Balcanis Magazine

Launched in 2001 by KUD Balkanika in Ljubljana, Balcanis Magazine covers current events and issues in individual countries of Central and South Eastern Europe. It intervenes and takes initiatives within cultural and theoretical fields in the region and seeks to stimulate creativity and dialogue among interrelated cultures that transcend language and national boundaries. The aim of Balcanis is to create an open space which addresses all fields of arts and culture (literature, music, film, cartoons, fine arts, new media, etc) and also to review cultural events and phenomena in contemporary society. Each issue contains a thematic block, for example the punk movement in Slovenia, refugees and citizenship, or theatre or film in the region.

Balcanis editorials have been established in every country, with a co-ordination office located in Ljubljana. Editors have worked continuously on widening the net of new contributors and authors. Balcanis is a member of the international organisations EUROZINE, the European cultural magazines network, the Balkan Association of Publishers (BAP), Blesok (Skopje, Macedonia), Društvo Balcanis (Beograd, Serbia), BUYBOOK (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina) and ATTACK (Zagreb, Croatia). The magazine has been distributed and promoted in bookstores in Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, and is also supplied at kiosks in Serbia and Montenegro. Balcanis hopes to attract contributors from more countries in the future.

Up to 2003 Balcanis appeared five times a year in a printed form of about 140 pages and in an online version. The articles were first published in their original language, then appeared on the Internet translated into various other languages. Since 2003 the magazine has appeared less frequently.