Reclaiming Public Space and the City

Reclaiming Public Space and the City
Date
-
Event Sponsor
CREEES Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies
Location
Lane History Corner, Building 200, Room 307

Luka Knežević Strika is a photographer and activist from Belgrade, Serbia. He will talk about a movement formed at the periphery of the EU, in a city whose people are disillusioned with politics and revolutions. Something changed when a group of architects, artists and other citizens decided to say no to the Belgrade Waterfront, a large public-private development project pushed through using shady legislative tactics and illegal actions. From obscurity and a marginal position the critics of the project put the issue at the center of the public stage through their Don’t Let Belgrade D(r)own initiative, clearing the path for further protests and overcoming some of the fear and apathy that had become the norm.

This initiative used every opportunity within and outside the system to oppose the project and highlight its inherently violent and criminal nature, creating media material, engaging social networks and encouraging the media to publish their findings. While the Waterfront project is still moving forward, its reputation is severely tainted. With city elections coming soon, will citizens take note and make a difference?  

Luka Knežević Strika is a photographer from Belgrade interested in the way visual communication is changing, especially the way people take and give imagery, intentionally and natively. He actively contributes to several collectives (Belgrade Raw, Ostavinska galerija, Multimadeira, Ne da(vi)mo Beograd) based around various foci such as photography, self-organized art production and urban politics.

Photo by Aleksa Jovanovic

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