TRAVEL

An Interview with

Violeta Đerković

January 10, 2023

Ms Violeta Đerković has an MA in Sociology and Cultural Management and started her career during her studies as a television journalist and editor in TV Novi Sad’s news programme. She has continued to work in the marketing field as a private entrepreneur, managing her own company, which specialises in outdoor advertising, for twenty years. Since 2018, Violeta Đerković has been the coordinator of the Svilara Cultural Station, and is currently the coordinator of the Cultural Stations Network for the Novi Sad European Capital of Culture project.

 

She has been an activist in the Almašani Organization for the protection of cultural heritage for the last 15 years – an organisation whose mission is to preserve and interpret the cultural heritage of the Almaš region – the oldest part of Novi Sad. Within the organisation, Violeta Đerković has coordinated the process of joining the Faro Convention Network of the Council of Europe, which brings together active local communities dedicated to preserving and interpreting their own cultural heritage.

 

Following the examples of many active communities across Europe, she has become extensively familiar with the abundance of opportunities that cultural heritage provides for the general development of local communities, especially through the development of cultural tourism based on each community's authenticity. Violeta Đerković is currently a PhD student in the field of Cultural Tourism.

 

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One of the Cultural Stations that's been gaining a lot of attention is the Svilara Cultural Station located in the Almaš Neighbourhood. A silk-dying factory almost two centuries ago, it has since been renovated and repurposed into a contemporary art exhibition and creative community space. Can you tell us more about the legacy of this Cultural Station and its reconception into a modern cultural space?

 

Svilara Cultural Station is a materialized vision of the local community, our dream about the recreation of an abandoned and dangerous place into a place for culture and a place for people.

 

It's a synergetic project which gathered diverse stakeholders - from neighbours, ECoC management, officials of the City of Novi Sad, Province of Vojvodina, up to the State institutions. Without just one of the actors in this complex group, nothing would have happened.

 

Today, Svilara is one of the centre points of the Novi Sad cultural life, and one of the most visible projects of the ECoC Novi Sad. This building is also one of the most accessible cultural spaces in the City of Novi Sad.

 

What more can you tell us about some of the other Cultural Stations?

 

Svilara is part of the network of Cultural Stations, a network of small cultural centres spread around the city area, with the idea of decentralization and accessibility of culture and its connection with the neighbours, increasing their participation in cultural activities. Every Cultural Station has its own identity based on its heritage and narrative, and is strongly attached to the local community. For example, Cultural Station Egyseg deals with the topic of interculturalism, as the word egyseg means unity in the Hungarian language, and the place where it is located has been symbolizing the coexistence of multiple nationalities for decades. On the other hand, Cultural Station Barka is located in a new building in the suburban neighbourhood, far from the city centre, with citizens not having a lot of opportunities for active cultural life. Today, Barka is becoming a lively cultural space which is visited by audiences from all parts of the city. These are just examples, and every Cultural Station creates its own story and symbols.

 

Novi Sad is colloquially known as Serbian Athens thanks to its rich history of cultural heritage. Moving forward, what do you think will be the legacy of the European Capital of Culture for Novi Sad?

 

The Network of Cultural Stations is undoubtedly one of the most tangible legacies of the European Capital of Culture. In addition to the Network, the project of restoration of the old Petar Drapšin factory into the new Creative District is also an important legacy, not only on the city but on the state level as well. But equally important is also the intangible impact of the whole process from application to realization, and the evident increase of capacity of the city's cultural sector.

 

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