Serbia
Fund Consultant
Days in Country
2004
2009
- - - -
- - - -
10
8
Days do not reflect
preparation time
|
|
SERBIA  2004
Consultants: James Bradburne • Paul Elicker • Brent Glass • Alan Knezevich • Ward Mintz • Marc Pachter • Elisa Phelps • Jillian Poole • Julian Spalding • Bob Workman • Sally Yerkovich
Belgrade, Serbia
Cultural Specialist seminar
April 19–25, 2004
The five day Cultural Specialist seminar began on April 20 in Belgrade. There were twenty-five attendees, including museum directors and managers and representatives from the Ministry of Culture. The Minister of Culture opened the seminar with a speech that included the need for cultural institutions to have a “clear business plan” when they come to the Ministry for support. It soon became clear the institutions were expected to develop these plans on their own. This, then, became one of the goals of the seminar.
Participants were divided into four groups to identify and then report on the principal challenges they believe are presently facing their cultural institutions. These included: developing a national strategy for culture; educating the general public on culture; establishing interconnectedness of cultural institutions and their programs; motivating employees; and developing strategies for fund raising.
By far the most frequently mentioned topic was the need for national strategy for culture. The groups were reluctant to recognize that as cultural leaders they could have a role in creating such a national strategy. Communication on every level appeared to be their greatest challenge, within their institutions, intra-institutionally, with their publics, and with the Ministry.
The second, third, and fourth days of the seminar were spent on managing people, writing a mission statement, joint programming, implementing children's clubs in several museums, public relations, fundraising techniques, strategic planning, and budgeting. The need for national cultural policy was brought up again on the fourth day. By then, the mood seemed to have shifted to a consensus that perhaps it was not a priority since much could be done with the initiative of individual institutions and through joint or cooperative activities.
At the conclusion of the seminar, the Agency for Cultural Development’s secretary general, Dragana Petrovic Radjenovic, asked for comments and elicited some ideas for future cooperation. There was agreement the seminar had:
• Brought them a new way of thinking;
• Brought some understanding about
personnel motivation and the need for
communication on every level of their
institutions;
• Brought some realization that perhaps a
‘national cultural policy’ was not essential
because they had demonstrated that they
could develop projects among themselves
and probably find private support for them;
• Brought agreement that they must turn their
focus from national capabilities to their own
internal capabilities.
Mrs. Poole believed the National Museum, the Museum of Applied Art, the Ethnographic Museum Fund and the Museum of Contemporary Art would continue to cooperate and bring to fruition their idea for Children’s Clubs in their museums. Future work for The Fund should include intensive consultations with three senior people from a few selected institutions, such as the National Museum, Ethnographic Museum, the National Museum, and Museum of Applied Art, for a five-day period twice a year.
|
enlarge