STORY ABOUT “FACTORY”
The past and present of industrial Serbia intertwine through the “Factory” event space: the part of Belgrade around Pančevački bridge, where the building is situated, has been a place devoted to the development of industry ever since the 19th century. Exactly 123 years ago, in October 1895, a group of merchants founded here a modern slaghterhouse, from which the main Serbian export product – pork meat – travelled by railway to Europe. Soon after, besides the main building, sprouted cold storage, workers´apartment building and other auxiliary facilities, as well as a soap-making workshop, a stock- and postal-telegraph building. The investor and developer of the complex was Miloš Savčić, a famous industrialist, engineer, pre-war minister of construction, and the Mayor of Belgrade. Before the Second World War, he was ranked 11th in Europe in wealth. He employed 50,000 people.
Having flourished, this industrial zone of Belgrade was later exposed to constant change during the 20th century. These shifts impacted “Factory” too: the building often changed owners both state and private, and in this process was ruined, upgraded, expanded. In times of transition, this space, like in many other Eastern European countries, lived an alternative life, interesting mainly to musicians, photographers, painters, and other artists.