Press conference about the launch of one of the most important initiatives by the Association KROKODIL – Free The Streets / Free The People

27 Dec Press conference about the launch of one of the most important initiatives by the Association KROKODIL – Free The Streets / Free The People

On Thursday, December 22, starting at 12p.m., a press conference was held in KROKODIL’s Center regarding the launch of KROKODIL’s latest initiative – Free the Streets/Free the People. Milena Berić and Vladimir Arsenijević spoke at the conference on behalf of the Association KROKODIL.

The first to speak was Vladimir Arsenijević, who briefly explained the reasons for launching the initiative. According to him, it is primarily a reaction to the “visual noise” and a kind of “ideological-aesthetic war” which in the last year has been increasingly visible and present on the street walls of cities throughout Serbia, which for a long time have been the scene of clashes between various extreme right-wing groups and a platform for promoting policies close to them. The result is an urban landscape saturated with visual messages, stencils, graffiti and murals that directly express and call for hatred, malice, narrow-mindedness, racism, sexism and that generally spread various toxic contents, creating the society full of violence present on all levels, especially among young people.

Milena Berić asked what we communicate and what kind of message we convey to children, but also to their parents, when there are murals, graffiti and stencils sending warmongering and nationalistic messages in children playgrounds and on the walls of elementary schools. “I am sure that there is not a single person in our country who is not bothered by these practices and to whom they would be acceptable. In this regard, we invite all citizens in Serbia to join our initiative and to act in their local milieus”, said Milena.

Vladimir added that one of the main objectives of this two-year initiative, which aims to actively transform the above mentioned tendencies and to raise awareness about harmfulness of chauvinistic and reductive mindsets regarding the past, present and future, will be to encourage the creation of different visual content on the walls. Regarding this, it is planned to paint ten large murals in cities across Serbia that would send gentle and affirming messages. As a good example of such interventions in public space, a mural in Mariupol that shows a child hugging a teddy bear was mentioned. This mural, although it is located on a half-ruined building in a destroyed city, creates a space of peace around itself. In connection with these activities, contact has already been made with muralists, among whom are some of the most prominent names of the street art scene in Serbia such as Jana Danilović, Artez, TKV, Marija Šoln and Roš. The next step, and the biggest challenge, is finding locations and getting permissions for murals.

In addition to these interventions in public space through visual street art, the initiative will also include a top-down approach in cooperation with the non-governmental sector and the city administration with the aim of mapping regulations and legislation dealing with illicit and illegal activities in public areas and their removal. A working group will be formed to work on a proposal for the improvement of these regulations and their better implementation. “Through the collection of signatures from citizens all over Serbia, we will try to influence decision-makers and actively change practices that result in the continuous growth of violence and aggression in our society,” Milena pointed out at the end of the conference.

The Association KROKODIL also invited all interested citizens who want to actively join the initiative to send a message to the email address office@krokodil.rs in order to be directed to all available ways of joint action.