artistic responses of youth to the legacy of the nineties
From 5-7 June, the final event of the project” My Land, My Voice: Art, Culture, and Youth Work in Promoting Peace in the Western Balkans” will be held at the Kolektiv Gallery space. The project is organized by Reflektor Teatar and Center E8, in partnership with the Center for Public History and Propaganda Film.
During the three days, the audience will have the opportunity to see an interdisciplinary exhibition, performances, video and audio formats, and other artistic responses designed and independently realized by a group of young people gathered around Reflektor Teatar. All youthworks, created through several months of collective work, represent an attempt by a new generation to understand a society shaped by the legacy of the nineties, as well as the consequences that period still leaves today on our lives, communities, and projections of the future.
The program is the result of a multi-year process started in 2023 through the project “My Land: Youth Theatre as a Means of Dealing with the Past” and work on the documentary play by Reflektor Teatar, “My Land: What Young People Think About Patriotism.”
This play, created from conversations with young people who have no personal memories of the nineties but grew up within their political, social, and emotional legacy. Through the play, work on a documentary film, debates, workshops, festivals, expert lectures, and regional exchanges, young participants over the past years explored themes of patriotism, nationalism, war, peace, collective memory, and transgenerational trauma.
Within the project; “My Land, My Voice” the process was further developed through peer education and artistic work, as well as through two editions of the Reflektor Teatar festival “Peace Agreement” which gathered theatre artists, activists, and organizations from the region around the issues of constructive dealing with the past and peacebuilding in the Western Balkans.
What makes this final event at the Kolektiv Gallery special is the shift in perspective: young people who were guided through an educational and artistic process in previous years now become authors, coordinators, and carriers of new public narratives about the past. Their works are not just an illustration of the learned material, but a personal and generational response to the question: what does it mean to grow up in a society shaped by wars — and how do they, from that position today, think about the past, future, and collective responsibility for the future?
Programme
June 5th
19:30 Grand opening of the event
20:00 Interdisciplinary exhibition “Growing Up in the Nineties”
20:30 Immersive performance “Suppressed (Re)collections”
June 6th
19:00 Screening of the documentary film “How My Land Was Made”, directed by Vladimir Milovanović
20:00 Conversation with the project participants: “My Land, My Experience”
21:00 Embargo tombola: interactive entertainment and educational program
June 7th
19:00 Poetry performance: “In the Mirror”
20:00 Closing of the exhibition
About the projects “My Land” and “My Land, My Voice”
“My Land: Youth Theatre as a Means of Dealing with the Past in the Western Balkans” is a multi-year artistic and educational project, launched in 2023, in partnership between Center E8 and the Center for Applied History. It has been carried out through work with young people who have no personal memory of the wars of the nineties, but grew up within their political, social, and emotional legacy. Through documentary theatre, the educational module “The Nineties: A Past That Lasts Forever,” workshops, lectures, public guided tours, and debates, the project has raised questions of patriotism, nationalism, collective memory, transgenerational trauma, and the possibilities of peacebuilding in contemporary society. The play “My Land: What Young People Think About Patriotism,” created within this project, is performed throughout the region and Serbia, serving as a space for dialogue between youth, audiences, and communities that still live with the consequences of the ninety’s wars today. The Mostar Youth Theatre honored the play with the “Amra Prutina” award for artistic courage.
“My Land, My Voice: Art, Culture, and Youth Work in Promoting Peace in the Western Balkans” is a continuation of the process started with the project “My Land.” Gathering more than sixty young people, the project develops a space where they explore the legacy of the nineties and its impact on today’s society through art, peer education, and contemporary cultural formats. The project includes art labs, workshops, lectures, discussions, and festival programs, with the goal of helping young people transition from participants in an educational process to authors of independent artistic formats, inspired by researching the past and imagining the future. Within this project, from November 24th to 30th, 2025, a regional festival of socially engaged theatre was also realized, for whose initiation Reflektor Teatar received the annual award from the Croatian Center for Drama Education, while the festival’s artistic director was honored with the regional award “Grozdanin Kikot” by the Center for Drama Education of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is awarded for contributions to the development of drama pedagogy practices.
REFLEKTOR TEATAR is a youth, socially engaged theatre operating within Center E8. Through documentary and participatory theatre, Reflektor gathers young people interested in contemporary social themes and collective processes of artistic production. Reflektor Teatar’s
plays are created through the exploration of real experiences and social phenomena, and their work is recognized for connecting art, youth work, and social dialogue.
CENTER E8 is an expert civil society organization dedicated to youth work through art, education, and media production. The organization develops and implements programs focused on human rights, gender equality, youth participation, and social responsibility. Through theatre, educational, cultural, and media programs, Center E8 has been working with youth for more
than two decades on developing critical thinking, solidarity, democracy, and active participation in society.
umetnički odgovori mladih na nasleđe devedesetih
Od 5. do 7. juna, u prostoru Galerije Kolektiv, biće održan završni događaj u projektu „Moja zemlja, moj glas: Umetnost, kultura i omladinski rad u promociji mira na Zapadnom Balkanu“ Reflektor teatra i Centra E8, u partnerstvu sa Centrom za primenjenu istoriju i Propaganda filmom.
Tokom tri dana publika će imati priliku da vidi intermedijalnu izložbu, performanse, video i audio radove, participativne formate i druge umetničke odgovore koje je osmislila i samostalno realizovala grupa mladih, okupljenih u okviru Reflektor teatra. Svi omladinski radovi, nastali su kroz višemesečni kolektivni rad i predstavljaju pokušaj nove generacije da razume društvo
oblikovano nasleđem devedesetih godina, kao i posledice koje to vreme i danas ostavlja na naše živote, zajednice i projekcije budućnosti.
Program je rezultat višegodišnjeg procesa započetog 2023. godine, kroz projekat „Moja zemlja: Omladinsko pozorište kao sredstvo suočavanja sa prošlošću“ i rad na dokumentarnoj predstavi Reflektor teatra „Moja zemlja: Šta mladi misle o patriotizmu”.
Ova predstava, nastala je iz razgovora sa mladima koji nemaju lična sećanja na devedesete godine, ali odrastaju unutar njihovog političkog, društvenog i emocionalnog nasleđa. Kroz predstavu, rad na dokumentarnom filmu, debate, radionice, festivale, ekspertska predavanja i regionalne razmene, mladi učesnici i učesnice tokom prethodnih godina istraživali su teme patriotizma, nacionalizma, rata, mira, kolektivnog sećanja i transgeneracijske traume.
U okviru projekta „Moja zemlja, moj glas“, proces je dodatno razvijan kroz vršnjačku edukaciju i umetnički rad, ali i kroz 2. Reflektor teatar festival „Mirovni sporazum“, koji je okupio pozorište umetnike_ce, aktiviste i organizacije iz regiona, oko pitanja konstruktivnog suočavanja sa prošlošću i izgradnje mira na Zapadnom Balkanu.
Ono što završni događaj u Galeriji Kolektiv čini posebnim, jeste promena perspektive: mladi koji su prethodnih godina bili vođeni kroz edukativni i umetnički proces, sada postaju autori, autorke, koordinatori i nosioci novih javnih narativa o prošlosti. Njihovi radovi nisu samo ilustracija naučenog gradiva, već lični i generacijski odgovor na pitanje: šta znači odrastati u društvu koje je oblikovano ratovima — i kako danas, iz te pozicije, razmišljaju o prošlosti, budućnosti i kolektivnoj odgovornosti za budućnost?
PROGRAM
5. jun
19.30 Svečano otvaranje događaja
20.00 Intermedijalna izložba „Odrastanje devedesetih”
20.30 Imerzivni performans „Potisnuta (o)sećanja”
6. jun
19.00 Projekcija dokumentarnog filma „Kako je nastala Moja zemlja”, u režiji Vladimira Milovanovića
20.00 Razgovor sa učesnicima i učesnicama u projektu: „Moja zemlja, moje iskustvo”
21.00 Embargo tombola: interaktivni zabavno-edukativni program
7. jun
19.00 Poetski performans: „U ogledalu”
20.00 Zatvaranje izložbe
Ulaz na sve programe je slobodan.
Projekat „Moja zemlja, moj glas“ finansira Evropska unija.
O projektima „Moja zemlja“ i “Moja zemlja, moj glas”
„Moja zemlja: Omladinsko pozorište kao sredstvo suočavanja na Zapadnom Balkanu“ je višegodišnji umetničko-edukativni projekat, pokrenut 2023. godine, u partnerstvu Centra E8 i Centra za primenjenu istoriju. Odvijao se kroz rad sa mladima koji nemaju lično sećanje na ratove devedesetih, ali odrastaju unutar njihovog političkog, društvenog i emocionalnog nasleđa. Kroz dokumentarno pozorište, edukativni modul „Devedesete: prošlost koja traje zauvek”, radionice, predavanja, javna vođenja i debate, projekat je otvorio pitanja patriotizma, nacionalizma, kolektivnog sećanja, transgeneracijske traume i mogućnosti izgradnje mira u savremenom društvu. Predstava „Moja zemlja: Šta mladi misle o patriotizmu“, nastala u ovom projektu igrana je širom regiona i Srbije, kao prostor dijaloga između mladih, publike i zajednica koje i danas žive posledice ratova devedesetih. Mostarski teatar mladih predstavu je nagradio
priznanjem „Amra Prutina” za umetničku hrabrost.
„Moja zemlja, moj glas: Umetnost, kultura i omladinski rad u promociji mira na Zapadnom Balkanu“ nastavak je procesa započetog projektom „Moja zemlja“. Okupljajući više od šezdesetoro mladih ljudi, projekat razvija prostor u kome mladi kroz umetnost, vršnjačku
edukaciju i savremene kulturne formate istražuju nasleđe devedesetih i njegov uticaj na društvo danas. Projekat uključuje umetničke laboratorije, radionice, predavanja, razgovore i festivalske programe, sa ciljem da mladi od učesnika edukativnog procesa postanu autori i autorke samostalnih umetničkih formata, inspirisanih istraživanjem prošlosti i zamišljanjem budućnosti. U okviru ovog projekta, od 24-30. novembra 2025. realizovan je i regionalni festival društveno angažovanog pozorišta, za čije pokretanje je Reflektor teatar dobio godišnje priznanje Hrvatskog centra za dramski odgoj, a umetnička direktorka festivala nagrađena je regionalnim priznanjem „Grozdanin Kikot” Centra za dramski odgoj BIH, koji se dodeljuje za doprinos razvoju praksi pozorišne pedagogije.
REFLEKTOR TEATAR je omladinsko, društveno angažovano pozorište koje deluje u okviru Centra E8. Kroz dokumentarno i participativno pozorište, Reflektor okuplja mlade ljude zainteresovane za savremene društvene teme i kolektivne procese umetničke produkcije. Predstave Reflektor teatra nastaju kroz istraživanje stvarnih iskustava i društvenih fenomena, a njihov rad prepoznat je po povezivanju umetnosti, omladinskog rada i društvenog dijaloga.
CENTAR E8 je ekspertska organizacija civilnog društva, posvećena omladinskom radu, kroz umetnost, edukaciju i medijsku produkciju. Organizacija razvija i sprovodi programe posvećene ljudskim pravima, rodnoj ravnopravnosti, participaciji mladih i društvenoj odgovornosti. Kroz pozorišne, edukativne, kulturne i medijske programe, Centar E8 već više od dve decenije radi sa mladima na razvoju kritičkog mišljenja, solidarnosti, demokratije i aktivnog učešća u društvu.