Artists’ associations will stage a protest in front of the Serbian Culture Ministry on Thursday to show dissatisfaction with a tender for financing organized by the ministry.

The protest comes after the Independent Culture Scene Association of Serbia (NKSS) said that the outcome of the tender showed that the ministry lacks competence and knowledge about culture and is not prepared to enter into a dialogue with artists and culture sector staff. The NKSS called the protest “to define the next steps … and try to prevent the destruction of institutions and the independent scene and the abuse of the culture budget by incompetents”.

The call for a protest led Culture Minister Maja Gojkovic to call for a meeting with the NKSS and others. A press release said that the ministry is always prepared for a constructive approach and dialogue with individuals and organizations active in culture.

The NKSS call for a protest won the support of Association of Visual Artists of Yugoslavia (SULUJ) and the Association of Visual Artists of Serbia (ULUS) that made several demands including an increase of the culture budget among others.