SCCA - Sarajevo Center for Contemporary Art
SCCA was founded by the Open Society Fund Bosnia and Herzegovina(OSF B&H) at the end of 1996. The primary goal of the project was the creation of a contemporary, flexible, expert organization that acts as a corrective agent or complements the institutions of the old system, and the program mission - keeping alive contemporary art in B&H and its inclusion on an equal footing into the international artistic currents.
SCCA has been an independent, non-profit, professional organization since 2000, led by the Executive Board made up of five members. The SCCA team is made up of a director, three program coordinators and four freelance associates.
SCCA is located in two rented spaces at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo (the office and the library in the dome, the Internet cafe so.ba on the ground floor) and a rented apartment in Grbavica (multimedia lab pro.ba).
SCCA is one of the founders of the International Contemporary Arts Network (ICAN), a successor of the Soros Network for Contemporary Arts, and is also one of the founders of the Balkan Arts Network (BAN).
SCCA produced and organized numerous exhibitions, actions, workshops, seminars, lectures, and presentations in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad since its inception. It has also supported art production, produced numerous multimedia artworks, published catalogues and other artistic publications, and collected artistic documentation.
SCCA is a meeting point, an active promoter of the new cultural model and new events and developments in art. It incorporates the functions of an institution and is an active participant in the art scene. It acts as a mobile art center, complementary and alternatively in relation to the programs of other fine arts institutions. The majority of projects, such as Annual Exhibitions, take place in open spaces within the city. The change of ambiance, moving from traditional artistic places (galleries) to non-artistic spaces (e.g. the street), changes the way of thinking and the behavior of artists, the choice of subject matter, techniques and communication with audiences who are chance passers-by. New meeting places were created for the artist and his audience, and art becomes a part of everyday life. The mobilization of public opinion through the emergence of the new concept does not relate only to the change of the artistic paradigm, but also to the change in understanding of the function of culture and art. The new model of art, whose references are based on personal life and experience and the critical relationship toward the social environment, influences the world and the behavior of citizens. The concept proved itself to be productive; it expanded the notion of art and became a corrective agent of the local art and public life.
SCCA is, with its technical resources and flexible organizational structure, qualified to carry out long - term projects. Depending on conditions and changes to the environment, SCCA is able to react rapidly to new situations, changing the means and methods of work, but not the primary function of an institution and an active participant in the art scene, involved in production, promotion and development of contemporary fine arts and new media in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
SCCA secures its financial support through domestic and international donations, based on the proposed projects.
For more information, please visit www.scca.ba