Serbia joins International Art Consortium

Ryan L. Hart

The Signal

Professor of Art Sandria Hu traveled to the Republic of Serbia Oct. 11-17 to help officially join the University of Arts in Belgrade with the International Art Consortium at University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Hu and Faculty of Fine Arts at University of Arts in Belgrade’s Dean Milutin Dragojlovic signed the International Affiliation Agreement Oct. 13, making Serbia the fifth school to join the consortium.

The UHCL International Art Consortium is a collaboration in which the UHCL Art faculty exchanges art exhibitions, workshops and presentations with other universities’ faculty.

The other universities within UHCL’s International Art Consortium are: University of Hawaii at Hilo; Universidad de Veracruzana Facultad de Artes Plasticas, in Xalapa, Mexico; University of West Bohemia, Institute of Art and Design in Plzen, Czech Republic; and the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Hu has traveled abroad on a yearly basis since 1986 and is relieved to have finally solidified the agreement with the University of Arts in Belgrade.

Along with signing the agreement, UHCL Professor of Sculpture Jason Makepeace, Adjunct Instructor in Printmaking Susan Dubois and Hu also performed workshops in painting, printmaking and sculpture for faculty and students at the University of Arts in Belgrade.

Kristina Jantz, UHCL graduate student in painting, went along to gain experience while attending different studios and workshops.

Bringing students along whenever possible is something Hu enjoys doing and encourages any who can travel to do so before “life gets in the way.”

“This part was to initiate everybody to the university and the collaboration,” Hu said. “There is no reason for me to go back now, but for any student interested in international exchange, a good time to do it is while you’re young. I wouldn’t wait.”

Makepeace plans to make his way back to the University of Arts in Belgrade to conduct a three-week-long, extensive sculpture workshop in October 2012 for students and faculty.

Makepeace’s trip ultimately relies on the grants awarded by becoming a Fulbright Specialist, a prestigious achievement he is close to completing.

As stated on the website fulbright.state.gov, the Fulbright Program is the flagship international education exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government.

Though it is not uncommon for students and faculty to join in travels, Makepeace is planning to make this trip by himself.

“I would be really excited,” Makepeace said about the possibility. “The people [in Serbia] treated me really nice and made me feel at home. Being in any foreign country and learning to coexist under their culture with an open mind is the mentality I try to keep.”

Also probable for 2012 is the arrival of faculty from the University of Arts in Belgrade to do collaboration workshops here at UHCL.

This must be planned in advance because of the different laws required to travel from the Republic of Serbia.

“I just show my passport, and I go,” Hu said. “That’s not how it works over there.”

Looking past 2012, UHCL and University of Arts in Belgrade are teaming together to jointly participate in the 2014 FotoFest, the largest and longest-running international photography festival in the United States.

UHCL’s International Art Consortium is a partnership venue with FotoFest, which is based in Houston. Because of the amount of work put into each event, FotoFest presents only one event every two years.

UHCL is joining with partners in Czech Republic and Slovakia to participate in the 2012 Contemporary Russian-themed FotoFest event. The festival is active from March 16 to April 29 in multiple venues throughout Houston.




Slideshow created by The Signal reporter Jessica Casarez.