On Saturday, October 28, at 1 p.m., a panel discussion was held in the Artget gallery of the Cultural Center of Belgrade as part of the exhibition Possibilities of the Landscape of the Center for the Promotion of Science: Does the Land Suffer: Landscapes of Serbia between Different Concepts of Development and Social Welfare.

Participants: Ratko Ristić, professor of the Faculty of Forestry, Zoran Erić, art historian, Andreja Tutundžić, landscape architect. Moderated by: Suzana Gavrilović and Milena Putnik. The forest from Pešter also had its voice in this conversation, as we were listening to fragments of the work Rain Falls Differently by Dušica Dražić, Mirjana Dragosavljević and Tanja Šljivar.

The extensive alterations to the landscape and the utilitarian exploitation of the environment as a resource reservoir are consistently rationalized by their purported alignment with societal needs and their integral role in overarching development plans. Presently, in Serbia, the repercussions of this approach, prompted by shifts in the social system, have manifested in the formation of disrupted landscapes. As we reflect upon the outcomes of past initiatives, it is opportune to scrutinize the presumed societal needs to date and seek a more nuanced perspective.