Center_kuda.org is a non-profit self-organized civic association focused on experimental and critical arts. Founded 2001 in Novi Sad, Serbia, Center_kuda.org is established as a permanent physical, organizational and human infrastructure. It gathers artists, architects, sociologists, IT developers, theoreticians, engineers, researchers, autodidacts, scientists, etc. We focus on experimentation in arts, sound installation, cross disciplinary works and experimental extracurricular education. We aim to expand our space as a research arts laboratory where inter-disciplinary lines can overlap to create projects that explore processes and techniques, address social, political, cultural and critical issues.
Centar_kuda.org projects often have elements of transmission from artistic production to social criticism and vice versa. Emphasis is placed on artistic interventions that both include social activism and deal with universal problems in the production of visual arts, music, spatial and other interventions. The activities of the Center are developed on several levels: local and international, in the artistic and socially activist way. The programs also vary in terms of duration - some are quick and short public actions or reactions to the environment, while others are research-based programs requiring long-term commitment and investment. The framework of activities is based on dynamic merging of the expansion of direct social actions and questioning the autonomy of contemporary art in contemporary society. This scope of our work represents an empty space in the cultural landscape of Serbia, not covered by either cultural institutions or research centres.
The specific environment in which we operate, that is, Serbia in the period of transformation, characterised by the change in the ideological paradigm from socialism to capitalism, and by processes of privatisation (often accompanied by irregularities and corruption) and commercialisation of culture, have had an impact on the nature of our work and our tactical approach in relation to the dominant nationalist/populist politics, which significantly affects cultural politics and the work conditions for organizations outside of the state-supported system.
