The Day of Belgrade Urban Oases will be held on Saturday, June 22, as part of the 19th Belgrade International Architecture Week program. This event is part of the Belgrade Urban Oases project, which will revitalize three neglected urban spaces in Belgrade using the power of art and community engagement.
The three urban spaces focused on by the project are the surroundings of the Center for Youth Integration in Zvezdara, the courtyard of the Center for Accommodation and Day Care of Children and Youth with Developmental Disabilities at Julino Brdo, and the Arboretum of the Faculty of Forestry at Banovo Brdo.
A community picnic with an exhibition of works will be held at the Center for Youth Integration in Zvezdara (Krfska 7, from 10 am to 12 pm). Visitors, neighbors, and children/youth from the Center for Youth Integration are invited to this picnic, along with an exhibition by students from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Belgrade. The students will present their projects and visions for a more vibrant, sustainable, and greener space around the Center, developed together with the children, the center’s beneficiaries. Visitors are invited to bring their snacks to contribute to the picnic and engage in discussions about the presented solutions. Presence and engagement are vital contributions to the success of this event in further developing the neighborhood and their joint activities..
At the location of the Center for Accommodation and Day Care of Children and Youth with Developmental Disabilities – “Čukarica” (Poručnika Spasića and Mašere 90), from 12 to 2 pm, a joint workshop will be held, marking a significant milestone in the project to revitalize public space nearby. Visitors, neighbors, and users of the Day Center are invited to actively participate in redesigning urban furniture models in the area and engage in meaningful discussions about its future use. In addition to these interactive activities, participants will have the opportunity to enjoy refreshments, discover attractive seating arrangements, and explore drawing tools and books provided by the local publisher Blum. The contributions and imaginative suggestions of all participants play a key role in shaping a common environment that aligns with the needs of everyone involved.
In the Arboretum of the Faculty of Forestry, the third Urban Oasis, from 5 to 7 pm, a joint mural painting session will take place. In collaboration with students, artists Danilo Mimović and David Radonjić will work on a mural on a building in the Arboretum, near the Arboretum’s bee trail. A living network of creatures is depicted in vivid JUB paints. Interested visitors are invited to attend the final mural painting process and possibly collaborate and add a personal touch to the artwork. At 7 pm in the same space, a performance and installation “The Secret Life of the Arboretum” will be performed by DAH Theatre. The performance takes place as a guided walk, where the audience follows the performers through the Arboretum. At various points along the way, the audience will encounter actors and dancers, along with immersive audio and visual installations. The performance aims to convey the deep significance of the natural environment, emphasizing both the beauty of nature and the sense of freedom and community connection it provides.
For the new, participatory design of the mentioned locations, students from the Faculty of Forestry and Architecture, in collaboration with their professors, domestic and international experts, and the local community, will be responsible. Belgrade Urban Oases will also engage the local community through urban design workshops for citizens, public events, and artistic interventions, actively involving the beneficiaries of both centers. In this way, key urban points that promote awareness of the environment, sustainability, and inclusiveness will be created. The project interventions will take place throughout 2024.
Belgrade Urban Oases is a project by EUNIC Serbia, the network of national institutes of the European Union in Serbia, Belgrade International Architecture Week (BINA), the University of Belgrade – Faculty of Architecture and Faculty of Forestry, Center for Youth Integration (CIM), and Center for Accommodation and Day Care of Children and Youth with Developmental Disabilities.
EUNIC – National Institutes for Culture of the European Union – is a network of national cultural institutes and organizations from Europe, with 39 members from all EU member states and associated countries. In the Belgrade Urban Oases project, participants include the Goethe-Institut, Polish Institute, Embassy of Sweden, Austrian Cultural Forum, Italian Cultural Institute, Embassy of Portugal, French Institute, Czech Centar Belgrade, Collegium Hungaricum, and Embassy of Slovenia.
