AUSTRIA 2021
INTERVIEW
ADRIEN FEIX, DIRECTOR OF THE AUSTRIAN CULTURAL FORUM (ACF) IN BELGRADE
WE NEED TRADITION
AND INNOVATION
The fact that the European capital of culture is a non-EU city is quite unique. As such, this is a great opportunity for Novi Sad, and for Serbia, to present itself, but also for us to show our culture, values and connections, and to show that European engagement in Serbia is real
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Jelena Jorgačević
here are two important anniversaries related to relations between Serbia and Austria this year: 185 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries; 20 years of the activities of the Austrian Cultural Forum (ACF) in Belgrade. This provided a good starting point for our conversation with ACF Belgrade Director Adrien Feix. And we used this opportunity to discuss various topics:
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contemporary art, which remains in the focus of this institution around the world; environmental issues and Serbian responses; the importance of language to developing a genuine understanding of other cultures; the significance of tradition and the limitations it presents; new ACF projects, particularly those that will be implemented in Novi Sad during its tenure as the European Capital of Culture for 2022.
Considering this year’s anniversaries, how would you describe the current juncture, i.e., present relations between our two countries? In the context of 185 years, it is always a very small frame that you can look at and work in. This long relationship has sometimes been good and sometimes worse, but has been very close most of the time. We, as the Austrian Embassy and as the Austrian Cultural
