The panel will meet in 20 September 2023 to recommend one city to become, in 2028, the third European Capital of Culture in an EFTA/EEA country, candidate country or potential country, after Novi Sad (Serbia) in 2022 and Bodo (Norway) in 2024. All the cities still in the running for France (Rouen, Bourges, Clermont-Ferrand, Montpellier) and the capital already chosen for the Czech Republic, Budweis, have already been interviewed by EcocNews.

We asked Skopje and Budva for an interview, but at the moment only the latter has replied.

Budva is a town in Montenegro on the Adriatic Sea. Part of the Budva Riviera, it's known for sandy beaches and nightlife. Stone walls built by the Venetians surround the narrow streets of the medieval old town (Stari Grad). This historic district is home to a seaside citadel and religious sites such as the Church of Santa Maria in Punta, established in the 9th century. 

The interview is with Dušan Kaličanin, initiator and coordinator of "Budva-Boka 2028 European Capital of Culture" candidacy.

Why did your city decide to apply for the European capital of culture?
Budva is anything but TOP. If anyone knows this harsh yet simple truth it is the people of Budva. Its residents. TOP (in our language "VRH") is our term for perfection. For excellence. For transcendence. To reach potential means always striving to attain your maximum potential. Your tipping point, which is the highest peak of any top. And this is the philosophy. This is the essence of life. Of lived life. To push further. To do it. To change. From within. There is truth in the words that all that is invisible changes all that is visible. By changing ourselves, on a deeply personal level, we change our surroundings, our walks of life. From micro space, understood as a personal, individual life, to macro space understood as the world, the society. Including Budva. Including Europe.
That said, Budva is far from perfection. Budva is a type of city that Aristotle talked about when he said that “large city should not be confused with densely populated place”. He wasn’t talking about Budva of course, but he might have as well. Budva is on a tipping point. Its tipping point. It is an inch away from collapsing into mere rubble.
We see the European Capital of Culture as a process that will, through culture and creativity lead Budva towards this perfection, this TOP. We couldn’t ask for more.

What do you think are the keywords of your application?
The concept of our original application is devised around the idea of reaching and overcoming the TOP, its tipping point. Imagine a hill, a two-dimensional drawing of a hill. On the left side there is ascent. On the other descent. Between them is a peak. Ascent is where Sisyphus spends his time constantly pushing the rock up that hill. He is trying for the top, for its highest peak. It is hard work and almost impossible but it is worth trying because he knows that once he reaches it he will be rewarded – he will be able to overcome the tipping point, which will make his descent almost effortless. In that moment, his rock, his life burden, will turn into a snowball effect. And the sheer amount of acceleration will give him momentum, strong enough not only to reach but to overcome the next top and the next one and the next one. So, this is the concept.
In line with this concept our programme is divided into three cycles: Earth, Sunlight, Water. Earth is all about the ascent, about who we are, our roots. Sunlight is the now, our tipping point. Life in the moment. Water is the life we imagine we could lead.

To understand who we are now, we have to look into the past, learn who we were, but we also have to be able to gaze into the future, imagine who we want to become. To understand how to live in the present, how to preserve the moment in which we find ourselves, we have to let go of the past, of all that is pulling us down, and embrace the unknown, both guilt and fear ridden. To feel it we have to be completely free. And in order to reach the future, the future full of new, potent and wonderous possibilities we have to strive for perfection. Now. In the present. With everything we’ve got, with everything we are, precisely because of the past, precisely because our distinct experiences that gave birth to our equally distinct identities. This is the tenet. Because a man without the past stands no chance at future in the present. This is exactly what binds and what holds everything together. The human kind, the world, the universe. The life itself.

How are you involving citizens in this competition?
From the beginning of our candidacy process, started in 2018. by group of citizens from all Boka region municipalities, we had a strong strategy for involving citizens in this project, but also in a program of our ECoC. Using this strategy we made several candidacy teams (Experts, Strategic, Management and Operational) that have directly talked to more than 800 people coming from the cultural institutions, the civil society, the private sector, informal groups, artists and cultural workers. We had around 1900 formal talks and have initiated a mapping of Budva’s cultural scene, first of its kind. Through this research of the cultural scene, which consisted of interviews with focus groups, comprised of our artists and cultural workers, and filling out the paperwork and our questionnaires, we had 38 meetings with 8 focus groups, 65 interviews, 9 panel discussions and 26 presentations. In our intent to familiarize the public with the ECoC project, and Budva-Boka 2028 in particular, we have organized 6 public lectures, 5 conferences, 9 debates and 7 Q&A events, including 9 focus groups and multitude of media appearances (television, radio and newspaper interviews and talks). About 3400 people attended all of our events.
As for the Cultural and the Artistic Content, we have decided to create it in a two-phase process, that entails a direct and an open call for the artists, cultural institutions and civil sector and the public. We successfully finished this and received 360 project ideas. Our culture and our program must be Engaging. It is all about being open and inviting. Being participative in a sense that the audience can be a part of creating the content about the topics and themes that are relevant to them, to you and for you, for creating your own new experiences.

We also strongly involved our citizens in this candidacy through participative and integrative processes of creating the City Strategy of Culture Development, the first document of its kind, a document that will put the culture first. This proces started one year ago and it was finalized on 18.8.2023. when City Assembly accepted our Strategy of Culture Development, made according to National Cultural Strategy of Montenegro.

What are the next steps on your journey?
On 28.8.2023. we will send our final Bid Book. On 14.9. we will host in Budva EU panel members and representatives of EU Commission. In Brussels on 19.9.2023. we will present our Application and on 20.9. we will, hopefully, win the title of European Capital of Culture.

What are your thoughts on the European Capital of Culture competition?
The candidacy for the title of European Capital of Culture is an ideal opportunity for Budva and Boka region to, together with friends from all over Europe, air out its space, clean it up, get rid of excess and embrace what is necessary.

Specifically, we have to remember who we are, we have to start living in the present moment, we have to stop the pollution and prevent it from spreading. To ennoble our soul with culture, culture understood as a way of life. That is when we will stand a chance of becoming the top. Only then, and not before.