Our Still in Belgrade monthly guide is bound to take you to the best parties, festivals, events and the finest crowds in town. Let’s see what’s going on this August in Belgrade.

July 6 – August 20, 2018

Renata Poljak: Yet Another Departure

The Salon of the Museum of Contemporary Art (14 Pariska St.)

Renata Poljak is a prominent Croatian mid-generation artist working mostly in the media of video, film, photography and installation. Poljak’s work refers to both local and global political, economic and social phenomena.

At the Salon of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Renata Poljak will present two video works, Partenza (2016) and Yet Another Departure (2018). Yet Another Departure is a three-channel video installation that will premiere on this occasion. Since Poljak often uses documentary and archival materials for production of her works, and also particular phenomena she tries to isolate and transform into complex and intriguing motifs, these two videos are formally and symbolically concerned with the notion of island that the artist aims to examine through understanding of the ontological position of a site in relation to the rest of the world.

The video Partenza (Italian for departure; the term in use in many island and coastal dialects of Croatian) and Yet Another Departure are filmed on two islands in the Adriatic sea. Partenza is shot at the island of Brač, and Yet Another Departure on the Brioni islands, where the official summer residence of Marshal Tito was located from 1947 to 1980, well kept from the eyes of the public, and visited by almost every major world statesman of the day. In both videos one sees the same actress as a common rather symbolical than narrative thread between the two; she is there to put the stress on the main character―the sea portrayed as a site and a subject of political and emotional relevance.

Drawing on current migrants’ and refugees’ stories, the situations repeating throughout the history, Partenza points to the human condition as a fragile and susceptible to political, economic and social changes. Partenza refers to the early years of the beginning of the 20th century when the golden fever called Tierra del Fuego attracted thousands of Croats from the Dalmatian islands to embark on the pursuit of happiness at the Argentinean and Chilean coastline. The work Yet Another Departure is about the event that took place a hundred years later, when in 2016 an admiral ship called “Vis”, the leading and the single most important vessel of the Yugoslav Navy, was purposefully sunk down to play the part of a diving attraction.

The weight of history is evident in both of the works. In Partenza, the camera focuses on minutiae aspects of waiting with characters that register the aftermath of trauma eliciting empathy for what lies in and out of the frame. The politics of waiting are a key aspect of Partenza as there is direct gender imbalance between those who had the opportunity to leave and those who had to stay behind. While today’s situation is seemingly different (in Yet Another Departure), the soft power constellation stays the same. Partenza is a story of exclusion told through aesthetic employment of abstractions and absence. Yet Another Departure follows the same line of thought with some different premises.

Reexamining the historic and superficial remoteness of the sea, the pieces do not rely on a completely fixed narrative but rather unfold in shifting story that pays close attention to the articulation of space with room for contemplation. The location itself equally becomes subject matter.

August 9-Kultura pres. Guti live (Desolat, AR) at Barutana

Kultura organization will be hosting Guti (live set) at Barutana open-air club, on the 9th of August in Belgrade. Guest star Guti will be supported by Kultura (Alexandar Ivkovic & Mihajlo) and John Belk.

Time: 09 pm-06 am

FB event 

August 11- Aleksa Alaska (RO), Andria, Doo, RAR at Drugstore

After deciding in early 2016 to devote more time to recording mixes, the Bucharest-based artist has quickly become one of the most talked-about radio hosts, selectors and club DJs in Europe.

LINEUP

Aleksa Alaska (Bucharest, RO)

Andria

Doo

RAR

Even by the standards of 21st century electronic music culture, Aleksa Alaska’s rise to international DJ status has been dizzyingly rapid. Although a passionate fan of intriguing, alternative and experimental sounds for over a decade, Aleksa (real name Alexa Chirnoaga) had little inclination to take up DJing when she was younger. After growing up in a sleepy part of Northern Romania, she headed to Bucharest to study visual art (with a specialism in photography) and threw herself into the city’s party scene. As the years passed, Aleksa found that her interest in intense, eccentric and otherworldly music from the ‘90s was out of step with the “Rominimal” minimal techno scene, and a desire to do her own thing and share the music she loved grew by the year. Before she’d even set foot in a DJ booth, Aleksa had already built up an online following. Initially, this was thanks to her YouTube channel, where she shared favourite tracks plucked from obscure 1980s electronic music releases on a weekly basis. Soon, online radio stations and websites started requesting mixes, from fast-rising Bristol outlet Noods (where she hosts the Subterranean Modern show, which is dedicated to showcasing abstract electronica and dark ‘80s industrial tracks plucked from dusty, cassette-only releases) and legendary Amsterdam institution Red Light Radio, to NTS, Rinse France, Intergalactic FM, LYL and Red Bull Radio. Yet for all of her online fame and exploration of mind-altering home listening material, it is in the clubs that Aleksa is really making her mark. Here, she focuses on the more robust, energetic and forthright end of her music collection, performing sets that join the dots between EBM, acid, electro, techno and industrial stompers.

Follow FB event here.

August 15-19-Belgrade Beer Fest

A festival promoting beer culture and beer as healthy sustenance,backed by performances of prominent local and foreign bands, and numerous follow-up programs. Visit official website.

August 23-Kultura pres. Radio Slave (Rekids, UK) at 20/44

Kultura organization is hosting Radio Slave (Rekids) DJ and producer on the 20/44 boat. Follow FB event here.

Line up:

Radio Slave (Official)

Kultura (Alexandar Ivkovic & Mihajlo)

+++ more

August 24-Apgrade with NovaMute Night with ANNA, Daniel Miller, Bougaïeff & Yasuda ∆

Apgrade party series continues with Annam Daniel Miller, Bougaïeff & Yasuda. Party will take place at Barutana club and will announce Apgrade weekend in September. Follow FB event here.

Tickets: 790 RSD regular and 1190 RSD VIP, through websites and box offices Gigstix.com and Eventim.rs.

August 25 Belgrade-Belgrade Boat Carnival

Belgarde Boar Carnival is a day event organized on the Belgrade rivers and their banks. It involves various activities, such as exhibitions, competitions on water and banks, boat carnival, fireworks.

August 27-Jessie Ware at Kalemegdan

British pop singer Jessie Ware will perform in Belgrade on the 27th of August within the Glasshouse tour. Open-air concert will take place at Kalemegdan fortress. Tickets can be purchased at Eventim and Gigstix sales networks at the price of 2190 RSD (regular) and 2790 (VIP). Follow FB event here.