At the last session of the City Assembly, the director of Bitef Theater, Miloš Latinović, and the director of Puls Theater in Lazarevac, Ivana Nedeljković, were dismissed under an emergency procedure.
In a statement for N1, Nedeljković explains how she learned about the dismissal on social media, and that the reason cited is “performing duties contrary to the provisions of the law.”
She adds, however, that she believes the real reason is her support for students, colleagues, and a rebel society.
“The decision itself, as a decision that I have been relieved of duty, did not surprise me, because my mandate would have expired anyway on June 28. What surprised me is that the City of Belgrade did not conduct a competition, because in the meantime, as the law dictates, we requested consent from the City Assembly of Belgrade to announce a competition. So, another director would surely have come, because I would not have applied. In this way, we were practically caught off guard. We are also caught off guard by the fact that the City Assembly of Belgrade, namely the Secretariat for Culture, made the decision to appoint a person to lead the institution who has absolutely nothing to do with culture—which does not mean he will do a bad job, but it did not respect its own laws, meaning its own procedures, which is not the case with other cultural institutions of the City of Belgrade. I personally interpret this as the attitude of the City of Belgrade towards one of the Belgrade municipalities, that is, the municipality of Lazarevac,” states Nedeljković.
She says she has been enduring pressure for a long time.
“The latest pressures came at the moment when, in our theater, a new board of directors was actually appointed that refused even to sign decisions, to sign rulings, where our work was slowed down, frozen. I warned the Secretariat for Culture about this; I warned them in writing as well. However, I never received any response. My great disappointment is the city secretary for culture who came to the head of that institution and said that she would qualify people exclusively based on results and based on work. However, here, obviously, the support for students and the fact that I am not a member of the Serbian Progressive Party prevailed. That is my opinion,” she adds.
She says she is coming out of everything completely honorably, aware of the kind of system she lives in, fully aware of the fact that cultural institutions are being systematically collapsed at this high speed.
“Well, after all, look at where our Minister of Culture is, so it cannot be better for the institutions either. There is one illogicality and one irregularity that confuses me a lot. I am simply confused and we are practically waiting for the decision on dismissal to arrive in my hands, as well as the explanation as to in which part I acted unlawfully and what the Secretariat for Culture was doing all that time if I was acting unlawfully. When we receive the complete documentation, my lawyer will deal with it, and I will continue to do my job as before. Behind me remains one, one well-behaved, cultured, and smart child. Behind me remains a very good and high-quality ensemble and a very good and high-quality repertoire. And I am sure that the Puls Theater ensemble will not allow the repertoire to collapse.”
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Nedeljković learned about the dismissal on social media.
“At the session of the City Assembly of Belgrade on the 27th, it was not supposed to be an item. You know that councilors receive the material earlier. It was not an item regarding the dismissal, regarding my dismissal and the dismissal of my colleague from Bitef Theater, Miloš Latinović. All items were consolidated, consolidated and in one go, under an emergency procedure, the directors of many public enterprises and, here, as far as I know, two cultural institutions were dismissed. So obviously they were in a great hurry. Why, for what reason, I don’t know. Time will tell, but the repertoire until the end of June is set and it stands, so we will see when the explanation for my dismissal arrives, in what way I will proceed further, I mean, as a person and as a creator, together with my lawyers.”
It is speculated in the media and on networks that the cause of Ivana Nedeljković’s dismissal could be the guest appearance of the Šabac Theater, specifically the informal troupe “Šabac Theater on the Brink,” at the Puls Theater. To this, Nedeljković says that she “does not know since when the Secretariat for Culture interferes in repertoire policy.”
“The repertoire goes to them regularly both on a monthly and weekly basis. If they had any objection, I suppose they would have reached out and said to remove it from the repertoire. Of course, had they reached out and said to remove it from the repertoire, I would not have done it. I don’t know since when the formation of a repertoire is unlawful conduct. So, someone would have to explain that to me, and if that really is the reason—though I think it was actually the trigger, because I have been a nuisance for a very long time—then it is an honor for me to be dismissed on that occasion.”
“Certainly, if someone has been a director for fifteen years and if they have results behind them, it is fine for the founder to call them and say: ‘Hey, don’t do that.’ Uh, it’s fine for the founder to warn you. It’s fine for them to draw your attention. No one ever drew my attention to the fact that I was doing something I shouldn’t or that I was operating unlawfully, which means that only my activism and my support for students, uh, is something that bothered them, as well as the fact that I am not a member of the SNS. I will tell you something else. This SNS is not the SNS from 2012 that chose me for the position of director, so it is a matter of a complete collapse of that political party, of a complete decadence, and they will have to fight with that. As far as I am personally concerned, I have my direction and my path.”
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Source: N1, Photo: Privatna arhiva; R.Z. / ATAImages