Pursuant to Article 76 of the Law on Culture (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 72/2009, 13/2016, 30/2016 (corrigendum), 6/2020, 47/2021, 78/2021 and 76/2023), Article 5 of the Decree on the Criteria, Standards and Method of Selecting Cultural Projects Financed and Co-financed from the Budget of the Republic of Serbia, the Autonomous Province or Local Self-Government Units (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 105/2016 and 112/2017) and Article 44 of the Statute of the City of Smederevo (“Official Gazette of the City of Smederevo”, No. 2/2019, consolidated text), and in line with the Decision on the Budget of the City of Smederevo for 2024 (“Official Gazette of the City of Smederevo”, No. 3/2024),
the City Council of the City of Smederevo, at its 8th session held on 1 April 2024, adopted the following
Public call for applications
for the selection of cultural projects financed and co-financed from the budget of the City of Smederevo in 2024
The Public Call covers projects in the following fields
- literature (creative writing, translation);
- music (creation, production, performance);
- fine, applied and visual arts, design and architecture;
- theatre arts (creation, production and performance);
- artistic dance: classical ballet, folk dance, contemporary dance (creation, production and performance);
- film art and other audiovisual creation;
- other performances of cultural programmes and cultural content (musicals, circus, pantomime, street art, etc.).
The subject of the Public Call is the financing or co-financing of cultural projects in the specified cultural fields, as well as the financing and co-financing of traditional folk and amateur creative work in 2024.
The aim of the Public Call is to create a stimulating environment for improving the specified cultural fields and to ensure the conditions for the accessibility of cultural content and for audience development (also taking into account members of socially vulnerable groups) in the territory of the City of Smederevo.
Priorities for financing or co-financing projects by field:
1. Literature: events and awards
- Projects that contribute to presenting the literary works and creative output
of domestic authors;
- Projects that contribute to establishing cultural cooperation in the field of literary
creation;
- Projects whose participants are persons with proven competence in literary
art;
- Projects with a tradition and an established reputation among professionals.
2. Publishing: periodicals in the field of art and culture
- Projects with high-quality implementation in terms of the content and technical
quality of the publication;
- Projects with an established reputation among professionals;
- Projects with a set publishing schedule in line with the number of issues
during the year;
- Projects with an innovative approach to implementation.
3. Publishing: major works in the field of culture published in Serbian
and valuable works of domestic and translated literature
- Publishing projects that make a significant contribution to improving and developing culture in the City
of Smederevo and present artistic values;
- Implementation of projects presenting national culture and art.
4. Music (creation, production, performance)
- Music festivals and events within performing arts programmes,
aimed at popularising art music and educating new young audiences, as well as
festivals and events of traditional folk and amateur creative work;
- Concerts and guest concerts by ensembles and soloists, as well as independent productions
by local organisers, within performing arts programmes;
- Master classes, workshops and competitions in the field of music, which provide
a performance and educational platform for young musicians, that is, one of
the ways of further establishing them;
- Individual projects, such as marking significant anniversaries and award ceremonies in
the field of music, as well as encouraging high-quality programmes and initiatives in the City
of Smederevo.
5. Fine, applied and visual arts, design and architecture
- Annual programmes of galleries and exhibition spaces;
- Projects involving the creation of new artistic production (through support
for independent projects of artists, curators and other cultural professionals, as
well as through support for the annual programmes of galleries and exhibition spaces, art
colonies and residency programmes, etc.);
- Projects of domestic organisations and cultural professionals, especially
those implemented in the region and abroad.
6. Theatre arts (creation, production and performance)
- Theatre festivals with a clear artistic concept that contribute to strengthening
the capacity of cultural institutions founded by the local government, as well as those that
contribute to the even accessibility of cultural content in the City of Smederevo;
- Projects of institutions, organisations and individuals that contribute to enhancing
the diversity of cultural expressions, the even accessibility of cultural
content in the City of Smederevo and the strengthening of the capacity of cultural institutions and organisations in
the field of theatre in the City of Smederevo;
- Regional co-productions and guest performances/international cooperation of institutions, organisations
and individuals that contribute to promoting the cultural values of Serbia, that is, of the City
of Smederevo, and the mobility of artists and cultural workers in the field of theatre.
7. Artistic dance: classical ballet, folk dance, contemporary dance (creation,
production and performance)
- Artistic dance festivals with a clear artistic concept, as well as those that
contribute to the even accessibility of cultural content in the City of Smederevo;
- Projects of institutions, organisations and individuals that contribute to enhancing
the diversity of cultural expressions, the even accessibility of cultural content in
the City of Smederevo and the strengthening of the capacity of cultural institutions and organisations in the field
of artistic dance in the City of Smederevo;
- Regional co-productions and guest performances/international cooperation of institutions, organisations
and individuals that contribute to promoting the cultural values of the City of Smederevo and
the mobility of artists and cultural workers in the field of artistic dance.
8. Film art and other audiovisual creation (film festivals,
events, workshops and colonies)
- Film events and awards, festivals and public film screenings with a clear
artistic concept that contribute to the development of culture;
- Education programmes for film professionals (workshops, colonies, training);
- Cultural–educational programmes that make cinematic and audio
visual culture accessible and contribute to the development of the art of film.
9. Traditional folk and amateur creative work
- Projects that contribute to preserving and presenting traditional folk creative work;
- Educational programmes in the field of amateur arts.
The selection of projects under the Public Call is decided by the competent body of the local government unit, namely the City Council of the City of Smederevo, on the reasoned proposal of an expert commission set up by the City Council of the City of Smederevo separately for each field of cultural activity covered by the Public Call.
The standards for selecting projects financed or co-financed from the budget of the City of Smederevo by cultural field are set out in Article 4 of the Decree on the Criteria, Standards and Method of Selecting Cultural Projects Financed and Co-financed from the Budget of the Republic of Serbia, the Autonomous Province or Local Self-Government Units (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 105/2016 and 112/2017).
Projects financed or co-financed from the budget of the City of Smederevo will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:
1) alignment of the project with the general interest in culture and with the objectives and priorities
of the Public Call;
- quality and innovativeness of the project content;
- capacities needed to implement the project, namely
(1) professional or artistic capacities,
(2) necessary resources;
4) financial plan: level of detail, alignment with the project activity plan, cost-effectiveness
and inclusion of several sources of funding;
5) degree of impact on the quality of the community’s cultural life.
Eligible to take part in this Public Call are: institutions, artistic and other associations registered to carry out cultural activities, and other cultural actors, except cultural institutions founded by the Republic of Serbia, the autonomous province or a local government unit that are financed under Article 74 of the Law on Culture.
For cultural projects financed and co-financed from the budget of the City of Smederevo in 2024, the City of Smederevo provides funds from its budget in the total amount of RSD 13,000,000.
The forms for taking part in the Public Call can be downloaded from the website of the City of Smederevo https://smederevo.ls.gov.rs/:
- Form for all fields of the call
- Form 1 and Form 2 (Field No. 3) and
- Form for the report on project implementation.
A complete application consists of:
1. A duly completed and certified application form;
2. Details of the institution (association) submitting the application;
3. For individuals, a professional biography;
4. A copy of the applicant’s registration with the competent authority, with a description
of the activity for which the individual is registered;
5. A detailed description of the project; for events and festivals in particular, a detailed
programme and list of participants must be submitted;
6. Proof of partnership and cooperation (contract, agreement, etc.);
7. A list of project participants and at least one professional biography;
8. A detailed budget;
9. A letter of invitation for projects in the field of international cooperation;
10. Additional visual and audio documentation of previous projects (if any), as
well as of the project being submitted;
11. Technical details of the publication (medium, format, paper, print run).
Only applications submitted exclusively through the filing office of the City Administration of the City of Smederevo or by post (address: City of Smederevo, Omladinska 1, 11300 Smederevo, marked “Public call for applications for the selection of cultural projects financed and co-financed from the budget of the City of Smederevo in 2024”), separately for each project, will be considered. On the envelope, in addition to the marking “PUBLIC CALL for applications for the selection of cultural projects financed and co-financed from the budget of the City of Smederevo in 2024”, also state the field applied for, in line with the first page of the application form.
The Public Call for all the listed fields is open for 30 days from the date of publication in
a print medium published in the territory of the City of Smederevo, namely the local weekly Naš Glas, and on the website of the City of Smederevo https://smederevo.ls.gov.rs/.
Application materials will not be returned. Applications received after the prescribed deadline will be rejected.
The results of this Public Call will be published on the website of the City of Smederevo https://smederevo.ls.gov.rs/, no later than 60 days from the close of applications, and in this way the City of Smederevo will inform all applicants and the wider public of the results of the call.
All rights and obligations not set out in this Public Call are governed by the provisions of the aforementioned Law on Culture and the Decree on the Criteria, Standards and Method of Selecting Cultural Projects Financed and Co-financed from the Budget of the Republic of Serbia, the Autonomous Province or Local Self-Government Units.
City Council of the City of Smederevo
No. 051-42/2024-09
Smederevo, 1 April 2024 PRESIDENT
OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Jasmina Vojinović
Forms to download: