On Saturday, October 28, in the Artget KCB gallery, a panel was held Is the Earth Suffering: Regions of Serbia between different conceptions of development and social well-being.

Ratko Ristić, professor of the Faculty of Forestry, Zoran Erić, art historian, and Andreja Tutundžić, landscape architect, participated in the conversation, which was organized as part of the exhibition Possibilities of a Landscape. The panel was moderated by Suzana Gavrilović and Milena Putnik.

During the event, the audience had the opportunity to listen to fragments of the work Rain falls differently by Dušica Dražić, Mirjana Dragosavljević and Tanja Šljivar, who supplemented the story about different readings, interpretations and experiences of the landscape.

What is the area? How long does it take to demolish the landscape, and how much time is needed for its regeneration? How much emotional capital is contained in the image of a landscape, and what is its value from the point of view of capitalism? What is landscape neocolonialism? The meaning and possibilities offered by the landscape were discussed at the Saturday panel from the perspective of forestry engineers, art historians, landscape architects and artists, with reference to the entire social and economic context of the contemporary moment.

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.