The WBCHIL project (Western Balkans Cultural Heritage Innovation Lab) is a collaborative effort of two foundations from Montenegro and Serbia: Don Branko Sbutega, executive producer of the KotorArt International Festival, and SHARE.
Aiming to increase capacities and improve performance of cultural and creative industries in the Western Balkans, WBCHIL is designed for creating opportunities for the development of new skills, gaining professional experience, and acquiring expertise among professionals in the cultural and creative industries. It also seeks to enhance the level and quality of cultural production and access within the sustainable cultural heritage management in the Western Balkans.
Don Branko Sbutega and SHARE Foundation, operate in different domains, and as Sara Mandić, Production and Development Director of the KotorArt International Festival, explained, it has developed into a successful partnership:
“The values we collaboratively strive to promote, and the communities each has created through their individual work, are highly significant. The area of overlap in our collaboration with existing partners and through various professional engagements is precisely in the field of cultural and creative industries. Within WBCHIL, we have joined forces, visions, and expertise to highlight the rich opportunities, values, and potential of cultural and creative industries and heritage.”
Throughout 2024, professionals and teams working in cultural heritage, cultural and creative industries, and cultural tourism across the Western Balkans have had the chance to deepen their knowledge, acquire new skills, broaden their networks, and build professional expertise through WBCHIL mentorship programme, panels, workshops, expert lectures, study visits, collaborations, networking events, and public events.
The first WBCHIL event organized in Kotor was the Heritage & Creativity Summit:
“The Summit, held in February 2024 in Kotor, gathered more than 270 participants. This level of engagement highlights the Summit's role as an important platform for capacity building, networking, and stakeholder collaboration, all of which are integral to the success of the WBCHIL project. The main objective of the Summit was to increase capacities and improve the performance of heritage-based cultural and creative industries in the Western Balkans, which was successfully achieved through 30+ lectures, sessions, discussions, and mentorship sessions centered on essential topics such as entrepreneurship, business skills development, and the integration of technological innovations in cultural heritage preservation.”
– Sara Mandić, Production and Development Director of the KotorArt International Festival
At the beginning of August, two WBCHIL trips took place in Perast and Prčanj. In Perast, three graphic designers presented their engagement project Perast passport. While in Prčanj, the audience enjoyed the presentation of the project "Geo_cultureMNE" georeferencing the locations that inspired modern art works in Montenegro.
Until the end of 2024, WBCHIL will focus on the successful completion of the Heritage Innovation & Collaboration Incubator and the preparation and publication of the Cultural Heritage & Creativity Publication, which will present the major findings and results of the project through case studies.
Implementing partners of the WBCHIL project: Don Branko Sbutega Foundation (MNE) and SHARE Foundation (SER).
WBCHIL is supported by the British Council through “Culture and Creativity for the Western Balkans” project funded by the European Union. CC4WBs aims to foster dialogue in the Western Balkans by enhancing the cultural and creative sectors for increased socio-economic impact.