Award Ceremony
Borka Pavićević Award for Public Gesture
We invite you to the presentation ceremony of the Borka Pavićević Award for Public Gesture, which will be conferred for the second time this year on Saturday, 6 June, at 6:00 p.m. at the Centre for Cultural Decontamination.
The Award was established in cooperation with the Polish Institute in Belgrade, at the initiative of Borka’s admirers and friends in Poland, and is presented for a public gesture. The term derives from Borka’s understanding of both activist and artistic public acts as personal gestures of courage, compassion and, above all, individual responsibility. Rebellion, civic courage, solidarity and empathy are not merely themes but qualities embodied in an act conceived and carried out as a singular ethical and aesthetic intervention in the name of human freedom, equality (on the side of the disenfranchised), peace (understood as anti-war engagement), friendship and justice. In this sense, a public gesture is an event that both reveals and transforms the context in which it takes place. Through the participation of nominators, the jury and public dialogue, the very concept of the public gesture—as a critique of culture and a culture of critique in the public sphere—continues to acquire new articulations.
The Award consists of an artwork by Małgorzata Niedzielko, inspired by Borka Pavićević’s work, together with financial support for a new project by the recipient. The first recipient of the Award was Ružica Marijanović, while Katarina Petrović received a Special Award in 2024.
This year, the international jury of the Borka Pavićević Award for Public Gesture will consider more than fifty nominations submitted and endorsed by artists, activists, cultural practitioners and scholars from diverse backgrounds. The co-chairs of the jury are Ana Miljanić and Krzysztof Czyżewski. Jury members are Ljiljana Dufgran, Oliver Frljić, Suada Kapić, Miloš Timotijević and Želimir Žilnik.
Photo of Borka Pavićević: Vesna Pavlović