WELTSTADT

Bureau Savamala – view from workplace onto the street
Anna Hohler © Goethe Institut
Text written by Anna Hohler, Weltstadt Correspondent for Belgrade

Diagonally across from the Mikser House, on the same street as the Camenzind editorial board, is a wine shop named Mala Toskana, Little Tuscany. Here, Andrej Matjasic greets his customers with a glass of red wine and a chat. He is a computer scientist, but two years ago, his love of wine led him to give up his first profession and open this little pub in Savamala. Business isn’t going quite as it should – the wine, including less-exclusive bottles, is affordable only with difficulty for many here – but Andrej is convinced: the neighbourhood is on the up and up. And since he has recently started serving coffee as well, and now and then on Friday or Saturday evenings organises concerts and readings in addition to wine tastings, the Little Tuscany is gradually making a name for itself.

This and similar phenomena will be studied in the Bureau Savamala, the observation post for both the Urban Incubator projects as well as for other events occurring in Savamala at the same time that contribute to neighbourhood development. Dobrica Veselinovic is sitting in a tiny office, almost like an aquarium, with a view out onto the street. He is a political scientist and activist with the NGO Ministry of Space and casts a critical, almost cynical gaze at his interlocutor. He cannot say anything about Urban Incubator yet, because the Bureau Savamala had only gotten started in March and is still in its start-up phase.