The FASIH project, launched in February 2023, is supported by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. It is coordinated by the Center for the Promotion of Science, with project partners including the Museum of Science and Technology in Belgrade, Delavski dom Trbovlje, the University of Rijeka, the Academy of Applied Arts Rijeka, and the Natural History Museum Rijeka.

The exhibition, as part of the FASIH project, aims to foster understanding, preservation, and documentation of industrial heritage in the region. During May and June 2025, Belgrade, Rijeka, and Trbovlje will host exhibitions that explore the industrial legacy of Southeast Europe in a contemporary and innovative way. Artists from Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia will present works that use digital interpretations, sound installations, 3D mapping, and interactive projections to offer new perspectives on industrial sites.

The focus is on three major industrial sites: the “Power and Light” thermal power plant in Belgrade, the “Hartera” paper factory in Rijeka, and the Trbovlje Thermal Power Plant. Once symbols of industrial progress, these locations are now being reimagined through art.

To explore innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to promoting, preserving, and protecting immovable cultural heritage, the international FASIH project, coordinated by the Center for the Promotion of Science, launched an open call for artists and researchers. Emphasizing the urgency of protecting industrial heritage from irreversible devastation, the call invited authors and interdisciplinary teams to create “utopian” and “dystopian” visions, focused on anthropocentric solutions as well as the sustainability of the natural environment. These visions were developed based on interdisciplinary research and collaboration with experts in art history, digital technologies, and natural sciences.

The open call was available from May 8 to June 23, 2024, and received 34 applications from across the three participating countries. The nine selected projects engage with digital heritage interpretation, experimental sound installations, 3D mapping and modeling, educational narratives, interactive projections, and soundscapes—all centered on the industrial sites: the “Power and Light” power plant in Belgrade, the “Hartera” paper factory in Rijeka, and the Trbovlje power plant.

In Serbia, the projects were evaluated by representatives of the Center for the Promotion of Science and the Museum of Science and Technology. The following projects were selected for production:

  1. “For Power and Light – A Brief History of the Future” (Authors: Marko Vesić, Zorana Milićević, and Irena Pavlović);
  2. An Imprint of “Power and Light” (Authors: Davor Ereš, Marko Paunović, Mladen Lazarević, and Ivan Šulentić);
  3. “Flow of Light” (Author: Predrag Terzić);
  4. “Energy of the Past, Vision of the Future” (Author: Sanjin Ćorović);
  5. Iluminacija [BGD-25] (Author team: Sz. Berlin ± Panic).

Hidden behind a residential complex in Dorćol, right along the Danube River, lies one of the most intriguing remnants of Belgrade’s industrial past—the former “Power and Light” thermal power plant. Built in the 1930s in the modernist style, this building once symbolized technological advancement and marked one of the first major steps in the city’s electrification. The complex was declared a cultural monument in 2012, but it remains neglected and overgrown. Although there have been initiatives to repurpose the site into a cultural center or museum, the power plant still awaits its new role in the urban landscape of the Serbian capital.

Until then, this industrial complex, once the heart of Belgrade’s energy development, is being given a new life through the exhibition “Power and Light of Industrial Heritage”, where artists breathe life into its past and envision its future through digital interpretation.

The “Power and Light of Industrial Heritage” exhibition will remain open until June 30, 2025.

Location: Museum of Science and Technology in Belgrade

by Dragana Kostica
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