K. Kafka, Now / A festival commemorating the centenary of Franz Kafka’s death
Belgrade, 29. April 2024. godine. The centenary of Franz Kafka’s death in Belgrade will be marked by a seven-day festival K. Kafka, taking place from May 11 to 18 at multiple locations and bringing together guests from Serbia, Austria, and the Czech Republic. The festival is envisioned as a series of cultural and artistic events that demonstrate in various ways how Kafka’s literary worlds can contribute to understanding the present and vice versa – how the present contributes to their relevance.
The opening days of the festival are dedicated to a film program at the Cultural Center Hall, featuring Kafka’s work through the lenses of both major European directors and through short films, experimental, and documentary forms. Visitors can also expect the performance “mirage nymphs,” which explores the experience of the body’s transformation process and its constant adaptability through contemporary dance and accompanying audio-visual elements. Additionally, viewers can enjoy a staged reading of the short story “A Country Doctor” performed by Oto Brusati and Nikola Đorić, followed by a series of discussions and lectures on Kafka’s works from the perspective of contemporary humanistic studies, cultural history, and critical analysis. The Serbian edition of the novel “Life after Kafka” by Magdalena Placova and the children’s storybook “Dust, Filth, and Kristina,” inspired by Kafka’s works, will also be presented. The final hours of the festival are dedicated to discussions with students from the Faculty of Fine Arts and the Faculty of Applied Arts, regarding the virtual exhibition “MedijaMorfoze” presented in video format, which will premiere at the Art Gallery. The festival concludes with a public reading of “A Hunger Artist” on the square in front of the Belgrade Cultural Center. Throughout the festival, the audience can also visit two exhibitions: the comic exhibition “Complete Kafka” by Nicolas Maler at the Goethe-Institut’s “Exchange” Gallery and “Franz Kafka – Man of His and Our Time,” consisting of works created in collaboration between writer Radel Mali and illustrator Renata Fučikova at the National Library of Serbia.
The K. Kafka Festival is jointly organized by the Belgrade Cultural Center, Goethe-Institut Belgrade, Austrian Cultural Forum Belgrade, Czech Center Belgrade, and EUNIC Serbia – National Institutes for Culture of the European Union in Serbia. Admission to all programs is free.
More information and the festival program can be found here.