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For this body of knowledge, we looked at tendencies happening in Serbia, covering the events in the last couple of years with a focus on the current situation (2024/2025) which is marked by large scale student protests. This article is based on a conversation with Tijana Đuknić, festival coordinator at Mirdita, Dobar Dan festival (February 2025) and additional sources. Notably, last year’s edition (2024) of the festival was banned by the government and hindered by large groups of hooligans blocking the venues and entrances.
Photos: YIHR
‘’Why are the arts so threating to authoritarian regimes?’’ – Tijana Đuknić
‘’Why are the arts so threating to authoritarian regimes?’’ – Tijana Đuknić
Mirëdita, Dobar Dan festival
Mirdita, Dobar Dan festival, organized by Youth Initiative for Human Rights and Civic Initiatives, merges art, culture, advocacy and public debate in a multiple day event, alternating location each year between Belgrade, Serbia and Prishtina, Kosovo. They aim to bring together artists, activist, peace makers and citizens from Kosovo and Serbia in order to strengthen cooperation and reconciliation. They mention that ‘’besides presenting the best of the contemporary art scene, essential part of the festival are public debates and advocacy actions’’[1]. Last year’s edition of the festival (2024) was banned by the government due to, as being said, ‘safety regulations’. Even though the festival had been in contact with the police and governmental bodies beforehand, the police failed in securing the festival and the protesting hooligans, who have been linked to the government as proxies, took the overhand. As a result, Kosovars who came to participate in the festival have been stopped at the border of the city of Belgrade, making it not able for them to enter and festival staff and artists have been locked up in venues due to protesting hooligans. Đuknić describes these hooligans as government proxies, explaining how the government indirectly targets cultural events and festivals. She also notices a split in governmental entities and police units. Where some individuals seem to help the festival staff during these events based on personal decision rather than following orders to keep quiet.
Key concepts:
- Indirect governmental influence on culture
- Bans
- Individual actions
Social/political context
Serbia is currently (2024/2025) marked by large scale student protests. These formed as a response to the collapse of a train station in Novi Sad in November 2024[1] and a number of other incidents linked to corruption and other un-democratic events happening in the government and society. Đuknić mentions that it is ‘’the first time in 12 or 13 years that we have such massive protests against the corrupted government and against the authoritarian regime of Alexandar Vučić’’, indicating the scale of these protests and their importance. Citizens support the students, by giving them food or joining the protests. During "15th for 15" protest more than 500 000 people got out on the streets (15th of March 2025) demanding transparency and accountability.
Kosovo and Serbia
Another important key element if talking about the social and political context of Serbia is it’s relation with Kosovo. It is a strong sticking point within both Serbian society and politics, with many, un-democratic, consequences both in terms of every day, practical consequences but also in terms of social cohesion.
The relation between Kosovo and Serbia is important to mention in relation to the Mirdita, Dobar Dan festival, as the festival takes place in both countries and aims to strengthen cooperation and reconciliation between the two cultures. Đuknić describes a type of fear or distrust present between Kosovo and Serbia, which is strengthened and emphasized by institutional and governmental entities. She mentions that ‘’people from Kosovo are unlikely to come to Serbia because they're afraid things like this. And I do have to say that, usually this is the case, I mean, of course, there's always isolated cases, but usually when they come, the regular people really do not care. It's the institutions that are causing this. It comes from, let's say, it's a top down kind of a an approach.’’ Institutionally and administratively, this comes with a number of struggles for the organization of festivals and culture more generally.
Centralization
As the case for most sectors, including the cultural sector, Đuknić describes Serbia as having high levels of centralization. Even though maybe on paper they suggest larger distances between local and national entities or arm’s length principles to the arts, reality seems to tell otherwise. This results in high level of national political influence on local and cultural activities. The festival has received attention by members of parliament, openly speaking against it in recent editions, but in previous years also support and praise from politicians from the same government. The festival, having such a clear stance on the relation and connection between Serbia and Kosovo has often dealt with being instrumentalized, whenever suited for political framing by politicians.
Key concepts:
- Political framing of culture / Politicization of festivals
- Narrative of fear and distrust in society
- Centralization
[1] https://apnews.com/article/serbia-roof-collapse-china-protests-3cfa282938b1ddec12c4795b9ecb3e95
Cultural and festival field
The years leading up to the Vučić government (elected in 2017, re-elected in 2022), a trend of re-nationalization was already noticeable (Compendium 2018)[1]. Coming from a decade (2001-2011) which moved in a more democratic direction, implementing activities and regulations on the topics of multiculturalism, intercultural dialogue and decentralization, the new ministry of Culture appointed in 2012 shifted in direction. The relations build between the independent and private cultural scene by the previous administration faded, frequently undermining their position (Compendium 2018). The ministry’s focus moved away from multiculturalism or intercultural dialogue and turned to a ‘re-nationalization’ within Serbian institutions (Compendium 2018). With Vučić being elected in 2017 and currently still in government (02/2025), this line in policy still has an influential position, creating administrative obstacles and a culture of fear and distrust in regards to Kosovo. Most of these obstacles are not directly targeted to cultural organizations and festivals, but do indirectly affect them.
Đuknić sees an important role for festivals and cultural professionals within this context, as facilitators and organizers of spaces for democratic conversation and advocacy. Especially after the 2024 edition being banned, she stresses the importance ‘’for the festival to keep happening and survive’’. She explains the effect the ban and threats had on the festival and her colleagues, ‘’it's really important not to get discouraged and not to do the festival in exile’’.
It is not only festivals that have experienced bans in Serbia, many famous cultural professionals and artists who are vocal about the government, have experienced bans and have been reduced in their mobility from or to Serbia. Đuknić explains the targeting of individuals, which adds fuel to the narrative of fear and Othering. This happens not only to Kosovars and Kosovan culture, but also towards other countries and cultures.
The reason for tensions in the field of culture and festivals are beyond the program itself. Đuknić describes how protesters and political figures (such as minister of culture Nikola Selaković, minister of family welfare and demography Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski, deputy prime minister Aleksandar Vulin, mayor of Belgrade Aleksandar Šapić and minister of the interior Ivica Dačić) target the festival as such, instead of certain parts of the program or its curation.
Key concepts:
- Bans on individuals and festivals
- ‘Re-nationalization’ as cultural policy objective
- Importance of continuing the organization of cultural activities and the role of cultural professionals.
- Festivals as platforms for advocacy and activism / democratic conversation
[1] https://www.culturalpolicies.net/database/search-by-country/country-profile/?id=35
Struggles and threats
The Serbian cultural field and political context is in various ways marked by un-democratic tendencies and with un-democratic effects influencing the organization of festivals, and culture in broader ways. With the 2024 edition of Mirdita, Dobar Dan festival being banned, this became ever more evident. In past years, the festival had already been a reason for debate by politicians in the media.
Direct ways in which festivals have to deal with undemocratic tendencies and political influence include; bans and reduced mobility of artists and cultural professionals, high levels of centralization in the ministry of culture and related governmental entities and politicization of festivals.
Indirectly there are two main issues. First, the Mirdita, Dobar Dan festival has been targeted by hooligan proxies, with politicians relying on- and fueling the narrative of nationalism and national identity politics. Another factor that needs to be taken into account here, are the high levels of corruption happening on national level politics. Second, due to the mistrust and fear build around Kosovo on a political level, there are a number of administrative obstacles in place for the festival and its staff. These administrative obstacles bring along various practical issues for both staff and artists.
Key concepts:
- Bans
- Reduced mobility
- Centralization
- Politicization of festivals
- Hooligan protests / governmental proxies
- National identity politics and nationalism
- Corruption
- Administrational obstacles
Tools/strategies/positions
As a response to the various un-democratic events and tendencies happening in Serbia, the festival has taken a clear position; aiming to create spaces for democratic conversation, activism and reconciliation between Serbian and Kosovan culture and people. Đuknić also mentioned the importance of cultural professionals, who need not to be discouraged in organizing these moments and spaces. Within the events happening, there was a clear role for the actions and voice of the individual, both in the police forces and governmental institutions, and for cultural professionals and artists themselves. Lastly, she emphasizes the importance of international communities and especially the EU or European countries to give support, both in the form of financial support but also the recognition and solidarity from the EU, media and citizens.
Key concepts:
- Facilitating and organizing spaces for conversations
- Role of cultural professionals
- Role of the Individual
- International community
Organization and curation
Đuknić expresses her wish for a society in which the work of organizations such as that of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights and Civic Initiatives is more integrated and the festival to be part of the mainstream events in Serbia. The current discrepancies between institutional or mainstream cultural organizations and ‘Avant Garde’ or independent cultural organizations are big. Tensions and discrepancies are a long standing history, already during the Yugoslav socialist times and in the 90’s, during the Milošević era (2019-2000), artists and cultural workers from the independent cultural sector faced years of marginalization, neglection and harsh critique from politicians (Tomka 2020). Additionally, public funds often got misused and corrupted for the ‘’commercial entertainment sector, ruling party subsidiaries [and] artists who have publicly supported leading figures or by the church’’(Tomka 2020).
Regardless of the threats and challenges the organization has faced last edition and the years before, Đuknić firmly stands by the programming and concept of the festival. After the ban of the festival and the start of the student protests, there seemed to be a turning point in Serbia, with even stronger demands for democratic reforms, transparency and accountability.
Key concepts:
- Independent vs institutional cultural organizations
- Importance of adhering to curational decisions and programming
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