Serbian second largest city, Novi Sad, is counting down the days when it will hold the European Capital of Culture title, being the first city from a candidate country for EU to bear this accolade. Most of the programme that will be divided into eight programme arches in the title year has now been revealed.
Most of the events are available on the official website of the ‘Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture’, while programmes, which will promote Novi Sad as the centre of European cultural life next year, will be held across the city and thus introduced to the citizens of Novi Sad and visitors.
The title year of the European Capital of Culture begins with the programme arch ‘Doček’ with the highlight performance ‘Zeniteum :: 2022’ by Dragan Živadinov that will mark the opening ceremony in one of the main city boulevards, in front of Banovina on 13 January 2022. The multimedia performance will celebrate the great names of Serbian science through art – Mileva Marić Einstein and Milutin Milanković.09
The extraordinary exhibition ‘Time and the Cosmos’ will mark the opening ceremony in the hall of Studio M, as well as exhibitions, concerts and performances at more than 50 locations across the city, which will begin on 12 January and will last until 15 January. On 31 December, the play ‘Tesla, the Artist’ by the Serbian National Theatre will be performed in Trg slobode. From there, the parade within the festival ‘Tesla – Light Gallery’ will set off to the Suburbium of the Petrovaradin Fortress, where numerous concerts will be held, on 31 December and on 1 January.
The programme arch ‘Migrations’, which begins on the Day of Novi Sad, on 1 February and lasts until 20 March 2022, will be opened with the Serbian National Theatre Opera ‘Vladimir and Kosara’ by the contemporary Serbian composer Stevan Divjaković, the two big exhibitions that tell the history about Novi Sad in a unique way – an exhibition in the City Museum of Novi Sad and exhibition in the Museum of Vojvodina, including numerous curators. The programme arch will comprise a unique literature pavilion ‘Migrations of Souls’ at Novi Sad Fair, including exhibitions, stage reading, theatre plays, concerts as well as circus performances, and numerous other programmes.
The diverse content of the programme arch ‘Future of Europe’, which lasts from 20 March until 15 May 2022 and comprises programmes from children and young people to children and young people, will present four theatre festivals within which young people will have an opportunity to work with theatre troupes from 20 countries, while children will have a chance to hear 40 stories within the programme ‘Fairy Tales of the Future’, with the ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ performed by the Youth Theatre in the open that will mark the end of the programme. The ‘Future of Europe’ will comprise the ‘Youth Singer-Songwriter Festival’ in the City Concert Hall, the Festival of Street Art Groovin’ in Creative District, exhibition and debate ‘Leave or Stay?’ at the Suba’s plateau in Liman Park, and other programmes.
The programme arch ‘Heroines’ celebrates and promotes women’s creative work from 26 May until 12 June, where, among other things, the unique multimedia programme ‘Mileva’ stands out, due to which the Museum of the City of Novi Sad is being renovated, the art festival ‘Vila’ in Fruška gora in Vrdnik, international project ‘The Heritage of Women’s Emancipation Movements’ in the Archives of Vojvodina, the Autonomus Festival of Women in the Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina, numerous exhibitions such as ‘Jovanka Broz’s Collection’ in the Gallery of Matica Srpska, ‘From a Woman’s Perspective’ by the ‘Beseda’ association in Sremski Karlovci, ‘Heroines of the Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection’, as well as ‘Zero Tolerance for Violence Against Women – World Biennial Exhibition of Students Posters and Photography’ by the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad in the Svilara Cultural Station and other content.
The programme arch ‘Fortress of Peace’, will be opened with the film premiere ‘Liberta – The Birth of a City’, the first epic saga about Novi Sad from 17 June until 17 July 2022. The premiere will be preceded by the Exhibition of Graphic Novels about the Novi Sad Raid by the organisation Terraforming at the Quay of the Victims of the Raid, the exhibition ‘Media Labyrinth’ by the Novi Sad School of Journalism in Trg slobode, ‘Synagogue – the Meeting Point’ in Synagogue and Serbian National Theatre, ‘Beethoven Marathon’ by the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra and Slovak Philharmonic Choir, when nine symphonies will be performed in a day for the first time in Europe, as well as ‘Bach’s Path’, and performance ‘Biobrigde’ by the gallery ‘Šok zadruga’ on the Varadin bridge, which will present the remains of the collapsed bridge.
The programme arch ‘Danube Sea’, which lasts from 22 July until 21 August 2022, deals with the ecology and cultural heritage of the Danube through culture and art and will comprise the ‘Ecoprint’ by the Centre for promotion of science from Belgrade, at Novi Sad beaches and in the University Campus of Novi Sad, film screening ‘Danube Sea and Activism through a Screen’ by the ‘Videomedeja’ video art association in the Egység Cultural Station, the exhibition ‘Outside the Centre’ by the ‘Bel Art’ gallery in towns near Novi Sad, as well as concerts ‘By the Beautiful Blue Danube’ by the ‘Život kao inspiracija’ association of citizens, that will be held along the Danube bank, as well as numerous other events.
The programme arch ‘Kaleidoscope of Culture’, which has been implemented for four years so far, will be held from 1 September until 7 October in 2022, and will present programmes such as the opera ‘Carmen’ by the Serbian National Theatre at the site of Veliki Liman, Biennial of Stage Design in cooperation with Prague Quadrennial in Creative District, the exhibition ‘Sava Šumanović and European Realism of Two World Wars’ by the Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection, Festival of Chamber Music by the Novi Sad Wind Quintet in Irig, Sremski Karlovci and Liman Cultural Station, the so-called ‘SLET – Alternative History of Europe’ by the Youth Theatre in the open, Design Week Novi Sad in SPENS, Literature Night in the Suburbium of the Petrovaradin Fortress, as well as the traditional Korzo in the Mihajlo Pupin Boulevard, and many other events.
The programme arch ‘Other? Europe’, which deals with the alternative movements in culture, from 8 October until 27 November, brings programmes such as the exhibition ‘Uroš Predić for Everyone’ in the Gallery of Matica Srpska, including Typhlological Museum from Zagreb as one of the partners, musical ‘My Voice Travels’ in cultural stations and centres near the city, a unique festival of ethnic and linguistic minorities ‘Synergy’ in the Novi Sad Theatre, film festival ‘Merlinka – Festival of LGBT Films and Culture’ by the Regional Info Centre, comic book exhibition ‘From Neven to Batman’, as well as the Novi Sad comic book weekend in Creative District, where the multimedia exhibition ‘Suba: Novi Sad’ by the ‘Nove uši’ Association for the Promotion of Contemporary Art Music, the multimedia exhibition ‘Roma Artist Forum’ by the Intercultural Theatre III/40 in the Svilara Cultural Station and other programmes.
In 2022, Novi Sad will present itself as the European Capital of Culture through more than 1500 cultural events, with the participation of 4000 local, national and international artists, while you can find the detailed programme on the following link.