2022
Grants approved – February 2022
Number of grants: 13
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1. Alternative Cultural Centre “Heroj Maričić”, Kraljevo
- RSD: 430.000
- Project title: Kitchens, wars
“Kitchens, wars” is a short documentary about the “invisible women” from an isolated and extremely poor Roma community in Kraljevo, who came there after war on Kosovo, who has experienced long-term impacts of exile and discrimination, as well as about the feminist fight for them. The authors’ intention is to, by presenting the position of women, women from minority groups, class differences, racism, language barriers, early marriages, domestic violence, gender identities – universalize these subjects and sensitize wider social community to the problems of those who found themselves in an unequal position due to historical and social circumstances. Kitchen, as a symbol of mute and obedient woman – patriarchy’s servant, in this film becomes the battlefield for a better, more equal and just world. RWF supports the production of this film as a layered analysis of intersected types of oppression against women, especially Roma women, as well as an open documentarist-activist platform for amplifying the voices of marginalized women.
2. ApsArt Centre for Theatrical Research, Belgrade
- RSD: 450.000
- Project title: The hardest role
Five actresses and the director, with some of them surviving sexual harassment/violence in their professions, are working on a stage play based on their personal experiences and experiences of other women in performing arts. The performance is being developed through a shared educational drama process of actresses and students of drama academies. The dramatic process of developing the process is the occasion for creating a documentary called “The Hardest Role”. The performance and the documentary are authors’ contribution to ending the silence, empowering those who have survived sexual violence, begin the process of healing and set a regional platform for connecting women into a solidarity action for awareness changing within the ex-Yugoslav societies. RWF continues supporting these long-term activities, recognizing them as a thorough process of artistic and activist confrontation to ever present sexual violence, which simultaneously follows the wave of speaking out about sexual violence in the region and brings this subject its neglected specifics.
3, Bibija Roma Women’s Centre, Belgrade
- RSD: 436.000
- Project title: Strengthening capacities of activists from Bibija Roma Women’s Centre
The supported activities imply working on long-term strategies of Bibija Roma Women’s Centre, a self-representing organization with 23 years of experience in working with Roma women. Besides covering partial expenses needed for daily functioning, the grant is devoted to supporting the strategical plan for the period of 2022 to 2027. RWF supports the suggested activities as a way of continual improvement of activists’ capacities with the aim of more effective articulation of the struggle for women’s and minority rights, as well as more effective organizing in this field.
4. DAH Theatre, Belgrade
- RSD: 300.000
- Project title: Festival “Arts and Human Rights”
DAH Theatre organizes the second international festival “Arts and Human Rights” in Belgrade. Bearing in mind the lack of familiarity, respect and applying the culture of human rights, with a particular focus on protecting women’s rights, the festival will serve as a platform for exchanging practices and experiences of human rights defenders from Serbia and across the globe who promote human rights through arts. The program includes workshops, installations, performances, conversations, a conference, movies, a book promotion, guests from all over the world. RWF supports the suggested activities by DAH Theatre, an organization with three decades of experience in unifying arts and activism, as representative of their overall work.
5. Children’s Centre Zaječar
- RSD: 436.400
- Project title: I haven’t reported
The performance “I haven’t reported” is envisioned with the aim of supporting the campaign #IHaventReported (#NisamPrijavila) which was initiated on social media. The script is inspired by the stories of women/girls who have shared their experiences through networks. In this multimedia performance, performers are 6 girls (2 from Prizren, 2 from Tirana, 2 from Zaječar). Throughout the working process, the girls will be meeting online and in person at the exchange in Prizren (for 5 days). The performance will be organized in Prizren, Tirana and Belgrade. The goal is enticing solidarity among women/girls in environments where it completely abstains, due to nationalist stereotypes. RWF supports the development of this performance as a process which, contrasting the dominant tensions between the countries in which it is being produced, encourages connecting based on common experiences.
6. Organization for Promoting Activism OPA/Femix, Belgrade
- RSD: 436.400
- Project title: Femix Fest 2022
Twelve years after the first Festival of young women’s art, Femix fest, held in September 2010 in Cultural Centre Grad, Femix comes back to the very same site for addressing changes, news, achievements of the common advocacy for gender equality in the local cultural scene, as well as the new challenges, new forms of discrimination and sexism facted by the society, and new and contemporary forms of struggle and examples of activism for gender-equal music, film, literary – overall artistic and cultural scene in Serbia and the region. RWF supports the suggested activities as a significant form of presenting feminist work and views of art, culture and labour rights to the broadest audiences.
7. Out of the Circle – Niš
- RSD: 438.800
- Project title: For our better tomorrow
The suggested activities are focused on providing psychological, legal and peer support to women with disabilities in Niš, as key forms of non-institutional support. These activities are followed by the continuous mapping of the needs of women with disabilities in Nip, networking and gatherings. RWF supports these activities considering them essential yet not enough present in Niš, hoping that these ways of support will be as available as possible to women who need them.
8. Magločistač, Subotica
- RSD: 450.000
- Project title: They were conquering our freedom
The activities imply reviving the legacy of the anti-fascist struggles and the renewal of memory of women’s role in that struggle through creating 19 media pieces that will portray women anti-fascists from Subotica’s past, and organizing 5 workshops for young people with the aim of preserving the culture of remembrance. The base of the project is the book “Women Anti-fascists of Subotica: SKOJ members, Partisans, AFŽ members” by Margareta Bašaragin (2021). The project is devoted to the citizens of Subotica; youth; educational institutions in Subotica; cultural institutions in Subotica; local and regional media. RWF supports these activities as a contribution to preservation of local anti-fascist history and confrontation with widespread historical revisionism.
9. Novi Sad School of Journalism
- RSD: 450.000
- Project title: The Election Campaign of 2022: Nationalism, xenophobia, militarism and misogyny
The planned activities imply identifying nationalist, xenophobic, militarist and misogynist narratives on social media of presidential candidates and candidates for MPs throughout the electoral campaign, as well as the contribution to raising public awareness about the possible consequences of such narratives. The group will monitor social media posts by the candidates, focusing on their views on subjects such as migrants’ crisis, Kosovo, Republika Srpska, Montenegro, security and gender equality. The second part of the analysis will relate to the presence of women in the campaigns. RWF supports this as a much needed analysis at the peak of deep political and other social polarizations.
10. Talas TIRV Collective, Belgrade
- RSD: 449.000
- Project title: Accessibility and safety of public spaces (in the domain of entertainment and recreation) for Trans, Intersex and Gender-Variant people in Serbia
The suggested activities imply mapping public spaces offering entertainment and recreation, which can be visited by transgender, gender-variant and intersex people, free of fear from discrimination. The project is aimed at transgender, intersex and gender-variant people living in Serbia. The activities include a qualitative research aiming to collect information on personal experiences and needs for using public spaces for entertainment and recreation. Based on the obtained results, the group will start determining the accessibility of public spaces, and follow by creating a digital map of their accessibility. RWF supports the suggested activities as a significant contribution to the safety and quality of life of trans, intersex and gender-variant people.
11. Roma Women’s Association Nada, Aleksinac
- RSD: 408.000
- Project title: Strong together we change it all
“Strong together we change it all” is a six-month program with the goal of enticing the entire community of Aleksinac to work on preventing early marriages in Roma community, which are characterized as a criminal act within international and national legislations, but which lack responsible attention, or at least sufficient amount of it, due to widespread nationalism and racism. The program also implies the participation of girls who have already went through an education on this subject, and who will share their knowledge with their peers on this occasion. RWF supports the suggested activities, sharing personal examples and encouragements, as well as key information, as an effective exchange for contributing to a higher determination of the local community to oppose early/forced marriages.
12. Collective Action “A Roof Above Head”, Belgrade
- RSD: 446.000
- Project title: Personnel and Appellant
The supported activities are being conducted with the aim of increasing the number of members of Collective Action “A Roof Above Head” in the Reference Team, which works directly with the people threatened by forced evictions, deals with the legal aspects of their situation and supporting them emotionally. The goal is also to support the already active members to avoid burnouts within reference work. The activities imply psychological advising, training active members in the field of providing emotional support and training new members in the field of psychological support and knowledge of laws. RWF supports these activities as essential to strengthening the housing movement in Serbia.
13. Workers’ Commune Links, Belgrade
- RSD: 339.500
- Project title: KundK (Book and Critique)
The project K&K is being presented on the website of WC Links, and it was started in 2017. The aim is the critical reading of book production in former Yugoslavia, particularly of those books that relate to the common destiny of this region. Likewise, the group sheds a light on the cultural-political underground existing outside the focus of the mainstream media, and it is important for understanding the ongoing processes. The goal is constructing an alternative network for evaluating book production of the region, made of young critics and authors. The final effect of the project would be the affirmation of subjects essential to public debate in a post-traumatic society, that are currently marginalized.
