Mikser 2012 is running from May 25 to June 2 at a new location, in an exciting but neglected quarter of central Belgrade – Savamala, whose revitalization is the central topic of this year’s festival
As part of the strategy for revealing and activating the potential of neglected city quarters with cultural content, Mikser Festival will be significantly changing its format this year. The location and duration of the festival has been changed, expanding from five to nine days. Certain programs will be extended even after the festival ends, like the “Open Space” exhibition at the Geozavod building, which will last until the end of June.
The aim of the festival is to help Savamala regain its former status as a cultural and social epicenter of the city. Similar independent initiatives for the transformation of neglected urban units into progressive artistic quarters show that it is not always necessary to have grandiose architectural projects to make significant urban planning interventions: Milan’s Zona Tortona attracts over 100,000 people from all over the world during the Milan Design Fair, while the Tribeca Film Festival brings some 200,000 annual visitors to a once-neglected corner of New York.
The main program contents of this year’s event are projects from the sphere of architecture, urbanism, visual arts and design, with an emphasis on interactivity, interventions in public space, workshops and performances. The program includes a network of over 50 independent, interdisciplinary author and curator projects that consist of several segments: exhibitions, workshops, lectures and performances, presenting several hundred young talents together with international experts from the fields of design, architecture, urbanism, visual arts, music, new media, education and environmental protection.
International stars of the creative industry who will be attending the Mikser festival include the controversial conceptual artist and designer Arne Quinze, known for his gigantic installations in public spaces; the reputed Belgian video artist David Claerbout, who has held individual exhibitions at the MoMA museum in San Francisco and the Vienna Secession building, the musician Daniel Miller, the famous producer of Depeche Mode; experimental architectural collectives Bik Van der Pol and Feld 72, culture manager Glenn Weiss, responsible for the revolutionary introduction of a public arts program into New York’s Time Square, along with many others.
The three-day music program 3/3, curated by Belgrade’s Dis-patch collective, presents more than twenty performers, concerts, live acts and DJs from Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Germany, UK, US and China. From fresh bass lines and beats out of London, digital dub and African music played from cassette tapes and the raw pulses of South American favelas to indie/post-rock acts and the underground heroes of Belgrade’s club scene. First night on Thursday May 31 is a collaboration with local Mystic Stylez collective and London’s Svetlana Industries (watch out for Kelpe and the Hungarian Polyklinik live acts). Friday features live performances by Serbian producer MangulicaFM and German electronic dub artist Disrupt, along with DJ acts by Awesome Tapes From Africa (US) and the Slovenian-Serbian collab Favela Blast International. Saturday night, powered by Super Size She and Kickdrums, brings a more indie-oriented sound, with Chad Valley (UK) and High Places (US) playing live before Belgrade’s club supremos Shwabe and 33-10-3402 take over for a grand finale.
Also, make sure you sign up for the Project MOE workshop (May 29-30) on mapping and new VJ tendencies on the intersection of video, set design and creative software development.
More info: mikser.rs
