopia and Pragmatism”, which is designed to systematically analyse and interpret modern architecture, built environments and social landscapes of the former Yugoslav countries within their broader social contexts.

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The two-day workshop “Acting Together for Independent Culture in Serbia – Steps in Network Development” focusing on working models and ways for independent cultural organizations to collaborate with one another in acting towards their common interests is organized in Belgrade by the BIFC Regional Hub in the framework of the initiative Platform for South East Europe, in collaboration with Association of Associations and Initiatives – The Independent Cultural Scene of Serbia.

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A call is out for participants to take part in the filmmaking workshops entitled “Who Is Afraid of the Big Bad Crisis”, which are to take place this spring in Tirana, Skopje and Athens.

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There will be a presentation of the BIFC Regional Hub and its activities at Cultural Center Rex in Belgrade on March 10th at 2:00 p.m.

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In 2010, the Balkan Incentive Fund for Culture supported 13 collaborative projects, with lead applicants coming from eight different countries.

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Project Radio As An Arts Space is focusing on establishing an international temporary platform for production and exhibition of sound and audiophonic arts. The project wishes to foster reflections on radio as physical space.

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From January 20th to January 23rd, the cultural center POGON JEDINSTVO in Zagreb, Croatia, is going to be the site of the first event of the project Open Institutions – New Meeting Points for Culture and Citizens.

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Do not miss the December events of the project “View from my Window”, which was conceived by AAC Kulturanova and its partner organization from Kosovo.

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We are delighted to announce that one of the laureates of the third Routes Award for cultural diversity is past ECF grantee Šejla Kamerić. The artist will receive the award at the Routes Award ceremony in Brussels on February 8th, 2011.

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The project Biennale of Contemporary Art D-O ARK Underground is organized by the Bosnian organization Association Biennale of Contemporary Art together with the partner organizations Center for Cultural Decontamination from Belgrade and SCCA from Ljubljana.

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At the “Non-Institutional Participators in Cultural Policy in Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia” conference, which took place October 1–3, 2010, in Ohrid, 51 representatives of non-governmental organizations tried to find ways of networking with the aim of influencing cultural politics in their respective countries.

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"The Time is Now" conference, organized by Culture Action Europe – Europe's largest umbrella advocacy organization for arts and culture – took place in Brussels on October 7–9, 2010.

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Satellite meeting of the European Network for Performing Arts (IETM), and the international network Balkan Express meeting was held in Istanbul on September 16th–19th.

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The Balkan Buro from Netherlands, together with the partner organisations: Kriterion from Sarajevo, Lokomotiva from Skopje and Skena Up, Dokufest and Dit' e Nat' from Prishtina, have developed the project “4 Tuned Cities,” which consists of four different festivals taking place in four different cities: Prishtina, Amsterdam, Sarajevo and Skopje.

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The Regional Conference “Re-thinking Local Cultural Policy: New Identity and New Paradigm” took place in Skopje from September 17–19th.

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AAC Kulturanova from Novi Sad, Serbia, and a partner organisation from Kosovo have developed a project dealing with the history of Serbs and Kosovars.

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The conference that will take place from the 1st of October to the 3rd of October in Ohrid is the final step in the broader project and would like to examine the possibilities of forming operative networks at the level of the three countries included in the project, and of establishing links with similar networks in other countries in the region of Southeast Europe.

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The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C., the United States Embassy in Zagreb and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia are hosting a two-day “Symposium for Arts Management in Southeast Europe”, which will take place in the Festival Perforacije, from October 19–20, 2010, in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, Croatia.

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The representative of the BIFC Hub will join the conference in Skopje in order to give the presentation of its activities. The presentation is scheduled for Saturday, 18 September at 17.45 at the conference venue. All those interested are kindly welcomed.

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We are glad to announce the opening of the regional hub of the Balkan Incentive Fund for Culture in Ljubljana. The Balkan Incentive Fund for Culture (BIFC) is run by the European Cultural Foundation and supports collaborative artistic and cultural projects delivered by organisations within, or cooperating with the Western Balkan region.

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