Befem 2014
Welcome to the 6th BeFem festival – a festival of feminist culture, politics and action!
BeFem is an autonomous meeting space between different feminist communities and individuals where we learn from one another how to live and think outside of the norms and predefined boxes.
Our aim is to come up with strategies of resistance against all forms of patriarchy, sexism, nationalism, fascism, homo- and trans-phobia and the re-traditionalisation of society that we see all around us.
BeFem is also an open space for those who until now have not been part of feminist initiatives but want to explore what the F-word can mean.
Ahead of us are two days of feminist culture, politics and action!
More than 80 speakers, musicians and performers!
Over 1000 visitors expected!
Come join us!
No woman is an island!
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Performers, BeFem Festival 2014
Marina Marković
Marina Marković was born 1983 in Belgrade. In 2008 she finished the Fine Arts Faculty in Belgrade, in professor Dragan Jovanovic's class. Since 2006 she has regularly exhibited in Serbia and abroad (America, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, Mexico...). She has initiated, with a group of artists, the establishment of an independent artist association Third Belgrade – and has been actively involved in it since 2010 (www.trecibeograd.com). In 2011 she was the recipient of the Dimitrije Basicevic Mangelos award (YVAA). She has been a member of The Drawing Center NYC since 2012.
Lazara Marinković
Lazara Marinkovic, “warrior” in media and culture. Communicologist. One of the founders of the queer cultural organization IDAHO Belgrade. Since 2008 she participates in the promotion and implementation of different art and cultural projects in the country and abroad; in her professional capacity she worked as a PR person and editor of digital media in PR agencies and in NGOs, with focus on CSR and social innovations. As a columnist and independent author she deals with media culture, feminism and social injustices. Life-long activist for human rights.
Zoja Borovčanin
Zoja Borovčanin has been active on the theater music scene in Belgrade since the early nineties. She is a member of the alternative theater group Pozorište šešira (Hat Theater) and several Belgrade alternative music bands. Since 1998 she has been composing music and performing as part of the Lira Vega band, which is currently a duet.
Nina Đikić
Nina Djikić – a leftist, activist, who holds a philosophy magistrate. She writes, is engaged in scientific-research work, bioethics, trans-humanism, and fights for human rights and for a society without violence and discrimination.
Biljana Ginova
Biljana Ginova is a human rights activist and an active member of the civil society in Macedonia since the late 90’s. In the past decade and half, she has advocated for minority rights and has devoted her work to strengthening different marginalized groups. She is also dedicated to empowerment and institutional development of different activist groups and organizations in the country. Two years ago she became a co-founder and member of the Lesbian and Feminist Support Group - LezFem, aiming to raise awareness about the problems faced by lesbians, as well as to establish lesbian feminism as part of LGBTI and women’s movements in Macedonia.
Sanja Pavlović
Sanja Pavlović is a final year student of journalism and communicology at the faculty of political sciences. she's an activist of wikimedia serbia, and has initiated the femwiki project whose goal is to increase the number of articles about women and to achieve a greater degree of feminist discourse in wikipedia's content, as well as to motivate women to participate in editing its content. also, she participates in the organization of activities of belgrade's hakerspace.
Nina Đurđević Filipović
Nina employs cycling in activist goals – for LGBT rights and women's rights, and confronting the past. She is one of the organizers of the first Belgrade – Srebrenica cycling activist tour, and has participated in both organized thus far. She is one of two women who traveled by bicycle from Belgrade to Split in 2014, in the goal of solidarity and support for Split Pride, and promotion of women's health and cycling. When circumstances allow it, she goes on longer solo tours and local, one day, rides. Aside from attainment of activist goals, she uses her bicycle for basic transportation in Belgrade.
Sanda Brumen
Sanda Brumen is an activist and coordinator at the Lesbian Group – Kontra (Croatia), where she has worked since 2005. Her fields of interest are counseling, publishing, research and socio-cultural activities. She participated in the organization of Zagreb Pride in 2005 and 2006. Also, she is a member of qSport, where she participates in swimming activities, organizes cycling activities and works on issues pertaining to women, and especially lesbians, in sport. She is a member of the triathlon club and trains for long-distance running and swimming.
Paola Petrić
Paola Petrić was born in Belgrade in 1975. She finished the Philology Faculty in Belgrade, German Language and Literature department. She also attained her masters degree at the same Faculty. During her studies she spent a year in Hanover University, SRN, on post graduate professional development. In 2005 she successfully finished the Academy of Diplomacy, within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia and Montenegro. At the Faculty of Law “Union” in Belgrade, she worked as an assistant in the German Language and Literature program. Since 2006 she has worked at the Heinrich Boll Foundation as a project coordinator. Paola also works as a translator.
Papergirl
Papergirl – Art Movement brings art to the public in an extraordinary manner, presents and affirms artists, promotes art and encourages volunteering. The project consists of an open call for artwork submissions, followed by exhibitions, workshops and distribution of artwork received by mail from authors from around the world. The artwork is presented in the form of a rolled newspaper – same as newspapers distributed by paperboys (newspaper distributors in USA) – and is delivered to random people on the streets.
This is a participative project, non-commercial and impulsive. Everyone is welcome to join – by submitting their artwork or assisting in organizing workshops, exhibitions and/or distribution.
Radmila Jeremić is the initiator of the Papergirl Belgrade movement, and she is a member of the SEE ICT crew that works on developing the local start-up community and supporting start-ups. Her work mostly centers on encouraging socially engaged art. She created the “Leave it Here” (Ostavi ovde) application, which makes it possible to quickly and simply look up locations where you can leave stuff you no longer need, but which can still be of use to someone else. Prior to current engagements, she was an active volunteer of the Center for Youth Integration.
Danilo Ćurčić
Danilo Ćurčić is one of the founding members of Bajsologija – a web portal dedicated to promotion of bicycle culture and bicycles as means of achieving sustainable urban mobility. As for recently, Bajsologija has been conducting activities that progress beyond the Internet and raise the possibility of becoming quite visible beyond cell phone and PC screens. He is currently supporting a small community of cargo cyclists who gather secondary/waste materials (waste management) in their attempts to further develop the usage of bicycles in the goal of economic development. When he's not riding his bike and isn't working on bicycle related matters, he mostly devotes his working hours on issues pertaining to socially ostracized individuals – rights of Roma, anti-discrimination and realization of economic and social rights.
Dunja Kukovec
Dunja Kukovec was born in Ljubljana in 1975. She is a curator and advocates for no-work. She finished Art History at the Faculty of Philosophy in Ljubljana, and curated numerous international exhibitions and festivals on new media and contemporary art. She worked as co-curator for Mesto Žensk (City of Women) and worked as producer for the first Igor Zabel award, for the Erste Foundation. As a member of the Red Min(e)d collective, she curated the 54thOctober Salon. She is currently working with a chosen few on a project on new types of social associations – HoHo Lab (Household Lab), which is part of the association for engaged theory and art MINA. She is writing less and less about new media and contemporary art, because she is mostly thinking about how to rewrite the dictionary on the present time. She lives in Ljubljana, with a boat in a field.
Iva Čukić
Iva Čukić was born in 1983 in Belgrade. She is an architect and researcher, who finished the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade – where she is currently finishing her doctorate degree. Her work focuses on public space and art, self-organizing and spacial-cultural discourse, through architecture, photography and design. She has participated in many domestic and international exhibitions and projects. Iva is a member and one of the founders of the Ministry of Space collective. She also co-founded, and currently leads, the Street Galleries program. She doesn't live on the “Belgrade Waterfront”.
Iva Marčetić
Iva Marčetić was born in 1982, in Banja Luka. She finished the Faculty of Architecture in Zagreb, and is a member of the Pula Group. In 2009 with the Pula Group she organized the Post-Capitalist City congress, and edited a book bearing the same name. Iva was awarded a stipend from the Akademie Schloss Solitudea. As a member of the Pula Group she has held exhibitions at the Venice Biennale for Architecture in 2012. Her texts on architecture and urbanism have been published in Zarez, Le monde Diplomatique, Bilten, Vizkultura, and others. She lives in Zagreb, and works in the Right to the City organization.
Dubravka Sekulić
Dubravka Sekulić was born in 1980 in Nis. She is an architect and researcher, who finished the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade. She is currently finishing her post-graduate doctorate degree at ETHZ in Zurich. Since 2003 she has worked on various educational architecture programs in Serbia and abroad. She is actively working with the kuda.org center, located in Novi Sad, and Right to the City, located in Zagreb. She was awarded a stipend by the Schloss Solitudea Academie and has done research for the Jan van Eyck Academy. She has written and edited several books. She lives in motion.
Marko Miletić
Marko Miletić is a final year student of Art History at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade. He works in culture and is a member of the Kontekst collective. He writes critiques for culture and media, and his current focus is on production relations. Also, he is part of the Masina web portal team www.masina.rs
Marija Ratković
Marija Ratković was born in 1982 in Sabac. She is a theoretician and works in culture. She finished the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade, and attained a doctorate degree at the Theory of Art and Media department of the Art Faculty in Belgrade. She has been working in art and culture, and since 2006 she has had exhibitions and cooperated with artists and art collectives in Serbia and internationally. She is a co-founder of the Initiative for Contemporary Art and Theory, and the new media platform awol (always online). She is a patriot and works on culture of remembrance issues. She loves her bicycle more than the “Belgrade Waterfront”.
Tiiiit! Inc.
Tiiiit! Inc. is a little flame of excitement shared by three girls from Skopje who want to enjoy the city they live in. Prvo pa Žensko (First Child Is a Girl) is their most precious brainchild and an unique (and one of a kind in Macedonia) festival with the goal of rethinking the meaning of 8th of March, the International Women’s Day, by placing it in a current context. By opening new space for creative expression, opportunities for networking and exchange of knowledge, the Festival creates a new space to question, rethink and advocate for the improvement of the position of women in our contemporary societies. They are driving through on their new project Intimate Maps of Female Cities a radio show, broadcasted live from a moving car, set to happen in all Ex-Yugoslavian capitals. They’ve already mapped Skopje and Zagreb... Belgrade seems to be a great next stop.
Karin Ernberger
Karin Ehrnberger is a doctoral student in Design at Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm. She has a Master's degree in Industrial Design at the University Collage of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. Karin's research at KTH focuses on design from a norm critical perspective, where she develops various design concepts to make this visible. Karin is frequently engaged as a lecturer both in the private and public sectors and has taught design students at Sweden’s leading art and design schools.
Kamil Anderson
Camilla Andersson is an architect investigating relations between architectural form and social norms. She works at AIX Arkitekter, and is currently involved in a interdisciplinary research project, investigating how behavioral patterns related to energy consumption can be altered by architecture and design.
Anja Kocman
Anja Kocman holds a degree in culturology, and is a choir singer (amateur, but tireless). Since 2009 she has participated in the organizational crew for the International Feminist and Queer Festival – Rdece zore (Red Dawns). In March 2014, with a group of activists, she co-founded the Feminist Singing Choir Z'borke.
Danijela Zajc
Danijela Zajc finished pedagogy and sociology of culture. For six years now she has been a part of Red Dawns' (Rdeče zore) program team – an international feminist and queer festival. She co-founded and is a singer in the feminist choir “Z'borke”. She's interested in art, sports, vegan food, feminist activism and connecting various activist groups that work on said issues.
Danaja Grešak
Danaja Grešak has been actively involved with gender issues since her student years. In 2009 she joined the Red Dawns team. She is a co-organizer of the international feminist and queer festival Red Dawns that takes place in Ljubljana, Slovenia each March and a co-organizer of Red Dawns' Red Cycle events, which strive to bring more non-hetero-men on stage. She' s a great supporter of riot grrrls' slogan »Girls to the front!«. For a couple of years she also DJed as DJane Fumarola, mainly playing indie, post-punkish tracks by female musicians.
Ustaničke socijalne radnice
Revolt women social workers (Ustaničke socijalne radnice) is a feminist group that was formed during mass mobilizations in Slovenia in the winter of 2012. Our goal was to give visibility to the issues that always, even within the context of uprisings, political shifts and big social movements, remain marginalized. We wanted to focus on introducing a feminist and anti-capitalist analysis, but also using our knowledge and experience as social workers to give voice to people's stories (poverty, living in madhouses, detention centers etc.). We are a non-hierarchical group challenging patriarchy, all forms of authority, hierarchy and capitalism. Doing so we make interventions and direct actions in public space (graffiti actions on ministries and the Faculty of Social Work), participate in ongoing anti-capitalist struggles (protests against austerity measures) but also work on self-education and self-emancipation. Last year we published a feminist calendar and participated in the organization of the march against sexism.
Hana Hejnz Hard
Hanna Hannes Hård works at RFSL Ungdom, the Swedish Youth Federation for lgbtq rights, as a project manager and one of two editors in chief of the website Transformering.se.
Karl Akerlund
Carl Åkerlund works at RFSL Ungdom, the Swedish Youth Federation for lgbtq rights, as a project manager and one of two editors in chief of the website Transformering.se.
Transformering.se was launched in 2009 as a source of information concerning issues that trans youth in Sweden want to know about. It is currently the primary Swedish website on trans issues and its main aim is to empower trans youth in their close relations and offer support and information on rights, healthcare, sex and relationships.
Helena Janečić
Helena Janečić is a painter and comic strip artist. Her artistic production ranges from large format paintings, across comic strips, to musical performances. The topics represented in her art focus on everyday queer life, queer cultural heritage and the unexplored, and often neglected, queer history in local communities.
Maja Marković
Maja Marković is occupied by observing contemporary culture, and frequently goes to museums, galleries, artist studios, and alternative spaces. In her free time she works as a journalist, and holds a full time job at Helena's Imaginarium.
Noah Pintarić
Noah Pintarić is a director, video editor and cameraman. He has directed music videos for Let 3, Lollobrigida, Detour, Afion and others, as well as documentary movies such as “God Save Le Zbor” (Boze cuvaj Le zbor) (2009), and Transgenderosity pt. 1 (2009). He has directed and edited numerous educational and special purpose movies.
Sara Parkman & Samanta Olanders
Sara Parkman, folk musician and journalist, based in Stockholm but with roots from Ångermanland. Plays in the bands Piano Maskinen, Den Nya Alliansen and also plays as a solo artist .
Samantha Ohlanders is a freelance musician based in Hälsingland. Known from the power trio Beata Bermuda and Den Nya Alliansen.
Seven Mouldy Figs (7MF)
Seven Moldy Figs (7MF) is an alter-rock band from Zagreb. It was established in 2012, and has been active since March of 2013. After some alterations the band became a trio in the summer of 2014, and continued in a somewhat experimental direction with Laura N. (drums and back vocals), Laura M. (bass guitar) and Lucija (guitar and vocals). 7MF have two EPs, and have held many concerts in Croatia, Slovenia, Austria and B&H, and only perform original songs in English.
Members: Laura N. (Nemunemutan) – drums/back-vocals, Laura M. - bass guitar, Lucija – vocals/guitar.
maRie cheRie je Lana Prerad
MaRIe cheRie is Lana Prerad, born in Zagreb and currently living between Banja Luka and Vienna. Her sets are always packed with political messages and female scream slogans. She doesn't like to limit herself by genres, but she's mostly into electroclash, even though there are some techno, indie and even deep house influences, minimal and sub genres. Since 2008 she has been synonymous with disco haos.
She actively promotes and affirms young queer and feminist artists.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/maRie-cheRie/1404108123163402https://soundcloud.com/marie-cheriehttp://www.mixcloud.com/maravisnjica/
Frans i Hele
France (pictured) and Helle are two artists from Norway who work with gender and identity. They use art production as a means of challenging and destabilising heteronormativity, in order to give value and visibility to non-normative gender embodiments. Together they provide seminars and workshops with both artists and non-artists, wherein participants can learn about the theory behind heteronormativity as well as begin to challenge their own understandings.
Ana Jovanović
Ana Jovanović (1980) is a feminist whose interest center around feminist activism in relation to and with the help of the Internet. She is a historian and holds a masters degree in gender studies, and is also the author of the “Izvan kuhinje” (Out of the Kitchen) blog. Ana is a member of the feminist collective “Žene sa interneta” (Women from the Internet). She works as a high school history teacher.
Dragan Nikolić
Dragan Nikolić finished basic studies at the Philosophy Faculty in Nis, Sociology department. He qualified for the professional rank of social worker at the same faculty. He holds a masters studies degree of sociology and social anthropology from the Central European University in Budapest (Hungary) as well as a degree from the masters program of South-Eastern Europe Studies at the National University in Athens (Greece). His works have been published in “Teme” magazine and in the “Beton” a bi-weekly culture section published in the daily newspaperDanas.
Ana Andrejić
Ana Andrejić is pursuing a doctorate in sociology at the Philosophy Faculty in Nis. She holds a masters degree in Gender Studies from the Central European University in Budapest. Ana is researching identity construction in online communication, especially in pro-anorexia online communities, and communication on issues of health and gender, as well as theoretical problems posed by new communication technologies and biotechnology.
Milica Batričević
Milica Batričević is still studying sociology in Belgrade. She finished Women's Studies and Queer Studies. She makes documentaries, fights against all types of hierarchical systems and, when she has the time, tends to a balcony in Zvezdara, from where the most beautiful sights of Belgrade can be seen.
Mina Damnjanović
Mina Damnjanović (1985) is a Faculty of Philosophy graduate, Andragogy department. She has been a Labris activist since September 2013. She is currently a student of the Masters program at Gender Studies, where she is researching the influence various factors play on identity construction. In that context, as an activist and as a feminist, she sees her field of interest as focusing specifically on questioning everything we take for granted, as being self-evident and without reproach.
Nemanja Marinović
Nemanja Marinović finished Women's Studies and Queer Studies and is currently finishing Sociology Studies. He intensely enjoys mass culture, feminist and queer theory. He is currently working at the Social Margin Center and devotes every moment of his free time to the wonderful kids at the Drop In Center for Street Children – kids who may live and work on the streets.
Aleksandra Vladisavljević
Aleksandra Vladisavljević is an entrepreneur working on business and entrepreneurial development, through training and business counseling in various fields of business development. The topics she focuses on are: business growth, management improvement, innovation, and strategic and business planning. Aleksandra has also been an activist for a long time, and has worked on gender equality issues, with special focus on entrepreneurship and employment of women and youth. Since 1998 she has been active in women's NGOs, and has initiated and participated in several feminist initiatives which contributed, and still contribute, to women's economic and political leadership on the Balkans.
Minda Jalling
Minda Jalling is an illustrator and designer from Stockholm. Her work revolves around political activism, class and gender and she is investigating how to incorporate these topics into art and communication. She has opened youth gallery Lokal78 (Stockholm), arranged several workshops and published fanzines about young female artists. Right now she is working as an illustrator for political organizations Unga Feminister and Fatta!.
Johanna Palmström
Johanna Palmström is a journalist who mostly has been working with feminism and activism. Since 2011 she is editor-in-chief for the Swedish feminist magazine Bang. She has also worked for the Kvinna till Kvinna foundation in Sweden.
Tajana Broz
Tajana Broz graduated Political Studies at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Zagreb. She has worked in CESI – Center for Education, Counseling and Research since 2006, and is currently a coordinator and manager for the Social Activism and Political Processes program. Since 2009 she has been Libela.org's editor. Her primary field of interest and work is in enabling women for socio-political work, analysis of political participation of women and youth, analysis and advocating and educating for implementation of policies that take into consideration the gender perspective and impact local communities. She is also dedicated to the development of civil society. Tajana has worked as editor on several brochures, analyses and articles.
Nenad Porobić
Nenad Porobić works as a program coordinator for SIT Study Abroad: Serbia, B&H and Kosovo – Peace and Conflict Studies on the Balkans. He is a member of the art-theory collective Work Group of the Four Faces of Omarska (Radna grupa Cetiri lica Omarske) which researches the strategy of memorial production through the medium of social sculpture. He finished his basic master studies in electrical engineering at the Arkansas University (USA). He was born in 1977 in Mostar, and he lived in Zadar and Sarajevo (SFRY). He lives and works in Belgrade.
Josip Šipić
Josip Šipić – was born in Split in 1979. He attained his magisterial degree in Gender Studies at the Central European University in Budapest. He has started working on his doctorate degree in Comparative Politics at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Zagreb, where he is also working as an assistant at the Center for Research of Ethnicity, Citizenship and Migrations. He has directed his scientific and research interests toward a gender analysis of media, gender aspects of nationalism and citizenship, and political engagement of women on the political right. He has published several scientific and professional texts in Serbian and international publications.
Celia Eslamieh Shomal
Celia Eslamieh Shomal
I am Celia Eslamieh Shomal. I was born in Iran/Tehran in 1981. I grew up in a revolutionary society. A society that was searching to find a miraculous remedy for all of its historical pains. My childhood was affected by war between Iran and Iraq and its consequences. In this situation, art has always helped me to understand other people and share my ideals with them. In 2009 I started to study fine art / video art in Netherlands and now I am on Master studies of fine art at the Dutch Art Institute.
Studio Naiv
Studio Naiv is a group, a workshop, a name. We consist of: Sofia Wigand, an artist, performance artist and cultural producer educated in political performing arts.
Mikaela Knapp, actress and performance artist and founder of the feminist, norm-critical performance group Per.får.mens educated in political performing arts among others.
Anna Nordenström, music artist who creates electronic-pop under the name Call me
(Photo:)From the left Anna Nordenström, Sofia Wigand, Mikaela Knapp
Lepa Mlađenović
Lepa Mladjenović is a feminist lesbian, feminist counselor, antifa activist.
ACT Women
ACT Women is a feminist art-activist group. They base their work on the key feminist idea that what is personal is political, and combine artistic and activist means (as being essentially similar) and their activist and theater experience to create a public space for activist action through art form. They value this as being an important way of reaching people / the public – a way which bridges the gap and overcomes obstacles that sometimes may lay between women's groups and the public. w
META ERŽENIČNIK
Meta Erženičnik Singer, entertainer, imitator and activist, who does it all in good faith. Through musical landscapes she explores and integrates theatrical arts, the cabaret, the audience's interaction and art of transformation. She founded the musical group Cabaret Band and is a permanent member of the theater group Red Cabaret (Rdeči kabaret)
Rome is Not a Town
ROME IS NOT A TOWN is a band formed in the late 2012 by artists coming from other bands.
They have turned the remainings of the well known Gothenburg's music scene into something fresher, sharper and scarily vibrant. Although the rock is usually considered as a male field, they act so if they change this attitude. They believe that every person has it’s right to be whatever he or she is, but that goal is still to reach. “All bands should be feminist - minded, everything else doesn’t make much sense for us”, said these band members. They think it's vital to preserve the genuine underground scene and they would rather be a part of that scene than the growing market related pop-culture.
Band members are Kajsa Poidnak (guitar and vocals), Susanna Brandin (guitar and vocals), Emma Wättring (bass and vocals), Caroline Kabat (drums). All band members are coming from other bands, where they are primarily active and this band represents something new and fresh to them.
Europa Europa
Europa Europa is an antinational cabaret about migration politics by the art group Ful in collaboration with The Knife. With cakes, exclusively produced cabaret music by The Knife, voguing, love and admiration, the cabaret Europa Europa praises all those hundreds of thousands of people who defy the cameras, the deadly waters, the barbed wire, the violence and the compact political resistance, and make it across the external and internal borders of Europe every year. Borders that are growing more monitored with every day that passes.
photo: Saga Berlin