Lokomotiva- Centre for New Initiatives in Arts and Culture
Dimitrije Chupovski 20/8
1000 Skopje
North Macedonia
- Arts
Lokomotiva is a small organization, project-based run due to a lack of available resources for structural funds. There are twelve members of the assembly, four people in the management structure and two ongoing collaborators. All are working on honorarium basses. Sources of funds are mixed, mostly from European funds, international donors, and some from the Ministry of Culture. Lokomotiva developed and implemented diverse culture and art projects, in different media and formats, such as performances, education, capacity building, training programmes, debates, discussions, exhibitions, researchers, advocacy activities and others. Lokomotiva understands culture as an extended field, co-related with society, and art as an experimental communication and post-discipline field that extends the forms of expression, production and dissemination.
Lokomotiva is a co-founder of spaces and associations locally and regionally and was a co-organiser in different EU projects, some late: ArtClimateTransition (2019-2023), (Non)Aligned Movements and ReImagine- green transition in performing arts.
Mission
Lokomotiva is a civil society organization that develops and creates working conditions for the development, research, production, and presentation of the art practices and other work processes of professionals in the field of contemporary arts and culture.
Lokomotiva achieves this by generating new models of collaboration, advocacy in the creation of developmental cultural policies on local, regional, and international levels, discursive, residency, educational and production modes, as well as the development of needed capacities in the community.
2020-2024 Strategic Goals
• Strengthening the educational and research capacities and possibilities in art, culture and socio-politically relevant issues (ecology, gender politics, feminism, commons etc.);
• Creating new collaborative and support systems in the field of art and culture (residencies, mentoring and curatorial programs, research programs etc.) based on feminist intersectional approaches, togetherness and the creation of a safe environment;
• Improving working conditions in the field of contemporary art and the non-institutional scene (new space, institution, residency space(s), workers’ rights and universal basic income);
• Creating systems and mechanisms for international cooperation in the field of culture
Lokomotiva has an interdisciplinary approach to its programs and includes activities that support professional development and lifelong learning through education, creation and production, art exchange, diffusion, research, lectures, presentations, public debates and networking, and it is also present accentuated with a special purpose within a specific program activity.
What connects all programs is the re-reading of production models, educational, institutional and social practices and discourses, association models and partnership cooperation and advocacy for social change. All programs aim to offer new approaches and models of cooperation, production and education that contribute to social cultural and development and changes.
Programs in 2024
1. Contemporary culture and policies – a program designed to reform policies and politics in the field of art and culture (EU project ReImagine- Green transition in performing arts (EU project/ regional series of workshops, development of curriculum, toolkit and 12 diverse projects in N.Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary and Bulgaria) and Gender equality in culture and the arts (discussions after performances)
2. PERFORMANCE PLATFORM festival- performances/workshops (Diverse performances in collaboration with other festivals).
3. Collaboratory – research and production of artistic, curatorial and theoretical practices -residencies, workshops, discursive and educational programs, new approaches in building knowledge (Artistic residencies, KULTRAINING – education and cooperation for the communities (for non-professionals and professionals); Curatorial practice in Context – International School; digital archive of contemporary dance and choreography and exhibition on regional performance and dance practices)
4. Open spaces – program intended for building partnerships, developing methods and exchanging knowledge (Cooperation, participation and continuation of Membership in the European Dance, ONDA France, GPS USA etc.)
We will bring sociocultural capital cultivated over the past two decades within our organization, through collaborations and our programs, particularly focused on the Balkans region but extending to encompass a broader European space. Our collective expertise encompasses a diverse array of experiences, fostering an intersectional perspective that integrates cultural dynamics with pertinent socio-political themes such as environmental concerns, gender politics, feminism, and communal initiatives. Moreover, we have a deep understanding of collaborative methodologies and their frameworks, including insights into both local and international cooperative endeavors. Additionally, we are engaged in policy activities and advocacy actions for providing better working conditions within regional collaborative contexts.
We want to connect and share our experiences with other regions and spaces, to bring those experiences to our collaborators- artists, cultural workers and other communities. Also, we would like to enhance endeavours among us and other organizations, bring artistic works, but also talk and discuss issues that concern us- such as gender inequalities and politics, environmental catastrophe etc.
