Kaleidoscope of Culture

The Kaleidoscope of Culture is a unique art gathering rooted in the culture of togetherness, bringing together cultural institutions, the non-institutional scene, citizens, and decision-makers. It has been recognized with the award for the Best European Trend Brand in Culture.

Over five weeks of programming, the Kaleidoscope of Culture showcases some of the finest artists across five types of art: applied arts, visual arts, performing arts, architecture, and literature.

The festival’s innovative programming concept, unforgettable audio-visual experiences, increased visibility of artists, contribution to the recognition of new cultural spaces, and its role in shaping the image of Novi Sad as a cultural capital have been highlighted as achievements by independent evaluators from the University of Novi Sad.

Since its inception in 2018 as part of the preparations for the ‘Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture’ project, the Kaleidoscope of Culture has consistently offered innovative approaches to organization and programme implementation. It has introduced extraordinary and unprecedented artistic concepts while connecting artists from global, European, regional, national, and local scenes.

Initially transforming the entire city into a stage during September and early October, the Kaleidoscope of Culture has evolved alongside one of Novi Sad’s most significant infrastructural projects: the District. This site, which preserves a century of industrial heritage, has been converted into a hub of contemporary creativity, offering multi-purpose spaces for the creative industries and modern artistic expressions.

Over its seven-year existence, the Kaleidoscope of Culture has introduced innovative artistic expressions to the cultural scene, many of which were presented in Novi Sad—and even Serbia—for the first time. Notable projects in new and digital arts include:

The permanent exhibition ‘Spirit of Place – A Century of the District,’ multimedia performance ‘Unbreakable Ties’, large new media pavilion ‘Tišma Pavilion,’ multimedia spectacle opening ceremony of the 2020 Kaleidoscope of Culture, design pavilions, open-air opera ‘Rigoletto’, performance of Spanish pianist David Moreno ‘Floating Duo’, exhibition ‘Matter Through Time: Sand, Wood, Stone, and Metal in the Digital Era’ by students from Sankt Pölten, the exhibitions ‘The Darkest Wave’, ‘Three Foolish Heads’ (video exhibition), and ‘The Great Liman: Narratives of Inherited Space’ at the PDP conference, hosting of the 14^th Prague Quadrennial winner exhibition ‘This Building Tells the Truth’, CGA conference titled ‘Enter The MetaClub’, projects by Plastique Fantastique, conference ‘The Art of Play’, artistic installations: ‘Wirefull’ / ‘Autocorrect’ / ‘Garden’ / ‘Heart’ / ‘SMIC’, performances: ‘Holopartisans’ / ‘Chameleons’ / ‘Borders’.

A standout project is the ‘Tišma Pavilion’, implemented during the 2024 Kaleidoscope of Culture. It serves as an introduction to the creation of the Tišma Museum, one of the key projects that earned Novi Sad its place on UNESCO’s list of cities in the category of new and digital arts.

Through various artistic and digital forms, the ‘Tišma Pavilion’ paid homage to one of Novi Sad’s greatest writers, Aleksandar Tišma, marking a milestone in presenting his legacy in this innovative way.