The Center for Audiovisual Arts (CaArts) together with the citizens of Kriva Palanka has been actively looking for and researching new, potential, alternative spaces for cultural events in this municipality for several months.
The discovery, that is, the mapping of new spaces for as many new cultural events as possible in Kriva Palanka, is an action of the association “Center for Audiovisual Arts” from Kriva Palanka. With the research so far, the Center has established that cultural events mainly take place in several spaces in the city, namely: City Square, “Karposovo Vostanie” Square (in front of the Kriva Palanka municipality building), LU City Museum and NU Culture Center.
With the construction of the new City Square, a summer scene was created in the City Park (next to the Kriva Reka quay), where some of the cultural events are held during the summer period. All those spaces are mostly intended for large and traditional manifestations, as well as for classic cultural expressions.
There is a lack of locations where alternative forms of art and music events, creative industries and interventions in space will take place. Among the spaces is the new “EU House Kriva Palanka” and certain cultural activities take place in its premises. However, that space is very small and limited and must be in accordance with the program objectives and organizational plans of the EU, the Center stated.
From a survey conducted (online questionnaire) by the Center for Audiovisual Arts, it emerges that citizens prefer other places for cultural events, instead of the usual locations, where most cultural activities now take place. They believe that the existing locations should be supplemented with new urban contents and adapted by isolating them from the surrounding sounds and noises. About 60 percent stated that Kriva Palanka does not have enough places for cultural events, and the most lacking are locations for multimedia projects, alternative and chamber events, acoustic performances, theater performances of an alternative character, etc.
– Kriva Palanka definitely lacks alternative spaces where the most diverse cultural events will take place, and this must be in accordance with the type of artistic expression to be perceived and experienced in the right way by the audience. These locations are needed not only for the presentation of alternative forms of art, but also for providing conditions for the creation of artists, especially from the local community. Gallery space, a small concert hall and other chamber spaces for this purpose are missing. In the municipality, there are more alternative outdoor spaces that could be arranged and put to the function of culture, while the problem with closed spaces is bigger, because there are not enough such capacities. For cultural events, there is a lack of logistical and technical equipment, which will satisfy the organizational, production and programming needs for a variety of artistic contents – pointed out Dragan Velichkovski, ethnologist, director of LU City Museum Kriva Palanka.
There are several unused locations in the municipality that could be arranged and used for these types of cultural events, and the citizens have already proposed a dozen alternative locations for cultural events, such as the Hermitage of “St. Joakim Osogovski” in the village of Gradec, the Church “St. Nikola” in the village of Trnovo, the city park, stadium, swimming pool and market, the school yard and the small hall of the “Joakim Krchoski” OOU, the yard of the “Gjorche Petrov” Secondary School, the unfinished hall at the motel “Macedonia” and others.
The art historian and photographer, Gjorgi Kostovski, points out: “If we want to develop culture, and especially the alternative culture in Kriva Palanka, we must also provide an adequate space for art, to encourage the audience’s awareness of a different feeling towards the events. Now, mainly, everything is concentrated on the classical forms of expression and the citizens do not have many opportunities for something different. Therefore, alternative art should be stimulated along with classical content and capacities should be built for avant-garde forms, be it theatre, music, multimedia events, visual art. We need to create a leading core that will not feel suppressed, have to improvise, but, on the contrary, will be the bearer of cultural changes in society.”
The action for mapping the new spaces continues in the next period. The organizer of the action is the association Center for Audiovisual Arts from Kriva Palanka, within the framework of the project “Alliances for Active Citizenry”, which is implemented by the NGO Infocenter, with financial support from the European Union.
Author: Tony Dimkov
(The text was published in “Cultural Press” number 150, in the print edition of the newspaper “Sloboden Pechat” on October 15-16, 2022)
