In the premises of the University of Niš Rectorate, on 18th and 19th October, XI in a row national scientific forum with international participation, Balkan Art Forum 2024, was held with the theme Empathy Phenomenon in Art and Culture, organized by the Faculty of Arts, University of Niš and SASA Branch in Niš.
At the forum opening, the attendees were addressed by prof. PhD Dragan Denić, representative of the University of Niš, prof. PhD Dragan Žunić, in front of Niš branch of SASA and prof. PhD Milena Injac, dean of the Faculty of Arts in Niš. The ceremony was traditionally completed by the students of the Faculty of Arts: Nemanja Čamagić, Andreas Ćurić, Kristina Mančić and Melanija Stanković. With their distinctly cultivated musicianship, these young people presented in the best way the artistic values that we, as a civilized and educated society, are obliged to nurture.
Three plenary lectures followed, in which the phenomenon of empathy was approached from three different thematic perspectives. First, dr Rozalina Popova-Koskarova from the Faculty of Pedagogy “St. Kliment of Ochrid” in Skopje spoke about the historical foundations and contemporary tendencies of aesthetic education. Then, Assist. prof. Radmila N. Lizdek from the Academy of Fine Arts in Trebinje (University of East Sarajevo) presented her work “Empathy in conditions of diversity: spatial installation Life“, and after that dr Gordana Grujić from the Academy of Arts of the University of Banja Luka presented her meticulous analytical study of Shenberg’s dodecaphonic music syntax and his controversial empathetic relationship to tradition.
On the first day, 18th October, within the program of the scientific part of the forum, six participants presented their topics through oral presentations and video presentations. The session was chaired by Neda Nikolić, assistant at the Faculty of Arts. The audience, among whom there was a significant number of students, had the opportunity to hear what researchers of different origins from several university centers had to say on the subject of empathy in art and culture.
On the same day from 6 pm, Niš academic and wider audience had the special pleasure of attending the presentation of the creativity opus of academician Svetislav Božić, composer, and Mitar Simikić, professional associate from the Department of Photography, Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Academy of Arts, University of Novi Sad.
The following day, on 19th October, in a session led by Ivana Milošević, also an assistant at the Faculty of Arts, seven papers signed by twelve researchers were presented. The topics once again covered a wide range of relevant problems, from teaching-educational to artistic to analytical-interpretive. In the lively and meaningful discussion that followed the last presentation, the importance of the phenomenon of empathy in the mutual understanding of people and the reception of works of art was emphasized. This created the impression that this year’s gathering of academics was to a large extent purposeful, despite all the challenges that the current social moment poses to art, but also to humanity as a whole. The forum ended in an optimistic atmosphere and the belief that the next editions of Balkan Art Forum will be even better.
***Students who photographed the event: Marija Tatić, Jana Janković, Staša Jevremović and Dimitrije Kitić.
Official photographer of the SASA Branch in Niš: Miroslav Lavrenčić
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