Conference call – Culture by Student Standards
CULTURE BY STUDENT STANDARDS
University of Arts in Belgrade
November 3 and 4, 2025.
The University of Arts in Belgrade is organizing an interdisciplinary conference in November 2025, entitled Culture by Student Standards, with the aim of opening a space for critical reflection on cultural policies, based on the experiences of student organizing, public action and contemporary forms of cultural production.
The conference emerges as a direct response to the decades-long decline of institutional culture in Serbia and the systemic marginalization of students as socially relevant actors. A particularly important impetus for organizing the conference lies in the outcomes of program and creative work of students during the blockade of the Student Cultural Center (SKC) in Belgrade — an institution that, according to its founding mandate, was meant to serve as a place of student cultural autonomy, but which has been the subject of institutional neglect and political abuse for years. The violent end of the blockade and the imposition of administrative control — guaranteeing “secure” idleness instead of creative, critical work – points to the multiple significance of this issue in a society willing to believe the authorities’ claim that the blockade was an act of destruction rather than one of creation.
The conference will bring together scholars, artists, cultural theorists, students and activists to collectively explore ways of returning cultural institutions to the public and student domain, and to establish new models of cultural production and decision-making — grounded in autonomy, public interest and social conscience — instead of market logic and repressive control.
Context
In February 2025, a group of students initiated a blockade of the Student Cultural Center [SKC] in Belgrade, an institution that once stood as a pillar of alternative culture and critical thought in Yugoslavia. Instead of being a space serving students and the independent art scene, SKC had for decades functioned as an administrative outpost of the cultural bureaucracy, not only lacking a clear programmatic vision, and genuine involvement of the academic community in its work, but also without any, even the most routine, presentations of student creativity.
During the blockade, which lasted for nearly six months, the students opened the space for plenum organizing, conceived and performed exhibitions, lectures, concert events and public debates, and published the SKC newspaper. Their program — sometimes provocative, but always relevant — opened up new fields of dialogue within the cultural community. Numerous experts described it as one of the most significant advances in Serbia’s cultural production in recent years. However, instead of an institutional dialogue, the authorities responded: on July 22, in collaboration with the SKC management, the police violently broke up the blockade, expelled the students and closed the area.
The media campaign that followed portrayed the students as vandals, with numerous unfounded accusations of property damage and equipment theft. The students refuted all such claims, reminding the public that this was a space into which they had brought life, a program, and even physical care of the building itself.
This conference emerges as an attempt to initiate a critical dialogue on the status of institutions such as SKC and to articulate specific policies for returning such institutions under the umbrella of the university community and in the domain of student autonomy.
Thematic questions
What does culture mean today by student standards?
What does a model of cultural production emerging from student practices look like and how does it differ from dominant institutional and market models?
Is it possible to restore the public and social mission of cultural institutions in Serbia? What are the causes of the degradation of spaces such as the SKC and what possible models exist for their revitalization?
Who builds culture: capital or the community?
Who could be the one to build it? How can we imagine collective, participatory models of re-institutionalization of culture?
Can the University provide autonomous space for cultural institutions?
How to integrate cultural institutions organized by student standards under the umbrella of the University and ensure long-term support for independent cultural practices?
What is the role of the academic community in times of social crisis?
How can science and art education offer theoretical, methodological and ideological support to student and other progressive movements?
Procedure, dates and logistics
We invite authors of scientific papers, research studies, artistic reflection and student initiatives to submit abstracts (up to 250 words) in Serbian and English no later than October 3, 2025.
Along with the abstract, a short biography (up to 150 words) should also be submitted.
Proposals can be theoretical, empirical or reflective, and may also include presentations of artistic and activist practices.
The forms of participation include:
– oral presentation
– poster presentation
– thematic discussions
– artistic interventions
– plenary forms, public dialogues or similar
To participate, everyone may apply here. After the reviewing process, the applicants will be informed about the details.
The conference will be held on November 3 and 4, 2025, in the Rectorate of the University of Arts in Belgrade, with the possibility of hybrid participation for colleagues from abroad.
After the review process, applicants will be informed about the details.
If you have any further questions, please write to us at:
kulturastudentima@gmail.com.
Program committee
Prof. Mirjana Nikolić, PhD, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Prof. Irena Ristić, PhD, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Prof. Zoran Todorović, DA, Faculty of Fine Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Prof. Emerita Milena Dragićević Šešić, PhD, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Assoc. prof. Jasna Žmak, PhD, Academy of Dramatic Art, University of Zagreb
Prof. Silvija Jestrović, PhD, School of Creative Arts, Performance and Visual Cultures, University of Warwick UK
Assoc. Prof. Jelena Ćalić, PhD, University College London UK
Prof. Ivan Medenica, PhD, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Prof. Katarina Jovanović, DA, Faculty of Music University of Arts in Belgrade
Assoc. Prof. Olivera Batajić Sretenović, DA, Faculty of Applied Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Prof. Marko Lađušić, DA, Faculty of Applied Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Prof. Miodrag Šuvaković, PhD, Faculty of Media and Communications Singidunum University Belgrade
Prof. Jasmina Čubrilo, PhD, Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade
Assoc. Prof. Vladimir Nikolić, DA, Faculty of Fine Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Assist. Prof. Nemanja Nikolić, DA, Faculty of Fine Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Assist. Prof. Ognjen Obradović, PhD, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
T. A. Milan Đorđević, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Organizing committee
A. Milan Đorđević, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University
Assist. Prof. Ognjen Obradović, PhD, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Katarzyna Ewa Stojičić, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Ivan Velisavljević, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Dramatic Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Ana Stojković, DA Candidate, Faculty of Fine Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
Nevena Novaković, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade
Veronika Podrjadova, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade
Saška Ristić, student, Faculty of Fine Arts University of Arts in Belgrade
We expect the conference Culture by Student Standards to spark a dialogue about the future of student infrastructure, institutional autonomy and progressive cultural policy. In a time of widespread passivisation of public institutions, we want to open up space for new models of action, collaboration and envisioning a shared cultural, educational and social horizon.
Welcome!
