CULTURAL INSTITUTE OF VOJVODINA'S SLOVAKS

Mission

Cultural Institute of Vojvodina's Slovaks is a professional institution founded in 2008 by The Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and the National Council of Slovak Minority with the purpose of preserving, developing and promoting culture of Vojvodina's Slovaks.

Vision

The Institute has a vision of widely recognizable traditional and contemporary arts and culture of Vojvodina's Slovaks whose character and excellence are professionally represented by the Cultural Institute of Vojvodina's Slovaks.

We achieve our goals through:

- development and research work by analyzing the cultural infrastructure of Vojvodina's Slovaks in order to plan its development;

- engaging in information documentation and communication activities which create documetation frame for all areas of life, culture and arts of Vojvodina's Slovaks;

- engaging in permanent and systematized activities which are aimed at improving the quality of cultural and artistic manifestations. We insist on constant specialization and education in culture as well as performing professional work on including the Slovak culture into the context of the Serbian culture as well as a wider European context.

The Institute performs activities in the areas of promotion, encouragement, preservation and organization of:

- culture, science and the language of the Slovak minority in AP Vojvodina;

- high-quality creative work of the Slovak minority in AP Vojvodina;

- multiculturalism and intercuturalism in the Vojvodina region;

- cooperation with cultural, scientific and artistic institutions and organizations in the Republic of Serbia;

- cooperation between the cultural institutions, organizations and individuals in AP Vojvodina and international institutions and organizations (The European Council, The Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, UNESCO, etc);

- promotion of equality of state, private and civil initiatives in the fields of culture and arts;

- normative activities in the fields of culture and arts as well as conforming to European standards;

- market orientation in order to improve working conditions and activities of cultural subjects;

- amateurism of Slovak community in AP Vojvodina;

- artistic works of young talents;

- seminars, workshops and camping trips with the purpose of specialization and education;

- improving cultural tourism;

- Information-documentation activities in the fields of culture and arts.

International Cooperation:

In order to improve and develop cultural cooperation in the fields of science, culture and arts of Vojvodina's Slovaks, there is a cooperation with minority, majority and foreign experts, institutions and organizations with the purpose of exchanging cultural products experiences and expertise in the field of culture.

Institute's Financing

Financing the Institute's daily activities, according to the founders' act, is obtained from the Executive Council of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina's funds. The additional funds used for realization of specific plans and programs are obtained from the donors, domestic and foreign funds intended for financing culture.

Strategic starting point

There is a great number of various communities living in Vojvodina. They are all distinguished by different languages, religions and ethnicity. Therefore, this region is rich with cultures which have interfused and enriched each other for centuries. Still, cultural expression and organization of minorities is often inferior and marginalized in the general state of events and it usually results in presetting a certain culture only to the members of the same community.

Future can still be found in open dialogues, connecting, exchanging and creating mutual cultural values, working on everything that interculturalism implies. It is necessary to get actively involved in creating awareness that the society we ought to strive for is based on interculturalism in order to avoid the situation where people are just living next to each other creating invisible barriers.

There is apparent symbolism in the fact that the Institute was founded in the year which was proclaimed by the European Commission as the year of intercultural dialogue. This way the founders of the Institute, The Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and the National Council of Slovak Minority, confirm that intercultural dialogue, which has been an important subject in the European Union during the last decade, is something that has been extremely important for this region for centuries and that mechanisms and instruments have been found which will enable the minorities to perform professional work on preserving and developing their cultures.

Therefore, intercultural dialogue will have ever growing role in preserving European identity and citizenship as well as developing an inclusive society. On the global level, Europe is committed to building close relationships between nations and promoting dialogue and mutual understanding.

The European year of intercultural dialogue recognizes the vast diversity of cultures in Europe as unique advantage. This advantage is recognized by Vojvodina as well since, throughout centuries, it has encouraged all its inhabitants to explore the advantages of cultural wealth and learn from other people's traditions. Respecting the diversity and common human values attributes to creativity which enhances business productivity and social cohesion.

In order to reach the required and clearly expressed respect for cultural varieties and acquire cultural diversity as a possibility to express our own versatile personalities and the potentials of a specific community, it is necessary for the Institute to maintain its permanent involvement in inclusion of Slovak culture into general cultural milieu as its equally important part. This can be accomplished through well designed cultural politics and strategies for its development which we consider to be the Institute's priority.

Milina Sklabinská

The Director of the Cultural Institute of Vojvodina's Slovaks