A display of solidarity

The level of difficulty that artists and cultural workers in Serbia are faced with, especially during the corona virus pandemic, is perhaps best shown in the results of the solidarity act, initiated by several associations due to the large number of colleagues who were left without work and any income and were not covered by The Government of Serbia and the city authorities of Belgrade’s aid programs.

Thanks to the Solidarity Fund, initiated by the Independent Culture Scene of Serbia, the Association of Fine Artists of Serbia, The Association of Fine Artists of Vojvodina, The Service station for contemporary dance, The Bazaart and The AICA Serbia, 177 culture workers from all over Serbia received a one-time symbolic solidarity help in the amount of 30,000 dinars.

The Solidarity Fund was established as a temporary joint project with the idea to collect aid for the most imperiled workers in the field of culture who have not received any form of assistance from the state of Serbia or their local governments.

Part of the funds collected from international foundations - a total of 4.8 million dinars (from the Open Society Fund 3 million, from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation 1.7 million and from the FundAction platform 1.2 million dinars). Through a crowd funding campaign on the Donacije.rs (Donations) website additional 753,000 dinars were collected.

The funds were allocated on a public open call basis, which received as many as 1,668 applications and was open from July 16 to August 6.

The main criteria for the final list of the most imperiled colleagues were their social and housing status (single parents of children under 18 who were left without all income during the state of emergency, people older than 65 who are living alone and without other significant financial support, parents with children who lost all income, individuals who lost most of their household income during the state of emergency).

"Although we are aware that this was just a tiny drop in the ocean of funds needed for the support of a collapsed, unprotected, unregulated cultural system and to help artists and cultural workers in these difficult circumstances, we are proud of our initiative and its results... We thank all the donors, and especially all the citizens who selflessly donated funds during the campaign and this way ensured an increase in the number of those to whom we were able to redirect aid", the initiators of the action had stated.

"The fact that such a large number of workers in culture applied for the help of the Solidarity Fund once again confirms how ruined is the cultural system in our country, and how devastating are the consequences of decades of carelessness and ignorance of the decision makers and cultural policy makers in Serbia.", and, "On the other hand, this action is an indicator that solidarity and joint effort must become a modus operandi in all areas of our society ", the founders of the Solidarity Fund pointed out.

(SEEcult.org)

*Support: International Relief Fund of the German Federal Foreign Office, the Goethe-Institut, and other partners