In the period from July 3 to July 6, 2014, the Center for Girls organized the first ArtFemine Festival in Niš. ArtFemine Festival was built on the foundations of FemiNiš Festival, which was organized and held by the Center for Girls and Women Space in the period from 2010 to 2013.

ArtFemine Festival is supposed to open up feminist space for the feminist youth from the country and region that would enable them to get associated, empowered, and to take action. Within ArtFemine Festival, special attention will be given to networking and empowering feminist youth in the country and the region.

The theme of the first ArtFemine Festival was Women and Media. Our intention was to shed light on this theme from several angles: how women are presented in media, what media is available to women, what means of media communication are new to feminism.

The following events were organized within the Festival program: the meeting of young feminists from the region, two workshops, a panel discussion, a street action, a performance, and all women's party, all of which were related to the Festival theme. 33 people attended the Festival. 

EVENTS at This Year's ArtFemine Festival

Thursday, July 3
  • 17:00-20:00 THE REGIONAL MEETING OF YOUNG FEMINISTS Two very important issues were discussed at the meeting: what obstacles we as feminists come across in our private life, and what those obstacles are in our careers (the work was divided in two groups). A lot of similar stories were shared, all of which are to a great extent caused by prejudices against feminism. The conclusion was summed up in three messages – paroles, which we wanted to make public in order to break those prejudices. The paroles written in 4 languages were later displayed at the street action. The messages are the following: I am a feminist! I am independent, free, my own! We demand harsher punishment for all kinds of violence against women; Feminism is a movement for women's equality and freedom. The meeting was attended by 23 people.
Friday, July 4
  • 12:00-15:00 I WANT TO SAY – a theatre workshop held by Vesna Bujošević, ACT Women Belgrade in the Student Cultural Center. The workshop was an introduction for the street action, that is, a joint practice on releasing body and voice. 22 people participated in the workshop.
  • 17:00-20:00 INSPIRATION – a panel discussion with young feminists of the region. The panel was conceived in such a way that several guests introduce themselves and their organizations: Besara Podgoricai (Albania), Frosina Ivanovska (Macedonia); Filipa Filipova (Bulgaria); Aleksandra Ninković and Sanja Solunac (Kragujevac). Afterwards, other participants also talked about themselves, their activism and their inspiration. We inspired one another. The panel discussion was attended by 24 people.
  • 21:00 THE WAITING ROOM – a performance of The Italian Comedy: the Importance of Being Mother, a play by Jasmina Tešanović. The play was performed by the feminist-activist theatre of the Center for Girls in the Academic Theatre of the Student Cultural Center. The Waiting Room was performed for the fourth time, and it was seen by 55 people. The play is about the relationships between mothers and daughters, men and women, about the role of mother, support, women's health, termination of pregnancy, labour, the treatment of pregnant women in the health care system, and the attitude of the society.

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Saturday, July 5

  • 12:00-13:00 YOUNG FEMINISTS HAVE A MESSAGE – a street action at the entrance to Tinker's Alley. The street action lasted an hour, during which the activists held banners with three messages important to them, written in four languages (Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, Albanian, Bulgarian, and Macedonian): I am a feminist! I am independent, free, my own! We demand harsher punishment for all kinds of violence against women; Feminism is a movement for women's equality and freedom. During the street action, the activists did a survey of citizens' opinions on whether the following statements are true or false: I will marry if I want to, when I want to and to whom I choose; I will have children if I want to, when I want to and with a partner I choose; I will choose who I want to have intimate relationship with; If he/she checks your mobile phone and constantly controls you, it is a sign of jealousy and not love; If he beats you, it is not because he had a little too much to drink, but because he is violent!!!; Feminists are ugly and hairy women. The street action and the survey were very well noted. A lot of citizens responded to the survey, and a lot of them stopped to comment on the paroles.
  • 17:00-20:00 NEW MEDIA IN ACTION – a workshop held by Leila Šeper, taking place in the premises of the Center for Girls. New media were presented at the workshop, and the final result of the workshop is a blog ArtFemine, the Festival of Feminist Love . 25 people participated in the workshop.
  • 21:00 ALL WOMEN'S PARTY – DJ Olja Ohbabyw at the Mirror Café. The party was a success, and girls had an opportunity to socialize and get to know one another even better.
Sunday, July 6
  • THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE JOINT STRATEGY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF FEMINIST GROUPS IN THE REGION – a meeting held in the Center for Girls with 21 attendants. At this final meeting, we talked about WHAT we can do, and HOW to stay in touch and continue cooperating and expanding the feminist message. Solidarity, understanding, phenomenal energy, ideas and inspiration were the embodiment of this meeting, as well as of the festival. Many ideas and suggestions were put forward, and some of the most important ones are the following: to organize a festival in Skopje, to meet more frequently, to take advantage of each festival in the region in order to meet, to organize a travelling street performance, to make a mailing list of young feminists and a Facebook group, to set up an informal network. The Regional Young Feminists' Network agreed on the first joint street action to be held on November 26, at noon, in all the cities as a part of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, focusing on the issues of sexual abuse and intimate partner violence among the youth.

The guests of the first ArtFemine Festival were:

Elena Dimushevska, Elena Anchevska, and Frosina Ivanovska (Skopje, Macedonia)
Filipa Filipova and Stanimira Sapundzhieva (Sofia, Bulgaria)
Besara Podgorica and Arvina Dibra (Shkodër, Albania)
Hatidza Gusic, Vildana Džekman, and Leila Šeper (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Martina Domladovac (Zagreb, Croatia)
Sabina Talović and Azra Ajanović (Pljevlja, Montenegro)
Marina Milošević and Jelene Krstic (Kosovo)
Dženeta Agović and Azra Dreković (Tutin, Serbia)
Aleksandra Ninković and Sanja Solunac (Kragujevac, Serbia)
Aleksandra Čolić and Jovana Pavlović (Kruševac, Serbia)
Vesna Bujošević, Tatjana Nikolić and Olga Boškov (Belgrade, Serbia)
Aldina Luinović (Prijepolje, Serbia)

The Festival was dedicated to Violeta St. Zinovijev, an activist and our late friend.

The Festival was organized by Tanja, Vesna, Silvija, Marija, Maja, Marija, Sanja, Natalija, and Tijana. Significant contribution was made by our associates Tina, Ivan, Emilija, Eva, and Olja.

For photos from the ArtFemine events, visit our GALLERY.

EVALUATION of the First ArtFemine Festival

1. What did you like and what did you dislike about the program of ArtFemine Festival?

- The Festival was great, the organization as well. The workshops were interesting and efficient. Hanging out with others was, without doubt, great. And the party at the end was fantastic. All of you were perfect and I hope to see you again.
- I liked the first evening when we introduced ourselves. In my opinion, that was very useful. Maybe it would have been better if we split up in several smaller groups. In that way, the conversation could have been even more successful and it could have lasted longer. I liked the panel discussion on inspiration on Saturday, which could have also been organized in smaller groups, and later we could present the important parts of conversation in front of everybody. And the performance, of course! It was fantastic! I was also very happy to take part in the street action, I think that is very important and it seems the reactions were very good. Of course, I liked the women's party in the evening!
- Enough time was devoted to informal meetings and socializing, which is recognized as equally important part and purpose of the festival.
- The program of the festival was more activistic than theoretical, which I liked a lot. The street action was such refreshment, even on more than +35°. Also, there was enough time for socializing and getting to know one another, as well as networking and making future plans, which made the whole event complete in a nice way. Thank you for the invitation and hope to see you again soon!
- I liked the complete program of the festival. The complete content was motivating, empowering and liberating. What I liked most was Vesna's workshop called I Want to Know because activism often burns you down, and this kind of workshops may inspire us and keep us in activist spirit. It was great that we had some free time to see Niš and get to know one another.
- I liked the street action, it inspired me and gave me ideas, then I liked Leila's workshop, I felt inspired by making videos and I already have an idea what to do next. I was also inspired by Vesna's workshop. The performance of The Waiting Room made me think. I love your work and your performances, we miss those kinds of things in Macedonia, and I would love for us to work together on a project! All in all, I drew a lot of inspiration in a relaxed atmosphere and I felt great all the time.
- I liked that women from the whole region gathered together and had a chance to meet, share experience and connect. I hated it that I missed the panel discussion on inspiration, learning about the experience of other participants, the moments of truth when empathy and understanding are born to become the foundation for our cooperation. I liked the whole program of the festival, the mix of art and feminism, especially the performance of The Waiting Room.
- I really liked the festival in all its content. What I enjoyed the most was the street action Young feminists have to say, because it was a linkage between us, by letting us being expressed in our languages also, by being stronger together to produce the message. It’s well conceived because people have time to enjoy and share experiences with each-other.
- I liked the whole festival a lot, starting from the group organizations, the theatre, street performance and group discussions, as a method of expanding our work. There wasn`t anything I didn’t like about this festival.

2. What did you like and what did you dislike about the logistics of ArtFemine Festival?

- As far as logistics is concerned, everything was all right. Only it might have been better if we had worked at the same place all three days. In that way, we would get used to the venues and how to get there more easily.
- Accommodation OK, food OK, our hostesses too kind!
- The program was organized in such a way that we had enough time to prepare for the activities and feel relaxed.
- I never walked more in my entire life.

3. Suggestions for the next ArtFemine Festival

- More street actions, for example. To somehow make a bigger impact on people.
- I am satisfied with all aspects of the festival, I have nothing to add. It would be great if the guests at future festivals had more chances to hang out outside the program, which could be achieved by organizing excursions and sight-seeing tours of the city; however, even without that, I think that the festival was fantastic. Thanks a lot for inviting me!
- To organize a workshop for attracting young/new activists. To encourage them to join us!
- Keep up the good work. We will come visit you again. Perhaps, organize a performance in the region.
- Even more events, for examples, film screenings, and to see each other more often. I wish you a lot of success in your future work, compliments for the energy, courage and motivation. ArtFemine, you are wonderful!
- More parties, exhibitions, film screenings
- A workshop related to art and maybe even an exhibition

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