This story is part of our Stories of Impact series, spotlighting our Fellows who, through socially engaged arts, work with communities across Europe to confront the past, respond to present challenges, and co-create futures grounded in care, solidarity, and collective thriving. Here, Andrej reflects on the potential of the arts to heal old wounds.
Art allows me to communicate complex, often polarising issues in ways that are accessible to wide and diverse audiences. I founded Heartefact to create a space where difficult pasts can be understood and critically examined, so as not to be repeated.
Heartefact is a multidisciplinary cultural organisation that supports and connects artists and critical voices, working across human rights and social dialogue in post-conflict contexts in the Balkans. We elevate new voices and diverse perspectives through contemporary theatre, writing programmes, residencies, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Alongside artistic production, we also provide grants and institutional support to artists and organisations working in under-resourced circumstances.
Our practice is cross-border and collaborative: we work with artists, writers, human rights defenders, and other civil society actors to build partnerships that connect existing communities and create new ones.
Through socially engaged arts, we foster dialogue and social cohesion across inherited political and social divisions, and centre marginalised identities and perspectives through access to space, resources, and long-term mentorship.
Over 17 years, we’ve supported more than 100 artists, writers, and activists, distributed over 300 grants across five Balkan countries, and produced more than 50 theatrical productions, exhibitions, and festivals. This has engaged over a thousand direct participants and reached millions of indirect beneficiaries through audiences, educational programmes, and public discourse.
To take one example, we’ve produced works that have dealt with the legacy of the Yugoslav wars. These have toured the local region and internationally, and fostered post-show discussions where contested histories can be publicly discussed. But the impact of Heartefact lies less in individual productions and more in the ecosystem we’ve helped build. We’ve contributed to the emergence of a new generation of Balkan theatre-makers, the strengthening of artistic collaboration in a politically fragmented region, and the establishment of deep-rooted partnerships between artists, civil society actors, and European cultural institutions.
Our long-term goal is to contribute to a more connected, empathetic, and resilient European cultural space – one where artists from historically marginalised regions can participate as equal voices. I hope socially engaged arts will help build more solidarity by connecting societies across borders and histories. Starting from the Balkans but reaching far beyond, we can foster trust, empathy, and shared responsibility, shaping Europe as a space of care, dialogue, and collective imagination.
Explore more stories of socially engaged arts driving change across Europe. View the Stories of Impact map here.
