Founded in 2002 as continuation of the activities of the Belgradeyard Sound System collective, an independent organization dedicated to the promotion of new music tendencies, related art practices and the advancement of the local music and art scene through creating links between Serbian artists and audiences and established artists from around the world.

Stress is put on music, educational, art and design projects such as workshops, seminars, lectures, panels, screenings… walking the thin line between sound and image. In this context, Dis-patch School for new media manipulation was initiated in 2004, with a free admission workshop program focusing on video production and history of “synasthetic art”. Although electronic music is, generally speaking, very present on the Serbian cultural scene, most of the events are restricted to a more entertainment oriented approach.

The conception of the Dis-patch festival is to fill the blanks made by this practice, present emerging artists and technologies and foster audience participation and involvement of the local contemporary arts/music/new media scene. The festival explores the secret potentials of its surrounding by occupying several different venues over the course of one event, providing a strong community aspect and involvement of different cultural actors and insititutions on the Serbian scene.

In recent editions, more and more focus is put on variety of comissioned work and special performances, artist in residence and focus programs, installations, screenings and (live) cinema, workshops, and finally, children’s program which will involve 5-12 year olds from Belgrade in workshops, instrument building courses and concerts. We also put up panels, lectures and artists’ presentations and educational programs from the fields of copyright / music industry, live performing, live video, maxMSP / jitter, hardware etc.

The festival attracts a number of visitors from the surrounding countries each year. We will continue to explore the relationships and gaps between creativity and technology, and use the event as a creative force, providing a setting for new experiences and epiphanies to occur.

LINK / VIDEO / PHOTO

Kevin Blechdom Post-Piano “Gala” (1/3): You Changed My Life + Songy Dong from Dis-patch Festival on Vimeo.