Heartefact

"Heartefact strengthens critical awareness and builds an open and free society."

Heartefact is a multi-disciplinary organization that convenes and maintains fora where cultural and social reality is critically questioned, the past is remembered and learnt from, individuality is encouraged and talent is celebrated, creative and forward-thinking individuals are empowered to try and allowed to fail—so that the cultural and public space for all people is diversified, enriched, made vibrant and more accepting towards differences.

Mission

Heartefact’s mission is to provide and guard critical spaces of remembrance, reflection, engagement, and  artistry, where knowledge and learning is pursued so that common challenges are addressed, and where  individuals and groups are empowered to contribute to social change through artistic expression, and  through creation of or engagement with critical content.

Vision

We envision a society where all people have liberties, and rights to dignity and autonomy; where no person’s  identity is perceived as a provocation; where no person’s rights and liberties are relativized on account of  who they are; and where all people have the freedom to live their lives as they please, love on their own  terms, freely express themselves and self-actualize, so long as they provide the same opportunities to others  while respecting the principles of tolerance and individual responsibility. 

Heartefact is founded upon the belief that the variety and vibrancy of a cultural sector, as well as  uninhibited artistic expression of individuals and groups, are both indicators of and preconditions for a free  and open society, and a crucial contributor to its diversity, cohesiveness, and democratic potential. We  believe in the relevance of facts and critical, principled debates in building a society’s knowledge needed to  address key societal issues and challenges. We believe that autonomous, tolerant, responsible, and engaged  citizens are at the core of any democratic and open society; that arts and culture can bring people together  across divides by building genuine emotional relations and empathy; and that open debate and engaged art  is where new ideas appear, old conventions are questioned, and social progress is enabled.  

Andrej Nosov

MANAGING DIRECTOR

About us

Heartefact, during more than a decade of existence, has developed into one of the main actors on the independent theater scene in Serbia and the region. In addition to theater productions, which are the main focus of their work, Heartefact participates in organizing numerous festivals, exhibitions, competitions, various exchange programs, and supporting youth through grants and other forms of cooperation. They also participate in many European projects, etc. Heartefact implements its programs through two pillars: House and Foundation. Heartefact House represents a program pillar with a focus on the arts and multidisciplinary artistic forms, within which HF produces plays, exhibitions, and various other forms of contemporary culture, gathering and empowering creative individuals interested in engaged art. The House also organizes the Pride Theater Festival every year in September during Belgrade Pride Week, aiming to shed light on various aspects of the LGBTI+ community’s struggle in an artistically relevant way, and announces an annual competition for the best contemporary engaged full-length drama text. On the other hand, the Foundation represents a program pillar that enables Heartefact to support those who contribute to the progress of society through financial support to groups and organizations that nurture critical thinking and approach social interventions in a creative way. The Foundation also organizes exchanges that enable encounters that bridge real and/or perceived divides for new generations of young artists, activists, academics, journalists, and all others interested in contributing to social development and building new connections. Through both pillars, Heartefact has produced over fifty artistic programs in theater and visual arts, several dozen published works by contemporary playwrights, over two hundred episodes of the Heartefact podcast, and over a hundred programs realized through the support that Heartefact provides to new initiatives in the country and the region.

Keywords: #freedom, #dignity, #autonomy, #tolerance, #responsibility, #facts, #democracy, #empathy, #confrontation, #community, #identity, #exchange, #research, #collaboration, #justice, #youth, #support”