{"id":13413,"date":"2026-10-06T13:48:52","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T11:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/izvestaj\/aktivistkinje-udruzenja-kulturni-cerak-heroine-nasledja-za-2026-godinu\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T13:56:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T11:56:04","slug":"aktivistkinje-udruzenja-kulturni-cerak-heroine-nasledja-za-2026-godinu","status":"publish","type":"izvestaj","link":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/izvestaj\/aktivistkinje-udruzenja-kulturni-cerak-heroine-nasledja-za-2026-godinu\/","title":{"rendered":"Kulturni Cerak Activists Named 2026 Heritage Heroines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three activists from the Belgrade association Kulturni Cerak<\/strong><\/a>, Tamara Nikoli\u0107 Prodi\u0107, Na\u0111a Vujovi\u0107 Filipovski and Olivera Gaborov Lazi\u0107<\/strong>, have won this year\u2019s Heritage Heroes award for personal contribution to heritage, established by the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia and Europa Nostra Serbia<\/a> as part of the European Heritage Days.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s European Heritage Days were held under the theme \u201cGuardians of Heritage: How to Revive, Preserve and Reshape It<\/em><\/strong>\u201c. The winners were nominated by the Milenija and Darko Maru\u0161i\u0107 Foundation (MDM)<\/a> and the Women\u2019s Architectural Society (\u017dAD)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After carefully reviewing all 37 nominations, the Heritage Heroes jury reached a unanimous decision. The award recognises their outstanding and continuous contribution to the protection, preservation, interpretation and promotion of the cultural heritage of the Cerak Vinogradi<\/strong> neighbourhood, as well as their work in launching and developing activities that bring the local community together around the values of the place they call home.<\/p>\n

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The EU Ambassador to Serbia, Andreas von Beckerath,<\/strong> also highlighted their important contribution to preserving the heritage of this part of Belgrade, saying that \u201cKulturni Cerak\u00a0<\/em>shows what a small local organization can achieve when citizens take responsibility for the space they live in.<\/em>\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cTheir model links the preservation of urban and natural heritage with citizen participation, culture, public space and solidarity, and it can be applied in other local communities. They have also revitalised the neighbourhood\u2019s social life. In a way, this year\u2019s award belongs to the entire community: those who have become guardians of this heritage, bringing it to life, preserving it and reimagining it. This resonates strongly with the theme of the 2026 European Heritage Days: Heritage at Risk: Revive, Resist, Reimagine\u201d,<\/em> said von Beckerath.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Cerak Vinogradi<\/strong> is one of the most important achievements of late modernist housing architecture in Yugoslavia, known for the unique way it connects architecture, urban planning and the natural environment. These values are at the heart of Kulturni Cerak\u2019s work. Through educational programmes, public events, digitising archive material, engaging with residents and taking concrete action on the ground, the association helps preserve the neighbourhood\u2019s heritage and helps people understand it better. Their work shows that protecting cultural heritage is not only about preserving buildings,<\/strong> but also about creating the conditions for the community to take an active part in their preservation and future development.<\/p>\n

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By organising educational walks and workshops, markets, picnics, open-air cinema, concerts and charity events, as well as by improving green areas, sports grounds and public spaces, Kulturni Cerak connects heritage with the everyday life of local residents.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What makes their approach especially valuable is the way it combines professional expertise in architecture and urban planning with civic engagement,<\/strong> exchange between generations and the direct involvement of the community. The jury recognised this model as an example of a modern, living approach to protecting urban heritage and as encouragement for other local communities to take an active role in caring for the spaces they share.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was not an easy decision, but after a fruitful discussion it was made unanimously. The winner is an idea and a form of activism deeply rooted in neighbourly solidarity, the revival of urban culture and social life, and cultural decentralisation. Tamara Nikoli\u0107 Prodi\u0107, Na\u0111a Vujovi\u0107 Filipovski and Olivera Gaborov Lazi\u0107, members of the Kulturni Cerak association, have put their knowledge and skills in architecture and urban planning to work preserving the Cerak Vinogradi neighbourhood. With very few resources, they have achieved a great deal, driven by love for the place where they live. Their heroic effort deserves every possible support, including restoring the original purpose and the architectural and urban design of this unique complex, whose value has been recognised internationally,\u201d<\/em> said Dr Slavica Vujovi\u0107<\/strong>, President of Europa Nostra Serbia and Chair of the Jury.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Milena Minja Bogavac<\/strong>, jury member and well-known Serbian playwright (Reflektor Theatre), said that ever since the award was established she has followed its winners and read the jury\u2019s explanations with great interest, wanting to better understand what heritage includes and how it can remain alive, relevant and inspiring today.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn that sense, I feel that this year\u2019s award has really gone to the whole community, a neighbourhood that has come together around the idea of developing their area, preserving its heritage and nurturing a culture of living there. I believe Kulturni Cerak can be an important inspiration for all of us, an example of how our relationship with heritage can be built as a modern, participatory and living practice, and of how we can make life in our own neighbourhoods more meaningful and richer,\u201d <\/em>said Bogavac.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A total of 37 nominations<\/strong> were submitted for this year\u2019s Heritage Heroes<\/strong> award, reflecting the wide range of initiatives and individuals dedicated to preserving, researching and reinterpreting heritage in Serbia. Most nominations concerned intangible cultural heritage (10), followed by research, popularisation, promotion and use of heritage (9). Other categories included literature, journalism and education (5), music (4), museology, librarianship and memorials (4), architecture and cultural landscape (3), and film and photography (2). The nominees included 17 women and 15 men, as well as two all-female and three mixed groups. Nominations came from different parts of Serbia: 24 related to central Serbia or Serbia as a whole, 10 to Vojvodina and 2 to Belgrade, while one nomination came from Kosovo*. This diversity shows that caring for heritage today goes beyond the traditional framework of protecting monuments and cultural institutions. It includes a wide range of activities, communities and individuals who preserve, interpret and revive heritage and pass it on to new generations.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s jury members were:<\/p>\n

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  1. Dr Slavica Vujovi\u0107, Chair of the Jury and President of Europa Nostra Serbia<\/li>\n
  2. Sena Mari\u0107, EU Delegation to Serbia<\/li>\n
  3. Dr Katarina \u017divanovi\u0107, Europa Nostra Serbia<\/li>\n
  4. Dr Dubravka Preradovi\u0107, Europa Nostra Serbia<\/li>\n
  5. Milena Minja Bogavac, Reflektor Theatre<\/li>\n
  6. Svetlana Spaji\u0107, 2024 Heritage Heroes award winner<\/li>\n
  7. Valentina Morav\u010devi\u0107, General\u0161tab Ensemble, 2025 Heritage Heroes award winner<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    You can read the jury\u2019s full statement of reasons<\/strong> HERE.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

    The European Heritage Days<\/strong> were launched by the Council of Europe in France in 1985 and, since 1999, have been a joint initiative of the European Commission and the Council of Europe. The European Heritage Days give citizens the chance to explore culture through themed events and discover the history of the people and places that have helped shape Europe\u2019s culture and heritage.<\/em><\/p>\n

    * This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244\/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Three activists from the Belgrade association Kulturni Cerak, Tamara Nikoli\u0107 Prodi\u0107, Na\u0111a Vujovi\u0107 Filipovski and Olivera Gaborov Lazi\u0107, have won this year\u2019s Heritage Heroes award for personal contribution to heritage, established by the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia and Europa Nostra Serbia as part of the European Heritage Days. This year\u2019s European Heritage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":13411,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-13413","izvestaj","type-izvestaj","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"Grad":"Beograd","Vreme":"20261006","vreme_zavrsetka":"20261006","test_ripiter":null,"Kategorija":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/izvestaj\/13413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/izvestaj"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/izvestaj"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/izvestaj\/13413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13418,"href":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/izvestaj\/13413\/revisions\/13418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/evropskakuca.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}