From 1 to 3 October 2026, the Museum of Vojvodina in Novi Sad hosted the international conference Museums That Care: Well-being, Community and Museums. Organized by the museum’s Department of Education and Presentation to mark its 50th anniversary, the conference asked how museums can improve quality of life for individuals and communities. As a RE-MIND partner, the Museum of Vojvodina built the conference program around ideas close to the project’s own focus on mindful museum practices and well-being.
The conference opened with four keynotes. Prof. Dr Marija Jevtić (University of Novi Sad) made the public health case for culture as a determinant of well-being. Elisabeth Ioannides (National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens) presented art psychotherapy and Greece’s Art on Prescription pilot. Elma Fišić (History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina) asked “Who cares for those who care for heritage?”, looking at the emotional labor of curators working with war and trauma. Carla Costa (Lisbon) spoke about the ethics of care in the way we gather.
Participants also took part in hands-on workshops inspired by the museum’s own collections and building. These included drama workshops around the Roman gilded helmets from Berkasovo, a reflection on identity through traditional ceremonial headdresses, contemporary embroidery, Anti-Stress Dance, Culture on Prescription session at the Gallery of Matica Srpska and sensory exploration of the museum’s garden. Eleven presentations of good practice came from Ireland, Malta, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. They covered sensory-friendly design, community kitchens, co-created writing with refugees, teen clubs, and museum education on difficult histories.
Youth Museum Theatre recognized as RE-MIND best practice
Among the good-practice presentations was one that RE-MIND has recognized as one of best museum practices that uses mindful methods. Aida Šarac Berbić, museum educator at the National Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina and General Secretary of the Balkan Museum Network, presented Youth Museum Theatre: Interdisciplinary Art Museum Program for Adolescents.
Adolescents are among the least represented groups in museums. To change that, Aida developed the program at the National Gallery in 2023 that helped them connect with the museum collection on a personal level. Over four months, high school students worked with a museum educator, a dramaturge and a body movement expert. They explored artworks and contemporary social issues and connected the collections to their own experiences. Mindful methods used in this program are reflected in the meditative and socio-cognitive approach. The program ended with a youth theatre performance in the museum’s permanent exhibition space, turning adolescents from visitors into co-creators and active critical thinkers on contemporary and future society.
The Balkan Museum Network congratulates the Museum of Vojvodina and its Department of Education and Presentation on 50 years of work and on a conference that put care at the center of museum practice. We thank the organizers for their hospitality and for creating space for this regional exchange.
Individual and institutional members of Balkan Museum Network from Kumanovo Museum, Terra Kikinda, Museum of Kikinda, National Museum of Serbia, War Childhood Museum and other institutions took part in the conference in Novi Sad.
RE-MIND: A Mindfulness-Based Capacity-Building Model for Digital Wellbeing and Intergenerational Audience Engagement in Museums project is co-funded by the European Union.
