Novi Sad has officially become one of the three European Capitals of Culture for 2022, along with Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg and Kaunas, Lithuania. It is the first time a city from Serbia has been given this title.

“Novi Sad is of great importance both for Serbian national identity and for Europe,” said the Ambassador of the European Union to Serbia, Emanuele Giaufret, at the proclamation ceremony, which was held at the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad on 13 January.

The year of the European Capital of Culture officially began at the symbolic time of 20.22 with an event titled “Zeniteum :: 2022” directed by Dragan Živadinov. The celebration focused on the great names of Serbian science through art, Mileva Marić Einstein and Milutin Milanković. The opening night was also marked by a large exhibition on “Time and Universe” in the hall of Studio M, as well as concerts at several locations in the city.

Novi Sad will present itself as a 2022 European Capital of Culture with more than 1,500 cultural events and 4,000 local, national and international artists in a total of eight programme areas. Within these, more than 1,700 European and world artists from over 45 countries will tell the story of the city known as the Serbian Athens, through the perspective of common European values, but also shared challenges.

The programme narrative of the “Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture” project stems from the slogan “For new bridges,” and the idea of ​​building new bridges of cooperation and exchange between artists and organisations from Novi Sad and Serbia with the wider European cultural scene.