CGA Heads off to Novi Sad to Explore the Metaverse

Dear friends, we are proud and excited to share the news of our next big adventure – CGA NOVI SAD. This international event will be held in the beautiful town of Novi Sad, soon-to-be known as the European Capital of Culture 2022.

CGA Novi Sad LIVE event is organized under the wing of the foundation’s main event, the Kaleidoscope of Culture which will be held from September 2nd to September 5th, 2021 in Novi Sad’s Creative District. There, CGA will join other brilliant art collectives including Ars Electronica from Linz, Austria and Burgtheater from Berlin, Germany, among others.

Since many members of our community, both lecturers and industry veterans, come from this town, the CGA team was looking for a way to say a big thank you for their continuing support. Therefore, building a connection with the “Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture” Foundation was a logical step forward. With that in mind, this year’s conference will focus on the CGArts content track.

CGArts: Enter the Metaclub, the main program of CGA Novi Sad, is created in synergy with the Kaleidoscope of Culture to expand our audience reach from the creative professionals to the general public interested in digital art. The goal of this partnership is to create a continuous and tightly connected community of artists, tech, and audiovisual industry in all its forms and narratives, as well as initiating/opening active communication with the general public through artistic expressions under the CGA’s and Kaleidoscope of Culture’s united flag.

The main theme of the CGArts program relates to meta worlds and digital spaces created by artists Tanja Vujinović and Andreas Wannerstedt, curated by the award-winning curator and art critic Maja Ćirić. In addition to the exhibition, CGA Novi Sad will become a meeting point for multidisciplinary artists, students, and academics by connecting them with the CGA community by conquering new spaces for digital creativity and serving as a bridge between technology, classical art, and new generations. The program, among other things, should connect the developed creative ecosystem of Novi Sad, all its current and future actors, with global industrial practices in the continuous creation of new art forms based on computer graphics.

But that’s not all. CGA Novi Sad will feature a handful of additional content, including CGAcademy live sessions, industry panel and talks. Moreover, a big part of the CGA Novi Sad additional program will focus on Unreal Engine, an amazing tool for creating interactive digital content that we have featured in our programs throughout the year, such as Summer of Unreal.

Check Out the Timeline

The art exhibition will remain open to the public during all four days of Kaleidoscope of Culture, and is free to visit on-site in Novi Sad’s Creative District. The show will start right after the official conference program ends and will be open till midnight.
Thursday, September 2nd
20:00 Kaleidoscope of Culture Grand Opening
20:30 CGA Novi Sad: Enter the MetaClub exhibition opening

Friday, September 3rd
16:15 – 16:30 CGA Novi Sad Opening Ceremony: Founders Talk (live + online)
Speakers: Miljana Jovović (Crater Training Center), Milica Božanić (Serbia Film Commission), Miloš Milošević (VFX Serbia)
16:30 – 17:00 CGArts:The Negotiating The Phygital, keynote talk by Maja Ćirić (live)
17:00 – 17:45 CGArts: Artist Talk, moderated by Maja Ćirić (live + online)
18:00 – 18:45 CGArts: How filmmaking in Unreal Engine has set me free (live lecture)
Industry talk by Sava Živković (Axis Studios)

Saturday, September 4th
17:00 – 18:00 CGAcademy: Train the Trainers – What’s Next? (live panel)
Panel discussion with participants at the Train the Trainers specialized courseModerator: Marija Rakić Lovrić (Crater Training Center); Participants: Adam Kovač (3Lateral/Epic Games), Ratko Obradović (Faculty of Technical Sciences, Novi Sad), Ivica Milarić (Academy of Arts, Novi Sad), Neda Milić Keresteš (Faculty of Technical Sciences, Novi Sad)
18:15 – 19:15 CGAcademy: Opportunities for Animation in Unreal Engine (online panel)
Moderator: Mark Flanagen (Epic Games); Participants: Andrew Brassington (Escape Studios), Tom Box (Blue Zoo Animations), Draško Ivezić (Ceo and Animator, Adriatic Animation)
19:20 – 20:20 CGAcademy: Virtual Filmmaking (online lecture)
Industry talk by Clement Gharini (Escape Studios)

Sunday, September 5th
There will be no additional program on this day. The exhibition will remain open to the public until the end of the evening.

WATCH THE SESSIONS HERE