CULTURAL CENTRE – Pančevo

CULTURAL CENTRE – Pančevo

The history of the Cultural Center is inseparably linked to the theatrical life of Pančevo, which spans around 250 years. Performances in the Serbian language are associated with the “father of Serbian theatre,” Joakim Vujić, who lived and worked in Pančevo from 1824. The golden age of Pančevo theatre was in the 1840s, when Nikola Đuričković founded a theatre troupe with all the characteristics of a permanent theatre.

From the 1850s until the fall of the monarchy in 1918, traveling theatre companies performed on the Pančevo stage in Serbian-Croatian, Hungarian, and German. At the beginning of 1945, the professional theatre in Pančevo became a section of the Vojvodina Theatre in Novi Sad. By a decision of the Expropriation Commission of the City People’s Committee, the building of wealthy merchant Oskar Fischgrund was seized in October 1947 as national property for the theatre’s needs. On December 28 of the same year, the theatre building was completed, with 600 seats and a balcony. This building is today known as the Cultural Center Pančevo.

At that time, the artistic ensemble numbered around 25 members, with over 70 employed in some periods. Between 1944 and 1956, nearly 2,000 performances were held on the main stage, with 425 guest performances. By a decision of the Municipal People’s Committee on February 28, 1956, the National Theatre was dissolved and transformed into a Cultural House. This decision had long-lasting consequences for the city’s cultural life. The institution was named the Olga Petrov Cultural Center Pančevo.

In the following years, theatrical activity slowed, and occasional guest performances created the impression of cultural offerings. Sporadic classical music concerts, mostly held in the Large Gallery (today the Gallery of Contemporary Art), were primarily educational, often featuring students from the music school.

In the 1980s, cultural life received new momentum. A children’s stage and a traveling puppet troupe were established, and in 1988, the children’s theatre “Trubač” was founded within the Center. In the 1990s, the Center entered a new phase. The building was reconstructed (auditorium capacity reduced to 380 seats, balconies removed, foyers and box office renovated), and the Olga Petrov Cultural Center was renamed the Cultural Center Pančevo.

In terms of production, the Center increasingly focused on visual arts, especially through the Pančevo Exhibition of Yugoslav Sculpture, which later evolved into the Biennial of Visual Arts.

Starting in 2006, the name changed again to Cultural Center Pančevo. Since then, the Center has operated more dynamically, offering a rich, diverse, and high-quality program, increasing investment activity, and by the end of 2006, constructing a new multipurpose building. At the same time, the Center began producing its own theatrical productions, primarily through the establishment of the children’s stage “Pođi tuda…”. In December 2006, a co-production agreement was signed with the National Theatre in Belgrade, reviving the long-standing tradition of creating theatre productions for adults.

4 Vojvode Živojina Mišića Street, Pančevo
+381 (0)13 346 579 fax: +381 (0)13 351 120
[email protected]
www.kulturnicentarpanceva.rs
facebook.com/kcpanceva

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