Earlier this year, after more than a decade of practical work in the field of gender equality and youth participation in cultural life in Serbia, I defended my doctoral dissertation at the University of Arts in Belgrade’s Faculty of Dramatic Arts. In my research I had employed various methods that, taken together, can be understood as a feminist critical policy analysis approach aimed at exploring the ways in which patriarchy manifests itself within contemporary cultural policy in Serbia.
A significant body of feminist (and other) analyses of gender across various artistic disciplines in the post-Yugoslav region has existed for decades, and my dissertation built upon this foundation. Moreover, initiatives related to these topics in Austria—including within the mdw—served as valuable sources of inspiration throughout my research. On the other hand, essential data was also available thanks to the efforts of youth organisations and youth workers in Serbia.
The primary focus of my dissertation, however, was on analysing instruments of national and local cultural policies such as laws, international conventions and their implementation, strategies and action plans, budgets, open calls for funding, management of public spaces and human resources within public cultural institutions, the education of cultural workers, capacity building with regard to gender equality and engagement with and for youth, and similar. Although gender equality and youth participation are recognised as values and priorities in strategic cultural policy documents, the realities of policy implementation suggest otherwise.
My research largely confirmed my initial hypotheses. There is no such thing as a gender-neutral cultural policy, and numerous measures that could contribute significantly to advancing gender and age equality in the cultural sector in Serbia—measures that already exist in EU countries and/or neighbouring states—are either not prescribed or not implemented, at least not adequately. There is no genuine dialogue with the women’s and youth movements; instead, the focus of decision-makers remains on fulfilling minimal formal requirements. Despite certain initiatives to bring about change (emanating mostly from the independent scene, universities, and activist groups) as well as numerous recommendations by local and international organisations, governance and policy approaches in Serbia’s cultural sector have not undergone any substantial transformation in recent years.
An international gathering entitled Critiques of Power in the Arts, organised in 2024 by the mdw’s Department of Cultural Management and Gender Studies (IKM) in collaboration with several other mdw departments as well as local and international organisations, institutions, and individuals, touched upon precisely these practices as well as certain others in the international cultural sector that feature asymmetries and abuses of power. And currently, my focus is on co-editing an international publication together with Özlem Canyürek and Lisa Gaupp in which we will present a collection of interesting and diverse scholarly and artistic contributions pertaining to various aspects of these topics with support from mdwPress.
In the meantime, a nationwide wave of demonstrations against violence and corruption and in support of transparency and the rule of law—initiated primarily by young people, especially art students—has demonstrated to broader Serbian society the importance of reflecting upon and enhancing the participation of youth in all spheres of social life. This includes the involvement young people and diverse social groups in cultural decision-making processes, an issue which has now become one of the most relevant within the Serbian cultural scene.
