Social inequality, unemployment and poverty continue to grow all over Europe. A new cycle of privatization is aimed towards the remaining legacies of the welfare state - subsidized healthcare and education, social benefits and public spending. Neoliberal austerity politics, instead of the expected prosperity, is only provoking waves of protest all over the continent. The opposing interests of the European center and the periphery aggravate political conflict while fostering nationalism, chauvinism and racism. The crisis has left the Balkans suffering disastrous consequences. Floods of discontent manifested themselves on the squares of Ljubljana, Maribor, Sofia, Sarajevo and other cities protesting against corruption, an increase in living expenses and poverty. Discussions on political alternatives, however, only take place on the margins, while communication between the social movements in the Balkans and Western Europe is only being established.

Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung is inviting you to participate in "A Week of Talks on Perspectives for the Balkans" where through eight panel discussions with numerous international guests we will try to explain the causes and consequences of the socio-economic state of the European Union and the Balkans; how the European left discusses the crisis and possible alternatives; how do protests on the Balkans look like and how problems and demands are articulated; how the Balkan left is doing and what perspectives does it have?

The program will be followed by the exhibition titled "It's the Political Economy, Stupid", which brings together a group of critical international artists. Through videos, installations and prints, this exhibition opens the question whether the time has come to resist the disciplining dictate of the capitalist logic and with the help of art we start in saving the very notion of the social. The exhibition was created by the Viennese artist, Oliver Ressler and curator and author from New York, Gregory Shollete. "It's the Political Economy, Stupid" will premiere in Serbia after successful performances in Greece, the United States and Finland.

Artists: Zanny Begg & Oliver Ressler / Filippo Berta / Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson / Julia Christensen / Paolo Cirio / Noel Douglas / Field Work / Yevgeniy Fiks, Olga Kopenkina, Alexandra Lerman / flo6x8 / Melanie Gilligan / Jan Peter Hammer / Alicia Herrero / Institute for Wishful Thinking / Sherry Millner & Ernie Larsen / Isa Rosenberger / Dread Scott

Venue: Center for Cultural Decontamination - CZKD / Paviljon Veljković, Birčaninova 21 / Belgrade