The Belgrade Faculty of Architecture students and artists have organized another unusual, multimedia, multidisciplinary evening, but this time their colleagues from abroad take part in it. Only they know how to organize such an event. It began in the nineties when the circumstances, which we all remember so well, forced them to find comfort in friendship and to react by stepping out of the narrow bounds of everyday life and school curricula. They started with Armatura (Metal Framework) - the unexpected combination of music, dance and a constructive idea, where the art group Skart (Rejects) first began its audacious, quiet, and wise pursuit of reality. Their numerous activities continued in Workshop 301 where a new generation of creative individuals toughened. Moreover, they published Accelerator - journal which could be the pride of any professional architectural association, the big international Project X followed. And then lust for life happened. Through a number of manifestations, especially those that took place in the night of November 17th 1997, it marked the anniversary of that which to all of us meant arousing hope, solidarity and the appearance of new, positive energy. Make a Wish was a utopian belief, so dreamed of and so needed. It was the belief that our lives would soon change for the better, and that bleak reality would be just a bad dream. It all had its consequences, because of which we have gathered together today. We have gathered together with a little book in or hands. It leaves the impression of being a very modest publication. It is hardly noticeable, because it is suited to the times we live in. However, behind the apparent modesty great wealth is hidden: it contains enormous wish and potential strength aimed at reuniting all former students, now artists and architects who, in the nineties, were beginning to create their joint works cherishing joint hopes and desires. They traveled together showing their works to the world, and now they are to work together on one project accepting one idea and the long process of its realization. This is not easy even for those who live in the same town, let alone those who live all around the world, and there are many of them judging by the information, names and photographs published in this little book. That is why this project was named CASE: it is a continuation of all joint ideas developed because of the inadequate conditions we live in. An exceptionally dynamic idea was conceived. That idea will stimulate always new and different objectives of creative artistic orientation. Because of the purity of such an intention, I believe that it will mark the establishment of a new creative framework to which we all aspire, and predict that it will have a great future. Not because we expect that in that future even more people will be scattered all around the world, but because a straw of hope can be found in the potentials of the people around us, in their co-operatioon, joint ideas and projects that cross the borders, the borders which no one can close to us. Today, there are new possibilities for breaking down the barriers which are continually being placed in front of us. CASE is about that too, it is dedicated to that, and that's why we are happy, together with you, dear guests, to have attended this small celebration. Irina Subotić (openning speech)

Ethnographic Museum, Studentski tgr 19. Belgrade
Sunday, 9 of April 2000. 20 hours