AKTO 2025 – Contemporary Art Festival: “How Is It Done?”

From October 2 to 5, 2025, the 20th anniversary of the AKTO Festival of Contemporary Art was held in Skopje, and Shadow Casters had the honor of participating in this celebration.

About the Festival
The AKTO Festival of Contemporary Art has been running since 2006 and is one of the longest-standing independent festivals in North Macedonia. This 20th anniversary edition was held under the title “How Is It Done?”, with the aim of publicly questioning the process of creating festivals, cultural programs, and artistic events.

The questions posed by the festival:
• How are cultural programs conceived and produced?
• How do festival formats change over time?
• How do artists and organizers survive in challenging conditions?
• How do they connect with local communities and spaces?

In all of this, Shadow Casters found their place as well. That is why Boris Bakal, director of the film Vitić Dances, traveled to North Macedonia to present the film and the CinEd Croatia project. The CinEd project was presented through a collection of films screened for the youngest audiences.

Program Overview
The festival opened on October 2 with a lecture by Daniel Kunert from ARCH+ on the topic of ecological tools for the future. The following day, October 3, the festival was officially opened at the former Railway Cinema, where the performance “This Building Talks” from the project “If Buildings Could Talk” took place, alongside film screenings and discussions.

October 4 was dedicated to the theme “How Is It Done?”, featuring talks, workshops, public interventions, and discussions on resilience in the cultural sector. Collaborations with curators, artists, and communities were also held.
The festival concluded on October 5 with children’s workshops, performances, and concerts, ending with a communal cooking session and artistic actions.

Key themes of this anniversary edition were:
• Art in public space
• Ecology and sustainability
• Social engagement and collective care
• The issue of infrastructure and cultural policy
• The role of independent initiatives in society

Take a look at the gallery to see how we celebrated the 20th anniversary!

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