Prishtina, Amsterdam, Sarajevo and Skopje are four very different cities but recently they established a link that connects them on a cultural level - the 4 Tuned Cities film and visual arts festival. Co-curated by Balkan Buro (The Netherlands), Lokomotiva (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), Kriterion (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Dit’ e Nat’ (Kosovo*), the festival was held from September through November 2010 in each of the four cities. There were visual art exhibitions, film screenings, workshops and discussions as well as a side programme and music.

The goal of the festival is simple: to create the conditions for continuous exchange of information and knowledge about new artistic and cultural developments in the Balkans and Western Europe. Irmin van der Meijden from the Dutch organisation Balkan Buro says that the festival featured directors, artists, intellectuals, workshop leaders and musicians from the other cities.

"They had a large role during the festival, and contributed to building up a diverse network. Creative people from the four different cities got to know each other well, and started making plans for new projects".

Violeta Kachakova of Skopje's Lokomotiva says that every participant played an active role at the festival by presenting the film/work and the creative conditions in his or her native city.

"This intensive cooperation created space for a more detailed knowledge of the artistic contexts that each curator, artist or film director involved in the project works in as well as space for joint operations and an exchange of different professional experiences".

Bojan Papić from Kriterion Sarajevo says that the festival was a success in each of the cities, with high attendance at the exhibitions, screenings and workshops. "This has demonstrated an interest in the cultural contexts of the cities involved in the project, and partly offered an opportunity to those that are not familiar with the scene in the other cities to learn something".

“4 Tuned Cities” was curated by international teams of young professionals. There were six selectors for the visual arts programme and nine curators of the film programme. They worked together for a year. The main programme included 12 artists and two additional artists and there was a local selection. The film aspect of the festival united 36 movies by young directors which were divided into six thematic programmes of short film (fiction, documentary, animated, experimental and music videos) and two feature films.

In Kachakova's view, one of the goals of “4 Tuned Cities” was overcoming the stereotypes that exist in both directions - from the Balkans to the EU and from the EU to the Balkans. Van der Meijden says that they "really wanted to cooperate equally" and that's why the project was set up with a very democratic decision making structure.

"This meant that all partners were equally involved in the fund-raising, programming and implementation of the festivals. This strengthened the relationship with the partners intensely, resulting in a high level of mutual trust. This level of cooperation overcomes the usual stereotyping and regional mistrust".

As a result of the high level of mutual trust the four organisations have developed, slowly, but surely, preparations for the second edition of 4 Tuned Cities have begun. Violeta Kachakova:  "We're contemplating how to give the programme a more educational character by organising various workshops on film, perhaps even artistic residences as well as more contextual, theoretical reflections about the contemporary art scene that developed through this type of cooperation".