Artfest, a three-day arts and human rights festival for young people, organized by the NGO Social Space for Deconstruction (SSD) and supported by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, concluded on 30 July 2023 in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica South.
The festival, supported by the OSCE Mission for the third year in a row, gathered over 200 children and young people from different communities in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica region.
Over the course of three days, they expressed their vision of an inclusive society through creative works with clay, drawings, sewing, face painting, and participation in peace-building workshops. The young participants also took part in jam sessions and DJ sets, and visited the exhibition "Inscribing Care" by Serbian artist Dunja Karanović, at the Association of the Deaf.
"Artfest has united the community through art, without social structures, and with genuine community collaborations. Although it is a formal organization, the feeling at Artfest is inclusive, and everyone, children, parents, students, women, men, the elderly have found themselves as an integral part of this edition," said Besart Peci, civil society activist and one of the participants.
"Artistic creations highlight children's imagination, and that's what we can achieve. This made the feeling, the city and life in general more beautiful," he added.
With volunteers from all over Europe and volunteering in local NGOs such as SSD, Handikos, Bonevet, Community Building Mitrovica and Local Peace, the festival offered a unique opportunity for intercommunity dialogue and exchange.
The OSCE Mission in Kosovo is mandated with human rights protection and promotion, democratization and public safety sector development. It actively promotes an inclusive approach to make youth voices heard and works with them to help develop their skills in areas such as human rights, volunteerism, confidence-building, critical thinking, social cohesion and dialogue.
