Skopje conference considers creative hubs

On Wednesday the Macedonian capital, Skopje, hosted the Creative Hub Conference, bringing together experts from the region and the UK to discuss the future of creative industries.

Organised by the “Plakart” designers’ association, the Skopje office of the British Council and the Macedonian Ministry of Culture, the conference addressed the possibility of establishing creative hubs, as well as other topics such as copyright and creative education.

“The conference promotes a model that existed back in former Yugoslavia. A creative hub is like an OZT­Organisation of Joint Labour, where everyone takes part in the policy creation, where all designers realise their activities in one place and are responsible for its maintenance. This model should become a reality, a model that brings creative people together”, said the president of “Plakart”, Laze Tripkov, at the opening of the conference.

Lynsey Smith from the British Council highlighted the diverse definitions of a “hub”, emphasising that it may be a repurposed space, can be made up of and used by various creative businesses and organisations and managed by a group or an individual. “The hub is a model that interweaves through sectors. [...] Hubs are a good way to unite creative communities, contributing to the economy,” she said.

The Macedonian Ministry of Culture, which supported the opening of a public creative hub in November, has undertaken to examine the hub model and focus on the possible widening of its scope in Macedonia.

Source: Independent.mk