The Model
About Magacin:
The Magacin Cultural Centre is a cultural and social centre and it is a resource managed by the community of users according to the commonly established rules. Magacin is not defined by a rigid programme or curatorial concept, but nourishes and supports a wide range of contemporary creation programmes, as well as socially responsible initiatives that act in the public interest. Art organizations, associations, informal art groups and individuals (regardless of age), acting in accordance with the values of Magacin and with the conditions of use can use resources at Magacin not only for working and realizing their programmes in the field of contemporary art and culture, but also for a wider range of social practices. Magacin is available to hundreds of users on a daily basis through the open calendar model, free of charge. The open calendar allows all potential users (no matter whether they have the status of regular or new and occasional users) to have the same rights and conditions to use the space. Although primarily oriented towards the independent and informal scene, Magacin is also open for cooperation with institutions.
The spaces, programmes and other resources of Magacin are available in the following areas of activity:
– contemporary art and culture
– programmes aimed at developing and strengthening the capacities of civil sector organizations, informal groups, individuals and other subjects in the fields of culture, education, youth, media, human rights, social issues, urban development and environment.
These areas of activity need to be founded on the values of human freedoms and rights, social diversity, cooperation, solidarity and tolerance, transparency, mutual trust and responsibility.
The Values Of Magacin:
- Equality and justness – The Magacin users’ community does not allow any discrimination, abuse, harassment or exploitation.
- Professionalism and responsibility – The Magacin users are expected to act professionally and responsibly in carrying out programmes and other activities, with particular attention to respecting the house rules and the Magacin Model of Use.
- Participation – Magacin is committed to and respects the principles of participation in making decisions, transparency of decision-making procedures, rules and processes. Given the modest resources and lack of available dates, Magacin is working on a model that would enable time and space sharing in using the resources, maximizing the benefit of all potential users. In this regard, the basic goal of the model is defined to enable all potential users to have equal conditions of use, equal chances to participate and equality in decision making.
- Cooperation – The Magacin Assembly sees the users as partners and seeks to establish and maintain a relationship based on cooperation and mutual trust with each organization. In order to ensure the horizontal practice of dialogue and encourage the partnership role of all the Magacin’s users, they regularly meet and consider ways of improving their work or possible irregularities in work.
- Availability – programmes that are carried out in Magacin are open to everyone, free of charge and should be available as widely as possible.
- Financial transparency – Magacin manages its finances in a transparent and responsible manner, and publishes reports on collected and spent funds. The financial model of Magacin is based on donations from users, friends of Magacin and citizens. The amount of donations has no influence on any privileges or benefits involving the management, use, and appropriation of Magacin’s resources.
- Respecting personal autonomy of work and artistic (cultural) creation – all users have the right to use Magacin, regardless of their activities outside of Magacin, as long as they do not jeopardize other persons and the community of Magacin as a whole.
- Social Change – Social change is the basis of the work of Magacin and, for this reason, programmes and activities for the benefit of a larger group of people and the society as a whole must be nurtured, i.e., we see the primacy of public good over particular and private interests as the basis.
Programme priorities for using resources within the open calendar
In cases when more people apply for the same date, the type of programme will be priority criterion, in accordance with the following list of priorities:
- Public programmes – events open to the general public (art events, lectures, public debates and conferences, etc.);
- Work-production programmes within which a public event is prepared – rehearsals, artistic research, office work, meetings of organizations and teams, and the like;
- Programmes designed for a smaller group of users (closed events, training sessions and other meetings).
Unacceptable behaviours and programmes:
- Discrimination – direct or indirect personal discrimination based on religion, ethnicity or nationality, race, sex, sexual orientation, financial situation, lifestyle, age, disability, political affiliation or the state of health.
- Harassment – inappropriate behaviour towards other members: physical and verbal attacks, intimidation, creating an unpleasant work environment.
- Religious programmes – Resources at Magacin cannot be used for religious programmes and meetings organized by associations or other entities that are of a religious character in their primary orientation or that advocate a particular religion.
- Political parties – Magacin cannot be used either by a political party or an organization for realizing programmes that promote a political party.
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- Privatization of the space – Magacin is a common resource used by a large number of people and organizations, and therefore any privatization or appropriation of one or more spaces is impermissible.
- Profit Making – All the spaces and activities in Magacin are free of charge for users and audiences, so it is not possible to realize programmes of a commercial character, i.e., activities and programmes that are charged.
Magacin with its practice focuses on the importance of joint governance and collaboration, and all the decisions about it are made with the participation of all its users, in line with the defined organizational structure and rules of decision making.
The use of Magacin is based on the principles of an open platform through the model of an open calendar. This model allows daily available free of charge resources to hundreds of users that together contribute to the maintenance and development of the space, and its visibility and value.
The Organizational structure of Magacin
Magacin is managed by the community of its users in accordance with common rules of use, principles and values. The ICSS Association advocates for the legal status of Magacin and is in charge of project funding, it takes part in the work of the Coordinating body which is dedicated exclusively to these issues, and it also takes part in the functioning of the Assembly of Magacin, as defined by the rules.
The role of the ICSS Association
The Association of ICSS represents Magacin and advocates for the status of the Centre as a space for independent culture and a social space that is available to a large number of users through the open calendar model. Until the legal status of Magacin is resolved, the Association NKSS represents the cultural and social centre Magacin, it participates in projects in the name of Magacin and makes Magacin visible and present in other networks and initiatives together with the Assembly of regular users. In collaboration with the users, the Association participates in the realization of the model of common management that implies the active participation of users in management, decision making, development and maintenance of the space. The seat of the Association of ICSS is at Magacin, which makes the Association one of the regular users of the space.
The managing bodies of Magacin are The Magacin Users’ Assembly and The Magacin Coordinating Body
Magacin Users’ Assembly is the main managing body of Magacin and it consists of all regular users of the premises. The User’s Assembly manages the space and makes decisions regarding Magacin’s activities, its development, regular maintenance, conditions of use, joint actions and other topics important for the operation and functioning of Magacin, except for public advocacy and project financing, on which the Assembly must agree with the Coordinating Body. The Assembly meets regularly at minimum once a month, and the Assembly sessions are scheduled by the Magacin coordinator. At regular monthly sessions, the Assembly
does not require quorum, but decisions on current issues regarding the Magacin’s spaces are made by simple majority vote among the members present.
The Magacin Coordinating Body is a body that ensures continuous communication between the Magacin Users’ Assembly and the Managing Board of the Association of ICSS. The Coordinating body has 5 members: the coordinator of the Association ICSS, one member of the ICSS managing board and three representatives of the regular users of Magacin, delegated directly by the Users’ Assembly.
Regular users are all the users (organizations and individuals) who use the space regularly, have direct access to the open calendar, officially agree to the conditions of using the space and who participate in the work of the Assembly and in the maintenance of the space. All members of individual organizations that have the status of regular users can equally participate as individuals in the functioning of the Assembly. The Assembly of Users votes for the election of new users into the status of regular users and also for the withdrawal of the status for those users that breach the principles of use and the values of Magacin. Organizations and individuals can be erased from and once again replaced on the list of regular users. Regular users do not have preemptive right to use Magacin. Every regular user must have their account on the Open calendar and must use it according to set rules and guidelines, respecting all other regular users and their programmes. An organization or an individual can lose the status of regular user if they do not fill out the Doodle calendar for the appointment of regular monthly meetings of the Assembly for three times in a row, if they break the terms of use and maintenance of the space or if they do not respect the main terms and values of Magacin. Once a year, the Assembly will revise the status of regular users. If the conditions are met, The Assembly decides on the withdrawal of the status from a user, at regular assembly meetings.
New users can become regular users if they show interest to use the space regularly, if they agree to the conditions of use and maintenance of the space, if they act in accordance with the values of Magacin, and if the User’s Assembly at a regular session, after the presentation of a new user and their activities, has no objection to the work of the organization or individual applying for the regular user status.
Work groups, formed by the Magacin Users’ Assembly, specifically deal with individual topics or spaces of Magacin. Currently, the following work groups work at Magacin: Dance Hall Work Group, Ostavinska Work Group, Practice Work Group,
Cowork Work Group, Equipment Fund Work Group. Individual work groups meet as needed, deal with the assigned tasks and regularly report to the Users’ Assembly about their work.
The operating bodies of Magacin are the Coordinator, the Technical maintenance team, the PR team and the Photo documentation team.
Coordinator
The function of coordinator is an operational function that provides communication and support for new users, coordination of regular users’ activities, coordination of regular monthly sessions of the Assembly; the coordinator also performs the function of a treasurer, who manages the current finances of the space. The coordinator is elected at regular monthly sessions of the Users’ Assembly. It is a rotating function with a mandate of one month, and is selected from among the users who apply for the function. If there are enough regular users that are interested in being in the role of the coordinator, the same person can be a coordinator of Magacin maximum one mandate a year. The coordinator gets for the work she or he has invested, a financial compensation that depends on the current financial capacities of Magacin, and the fee will be decided on by the Assembly of Users. The coordinator gets access to the mail, the coordinators phone, keys (entrance, co/work, technique) and the folder with forms for issuing keys and equipment.
The document from which the Coordinator informs him or herself about his or her duties is “Today when I become a coordinator”.
The Technical maintenance team
Technical maintenance implies the planning and execution or coordination of work on the maintenance of the space (electricity, water, internet, mobiliary, equipment, locks, interior partitions and removals, ventilation, heating, etc.).
This function is carried out by the Technical Maintenance Team, which delegates a member, each month, to be the Technical Maintenance Coordinator. Any regular Magacin user with the necessary knowledge and skills for the maintenance of the mentioned technical systems of Magacin can become a member of the team.
The PR Team
The PR Team is responsible for a series of activities related to the overall communication of Magacin with the audience. These activities imply: communication through social networks; website maintenance; gathering materials from users needed to compile and send newsletter announcements of public events in Magacin spaces; gathering photographs and video, audio and textual documentation about the programmes produced by Magacin users; coordination of photographing of public events, work drives, etc.
The Photo Documentation Team
The Photo Documentation Team photographs important events at Magacin in coordination with the PR Team – public events, work drives, and ensures the continuity of documentary photographing of Magacin. The Photo Documentation Team includes all users who are interested and who have some experience photographing events and who wish to develop their skills further. The Photo team receives financial compensation for their work. The amount of the compensation depends on the current financial capacities of Magacin, and the exact value is decided by the Users’ Assembly.
Finances
The Coordinator is in charge of all the current financial issues, while project fundraising is done by the Magacin Coordinating Body in collaboration with Magacin Users’ Assembly.
All users of the space are encouraged to include a certain amount for the maintenance of the space of Magacin in the budget of their project proposals. By doing so, they contribute to the development of Magacin, and to the visibility of Magacin as part of the program activities of its users. The amount depends solely on the possibilities and the estimation of the users themselves. This financing practice is not compulsory and it is based exclusively on the voluntary initiative of the users.
