OZ Nikšić "wizards"

Optimists - a group of creatives working to improve the status of young people, opened a Youth Zone for hanging out, studying, reading...

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Detail from OZ, Photo: Svetlana Mandić
Detail from OZ, Photo: Svetlana Mandić
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

We, flesh and blood people, prefer to live in our native land, no matter how bleak and gray it may be, than in some other country, no matter how wonderful it is. Nowhere is as beautiful as in the homeland".

This quote from the book "The Wizard of Oz" is well known to the optimists of Nikšić - a group of creative people working to improve the status of young people in the city. But they are also well aware of the fact that more and more young people are deciding to replace the "greyness of their homeland" with a country where young people are offered something more than just cafes and betting shops, which "cure" nostalgia for their homeland with a secure job and a brighter future.

That's why they decided to take matters into their own hands, to react before it was too late for the city, and on the last day of July last year, they opened their "OZ" - a youth zone that offers young people a place to learn, socialize, and read. books or comics, organize exhibitions and poetry evenings, watch movies, exchange creative ideas, start the first projects. They hope that their "OZ", in Vuka Karadžića Street, is a springboard for the Youth Cultural Center, which, they say, is much needed by young people, where they would develop useful skills in art, crafts, IT and media, develop activism and volunteerism and be useful members of the community, not just passive observers.

"We are waking up as a community, and young people are different from how we, a little older, perceive them. Young people are not inactive, disinterested, and can really contribute to their community. They see themselves in culture, art, in digital skills, but they also see themselves as volunteers, as people who help the weaker and more vulnerable than themselves, who contribute in different ways, fix things in spaces, communities, who donate, who also create content, and the ambience, and different works and forms," ​​he says Ana Milović Jasikovac, one of those that left a strong impression on the optimists.

The association was formed at the beginning of 2023 because, as he says, a group of seven or eight creative people, behind whom there is an active youth internship, decided to change the pessimistic narrative into an optimistic one, to show young people what Nikšić can offer them, but also to they give a chance to create both the contents and the city according to their own and human measure.

"We wanted to give them optimism and enthusiasm, but also to make them understand that they are not individuals who act separately, but members of the community who can change things. That's why we created the Youth Zone as a pilot project that will show that the Youth Cultural Center is very necessary for young people. The youth zone is open to all youth actors to implement activities that are in line with the values ​​of optimists. The space is free for them, and they can also use our other infrastructure. We have shown that it is very necessary, because since April last year, over 130 young people have gone through our education, programs and content. We did not only base ourselves on informal education, which is very necessary, because it complements the shortcomings of the formal education system, which are increasing and in greater discrepancy with the labor market, not only national, but also regional and European, but we also organize events such as exhibitions, poetry evenings, we give space to young people to express themselves and we are here to hear their ideas and to support them. Through our projects and how we strive to support the segment of contributions and actions in the community, so that young people have the opportunity to improve some things in the community and immediately see the effects of their efforts, work and engagement and to raise their confidence, self-awareness and perception that they can to help the community", points out Milović Jasikovac.

Youth deserves to be in the center - of the city, of attention, of events

He explains that for more than ten years there has been an initiative by many organizations to start a Youth Cultural Center by the Municipality and the state and that it be of public good for all youth actors. And the young people, at the sessions organized by the optimists, "tailored" the center according to their own measure.

"It is a multimedia, interdisciplinary and accessible space, rich in equipment for crafts, science, and culture. A center where they can realize the segments that interest them, which are not represented by formal education and which raises their skills to the level that they are competitive in any market. Where they can create themselves, express themselves and where they have space to support what they want. It is a zone where dialogue is open, where tolerance is at the maximum level, where we listen to, accept and support each other".

Ana Milović Jasikovac
Ana Milović Jasikovacphoto: Svetlana Mandić

What "squeaks" in the whole process is that the voice of young people does not reach the decision-makers and that there is no dialogue.

"Here, the hearing of the competent authorities, that is, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and local decision-makers, is lacking, because there are mechanisms to do this. There are also spaces, but there are no answers. One of the segments that the optimists deal with is public spaces for young people in the city center, because when they are in the city center, then we send them the message that they are in the center of attention. There is a certain hearing in the sense that young people are invited to various events and programs, but what is missing is cooperation, which we are trying to replace through our activities. We talk directly with young people when it comes to their needs, wishes and ways in which they want to cooperate not only with us, but also with decision makers. It is a segment that is missing, but we are all slowly beginning, both as a community, as a society, and as a country, to see the importance of young people staying, and we will only see the consequences of young people leaving, not only from Montenegro, but also from the region." , points out Milović Jasikovac.

Another "Percussive Poet"

They signed a memorandum of cooperation with the municipal Secretariat for Youth, Sports, Culture and Social Welfare and hope that by the end of the year, by joint efforts, they will establish a Council for Youth, as well as innovative mechanisms and channels of communication and perhaps another platform of youth actors that will make it easier for young people to communicate with decision makers.

This is just, he says Boško Milović, the second "striking fist" of the optimists, the beginning of their action. He is aware that it is (not) easy to wake up the young, but it is important to form a critical mass that will wake up the others. It seems to him that they are slowly but surely creating that critical mass.

"We have to take advantage of the one chance we have with young people. To offer them interesting content and for them to learn something. Young people know exactly what they need and how they want to improve themselves. And if they see that we are offering it to them, they will come. Because of all this, we need this Youth Cultural Center that will give young people the opportunity to spend their free time in a quality way, to learn something, but also to have fun. We hope that the Municipality will recognize not our interest, but the interest of young people. We see that there are fewer and fewer of them in this city, that there is perhaps more and more destructive and fan-like behavior. And we want young people to have a place where they can present various contents with young people and for young people."

When "Youth" ignites a flame

"Optimists" through programs develop three main segments - volunteerism, activism and participation, and pay great attention to the protection of the environment and culture.

"We listen to the needs of young people and their interests, and that's how we create programs. As far as culture is concerned, we launched an online portal and magazine 'Youth', and we will also have a graffiti fest," says Milović Jasikovac.

The trademark of their portal and magazine is a flame, and Milović is pleased with how that flame started to flare up. He was a member of the Cultural Center "Punkt", which was formed in 2015 when young people decided to "infect" Nikšić with culture and to "punctuate" all possible and impossible places.

"The fire of 'Punkt' was burning very hot. This is an attempt to rekindle that fire. This time, much more systematic, more organized, much smarter and with much more financial support, above all from the European Commission and other donors, mainly from the European Union and the United States of America," says Milović.

Boško Milović
Boško Milovićphoto: Svetlana Mandić

They have published two issues of the magazine, the third will be published soon, and Milović hopes that instead of four issues a year, they will reach six issues.

"On most portals, we first see negative news, then the mass of news, sensationalism, fast news. We decided to stop for a while, to go back to some previous format that might be good because of some cognitive processes. The records are back, that slow food is also coming back, so let's see if we can help young people to start reading the magazine, to read stories that carry universal values. We often see in young people that they are not very enthusiastic about their city, and that is somewhat understandable because of the times we live in, but let's tell the stories of the people of Nikšić behind great achievements, to give the city a little back, to restore its self-confidence, to see who were they and what kind of people were among us, what did they mean and how much they can indirectly contribute to the development of a young man".

The magazine is the work of an editorial team behind eight or nine authors who are between 16 and over 40 years old, while the online portal is edited by another editorial team. They "don't bother" each other, interesting topics are lined up, and they don't hide their satisfaction with what they have done.

"The measure of our satisfaction is the comments of people we value. We believe that we have managed to create something on more than 60 pages that includes both photography and comics and stories from ancient times, and stories about women, about anti-fascism... It is not easy to make a mix like this without it being tasteful and that's what we have achieved by choosing the right people, so we are very satisfied. We will issue two more issues and then fight for the next funds, and if we can increase our capacity to six issues a year, because somehow that would be the right measure", says Milović.

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