SERBIA - National review, No 57
Prologue
From the viewpoints above the canyon of the Tara one sees to the bottom of oneself. Through the clouds, through time. Belgrade has shown us that one can be visited by friends, travelers, but also by a city. During the haymaking near Smederevo we were reminded that a community rests on solidarity. In Kordun, we visited the Serbian guardians of the flames in a deep, deep night. We read a novel translated by Queen Draga. We went to Hyperborea through the paintings of Dragoša Kalajić. We leafed through the worlds of the writer Gordana Ćirjanić. (...) It is summer, deceptive like all summers before. Let us not forget to live. And that this is not a dress rehearsal. <
CONTENTS
Prologue
DON’T FORGET THE VALUE OF WHAT YOU’VE GOT
Peppers
Vitrage
NUMBERS, EVENTS, INTERESTING THINGS
Album
PHOTO TESTIMONIES OF ALEKSANDAR ĆOSIĆ
Unexplained Beauty
Visit
THROUGH KOSOVO AND METOHIJA, FROM HEARTH TO RUIN AND BACK
In a Vortex of Memories
We went to Mušutište, near Suva Reka, to mark our saint day on the ruins of the old church. We brought gifts and memories, the saint day cake and good will. However, they didn’t let us reach those foundations. Serbs exiled from this medieval Serbian village were again convinced in the same thing. The Albanian newcomers destroyed their houses and churches, entered their estates hidden behind someone else’s missiles and bombardiers, although deep inside they know it is not theirs and that nothing there is for eternity. And it’s certainly not easy to live in front of such a mirror
By: Vladimir Janković
Photo: Željko Sinobad
Guide
CASTLES OF BANAT, NEGLECTED TREASURE OF THE PLAIN
White Sails in the Sea of Wheat
They are traces of a past stylishness, which we nostalgically remember. From Novi Kneževac to the Vršac Mountains, about fifteen have remained. Dressed in beautiful parks, hidden from vulgar curiosity of modern barbarians, most of them renewed, these edifices have an undisputed cultural and tourism potential. Hoping that it will finally be understood in the appropriate instances, we are taking you to a light cruise
Text and photo: Miodrag Grubački
Invitation
SAVAMALA, A BLEND OF HISTORY AND POSTMODERN URBAN CULTURE OF BELGRADE
New Life of the Old Neighborhood
The first part of Belgrade was built outside the walls of the Fortress, at one time the center of the city, then for a long time industrial and trade neighborhood, Savamala is now transformed into a neighborhood of special urban culture, street and applied arts, creative entertainment. Therefore, it is very popular among young people and tourists, and almost every building there is a cultural monument
Encounters
IMPORTANT FESTIVALS SPICED UP THIS AUTUMN IN RUMA
Describe Srem with Tamburitza
Twenty Fifth Festival of large Tamburitza Ensembles and fifty third Festival of Music Societies of Vojvodina brought good quality programs and participants. They filled the city with music, dancing and joy, true spirit of the people and their creativity. Local self-government was again a reliable support. Even more and better next year
Text and photo: Mile Vajagić
Pro Memoria
MILADIN PEĆINAR (1893-1973), ACADEMICIAN, PIONEER OF SERBIAN HYDROLOGY ENGINEERING, WAR HERO, VISIONARY
The Architect Who Built with Goodness
Nothing educates us as deeply as the examples of great ancestors, simple and unconditionally dedicated. This little boy from Ljubiš on Zlatibor became one of the 1.300 corporals in World War I, attended great schools, built many dams and hydroelectric power plants in two Yugoslavias, waterworks in many cities, the Sava Lake in Belgrade and the one in the center of Zlatibor. He was member of SANU, published many scientific works in engineering. He also wrote an important book-testimony, with many signs along a difficult path. And he is lasting
By: Miloš Lazić
Worlds
IGOR VASILJEV (1928–1954), AN EXTRAORDINARY PHENOMENON IN XX CENTURY SERBIAN PAINTING
The War of a Knight against Demons
He has no predecessors or heirs. He is so unique that even today he remains misunderstood. He is the great precursor of the renewal of figuration, fantastic art and expressionism in the horizon of European values. He confronted conformists and injustice like Po and Baudelaire, shocked both the bourgeoisie and the socialists. He was ”the challenge to official optimism”. He confronted evil and monstrousness with a mirror, with astonishing boldness. Such exceptional spirits overcome space and time, belong more to Heavens than to Earth
By: Dejan Đorić
Jubilee
HUNDRED AND FORTY YEARS OF THE ”GUSLE” SOCIETY IN KIKINDA
Living Foundations of Folk Culture
They were guests of more than three hundred places, held about four and a half thousand concerts. They have been publishing the ”Gudalo” magazine already since the XIX century, initiated the founding of the educational department for traditional dances, have their own Scientific and Investigative Board, Workshop for the Reconstruction of Costumes, ethno-musicology field research. All this clearly indicates the contribution of ”Gusle” to original Serbian culture and folk art
Text: Marina Gorski, Aleksa Komet
Fairytale
ABOUT THREE LITTLE FISH FROM BELGRADE, WHO SAVED THE DAY
Big Shadows of Small People
The stories of grownups are often boring. They forget to give the message, can’t keep a secret, don’t find joy in playing. And, what’s worst, they show off. Once, returning from the small theater, little Ika saved three little fish from a fishermen shop. She didn’t let them be pierced with a hook and become bait. She bought them, took a tram to the Sava and released them back into the water. Thus her wishes reached the far north, the land behind the northern wind. The place where all our wishes come true. New Year is coming. Don’t forget to listen well to the wishes of the ones you love
By: Nebojša Jevrić
Voice
NEBOJŠA MASTILOVIĆ AND ”PIRG”, IMPORTANT NAMES OF SERBIAN SPIRITUAL MUSIC TODAY
Chanting as a Way of Seeking God
A ”pirg” is a monastery tower, its symbolic defense, guardian, belvedere. All these are important entries of this music. The group wants to express what their generation feels as its cross, its temptation. To point out life looking into eternity, the liturgical community and God-man, to connect us with high spiritual principles of our ancestors, without which we are only ”straws in the winds”, ”poor ones without anyone around”
By: Danijela Knežević Stevanović
Champions
DEJAN SAVIĆ, STRATEGIST OF THE WONDROUS SERBIAN WATER POLO NATIONAL TEAM
Creating a Winner within Yourself
Rio connected all those who built themselves in the history of Serbian water polo with golden threads. It unloaded the burden from many generations. I’m not the selector, my colleagues among pioneers and juniors are. The cult of the national team, based on strong personalities and genuine patriotism, brings us these results, in spite of everything we don’t have. A road full of traps and challenges is in front of the young generation, the generation with the sixth finger. The sobering of mankind could be very painful and tragic
By: Dejan Bulajić
Studies
INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF BELGRADE BUSINESS SCHOOL – COLLEGE OF VOCATIONAL STUDIES
Cooperation that Enriches
In this school they remind us of ancient Chinese wisdom: ”If you plan for the future of one year, plant rice. If you plan for ten years, plant a tree. If you plant a hundred years, then build the educational system”. That is why Belgrade Business School collaborates with institutions from the most advanced educational systems in the world and the most successful educational practices. The benefit is mutual and multiple, at all levels
Connections
PROJECT OF ALL-IP TRANSFORMATION OF THE COMPANY ”TELEKOM SRBIJA”
Information Highway
In cooperation with the Chinese company ”Huawei”, EUR 150 million euros will be invested in the modernization of the fixed network. Optical access, high-speed Internet, availability of multimedia services, 4K services – are coming to all parts of Serbia and in over one million households. This will significantly influence the development of the economy, improvement of the business environment and raising the quality of life. The pilot project was implemented in Aleksinac, from where, more than a hundred and sixty years ago, the first telegram in Serbia was sent
Examples
DEJAN STANOJEVIĆ, DIRECTOR of ”MERKUR”, DEFENDED HIS DOCTORAL DISSERTATION IN MEDICAL SCIENCES
Led by Science and Knowledge
The thesis defended at the Faculty of Medicine in Kragujevac, before the committee consisting of renowned experts. Solving the current insufficiently researched issues will help medical practice, as well as in preparation of the athletes who prepare up to the level of overtraining
Recommendation
BELGRADE RESTAURANT ”SOLUNAC”, NEW SYMBOL OF LOWER DORĆOL
The Spirit of Best Serbia
With its concept and design, ”Solunac” preserves the memory of Serbian heroes of World War One, of their high ethics and a brave heart. It shows that one can also testify and keep memory in this way. With all the other elements of its offer, from reliably interpreted Serbian cuisine to the most exquisite local wines and rakia, ”Solunac” has been rapidly climbing to the top of the list of prestigious restaurants of the capital
