SERBIA - National review, No 101

Prologue

GALLERY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONTENTS 

 

Introduction
Well Known Surprises

Album
BELGRADE, ABOVE THE EAST AND THE WEST
History and Dream

City Tales
ON BELGRADE’S ČUBURA, WITH BITTER TENDERNESS AND GENTLE ILLUSIONS
Streets Paved with Memories
One way or another, from that hollow barrel at the source of the stream (čud bure), the name for the famous Belgrade quarter emerged. Once the periphery above Englezovac, later the center of the ”mystical bohemia”, ”guardian of the Belgrade spirit”, Čubura counted among its own Libero Markoni, Soja Jovanović, Crnjanski, Raičković, Đuza Stojiljković, Bata Stojković, Milena Dravić, and Gaga Nikolić... Legends that kept this city alive were made there. But there is no more that Čubura, it seems, nor that city. Different people and different money have arrived. The city no longer defends itself from destroyers but from overzealous builders

By: Miloš Lazić

Reading Room
IRIG IN SERBIAN LITERATURE AND VICE VERSA
A Pinch of Srem Spice
Last year, while creating a monograph about this small town and municipality, we compiled an anthology titled ”Irig in Literature”. In it, you can find a song from Zmaj, some prose pages by Milorad Popović Šapčanin, a text by Jovan Grčić, and a description by Crnjanski. Essential were the adorned writings of Dositej Obradović, then Vrdnik diaries by Milica Stojadinović Srpkinja, and Mihiz’s chapters from Irig. Step by step, it grew into a book. While waiting for that book, we will share with readers some Irig fragments from these last three

By: Bane Velimirov

Distances
IN NEPAL, BETWEEN CHINA AND INDIA, BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH
Bottom of the Ocean on Top of the World
Eight of the ten highest peaks in the world are located in this unusual country. Buddha was born there, the goddess Kumari lives there, there are as many temples as there are houses, there are as many gods as there are people. The Bagmati River carries away the sins of the living and the ashes of the dead. On the mountain where the World Peace Stupa is, an inscription awaits you: ”Please respect the Silence.” On the street you can buy shells and marine fossils from the Himalayas. Painted mandalas teach us that all this is just a blink of the universe. And when everything is over, and everyone, there is still a ”road to Kathmandu”

Text and Photo: Ivana Ašković

Border Stones
KNEZ MIHAILO OBRENOVIĆ (1823–1868), NOT A MAN BUT A ROAD
Herald of True Serbia
It has been 200 years since his birth and 155 since his tragic death. Under his rule, the kind of Serbia that we still dream of today began to grow. Deeply rooted and true to itself, self-aware and determined, European and modern, smart and strict with itself. Liberation and unification were his unswerving goals. ”The Balkans to the Balkan peoples.”  He did not put the fate of the state and the people to a vote. He knew that culture protects us at least as much as cannons. And in order to create, one has to be self-disciplined. In Kosutnjak on June 10, 1868, they did not shoot at him, but at the Serbian past and future

By: Stanoje Stanojević

Lyre
BRANKO RADIČEVIĆ (1824–1853), WHO WANTED AND DARED
What I Sung Will Not Perish
He was a real romantic and he set stage for the arrival of the later ones. We learned from him: ”She is gone, it was a sound.” Jaša Prodanović says that Branko’s ”foray into literature” surprised many. Njegoš compares him with Orpheus, he has most in common with Heine. He wrote the first Serbian iamb poem and rhythmically introduced us to European poetry. He created a little more than 60 poems, but some of them will be sung for as long as there are Serbs (”Where are you, dear, where are you, my pain", ”I sing during the day, I sing at night”...). Now, in 2023, it is 170 years since his death, and in 2024 it will be 200 years since his birth

By: Nina Danilović

Memory
JOVAN DUČIĆ (1874–1943), ”STRANGER IN THE WORLD AND MOUNTAINS”
Poet of Love and Death
He completed teachers’ college in Sombor, and literature and philosophy in Geneve. As diplomat, he worked in Constantinople, Sofia, Rome, Athens, Madrid, Budapest, Bucharest... His thirty-two poems were included in Bogdan Popović’s Anthology (1911). Fifty-seven years after his death, he returned home to Trebinje. We are celebrating two of his big jubilees in 2023 and 2024. Even today, his words of indignation at false Yugoslavism and contempt for perpetrators of the genocide against Serbs during World War II are echoing through Serbian lands

By: Nikola Kovačević

Old School
ONE AND ONLY SLOBA NOVAKOVIĆ (1939–2007), BELGRADE LEGEND
Prisoner of an Artistic Time
Radivoje Bojičić says it’s impossible to tell whether Novaković was ”mora a Čubura fellow or Partizan fan, football referee or art critic, drama writer or satirist, novel writer or narrator, movie director or TV scriptwriter…” He was a master of writing, expert in film and theater, magician of memory. He carried his time and Belgrade of that time on the palm of his hand, lived both in the cinema and at the football stadium, obsessed with Shakespeare and the ball. And so on. The achievements of those who have done much are reduced, while of those who have done little are increased

By: Dragan Lakićević

Life, Novels
ĐORĐO SLADOJE, A POET OF THE UNSWEETENED WORLD, TRAPPED BY INFINITY
It is important to be ready
So says Shakespeare: to be ready, that’s all. Since we’re already here. God himself saved us, I don’t know who else could. Childhood is our personal myth; from there stems my poetry as well. I’m not from the Nemanjić dynasty, like so many today. It must be that even the less glorious had some descendants. Whoever cannot laugh at the world, who cannot turn all the pain and hardship of life into a joke, will go mad. The world has dangerously tilted, and who knows where the pendulum will stop. Much will depend on the tragic war in Ukraine. And for those who still don’t understand how this world functions, how much hypocrisy and arrogance there is, it’s useless to explain. If they manage to take Kosovo and Metohija by this or that means, they won’t even ask us about the rest

By: Branislav Matić

Life, Novels
LJUBOMIR ĆORILIĆ, BARD OF JADAR, ABOUT THE CLOSING CIRCLES
Poetry Is More than Life
These are the words he has recently carved on his own tombstone: ”Writing is my life. Poetry is more than life.” He knows, of course, that in this disastrous time, ”high culture” is on a low level. But he belongs to it and can do nothing but remain faithful to it. Far-reaching are the consequences of present shortsightedness, sharp are the blades of dullness. We are pliable and excessively tolerant, easy in accepting others’ and canceling our own. The situation is dramatic. We are losing our language, alphabet, face, children. Thus, we are losing territories. The greatest responsibility is on national institutions and state authorities. Consequences will be difficult to repair, but we’ll have to do it somehow

By: Branislav Matić

Guide
CULTURAL HERITAGE IN THE NATIONAL PARK ”TARA”
Cyrillic Mountain
In the monastery of Rača, likely a foundation of Dragutin, the famous Rača transcription school operated in the 16th and 17th centuries. Monastic, people’s, Cyrillic. In difficult times, Miroslav’s Gospel was preserved there. Serbian Patriarch, Pavle also resided there as a monk. Nearby, in the village of Rača, the first House of Cyrillic script emerges, which our generation could appreciate. Tombstones, known as Mramorje, those in Perućac and those in Rastište, have a long memory and speak the deepest language. When you find yourself in these parts, remember and do not miss out

Destinations
IN THE NATIONAL PARK ”KOPAONIK” OVERLOOKING THE KOSOVO PLAIN
On the Heavenly Thrones
Far away from ”fancy tales”, the real Kopaonik is beautiful, spacious, and peaceful. And farsighted. It extends its gaze to the Šar Mountains, Komovi, and Balkan Mountains. Refresh yourself at Marine Vode, marvel at the waterfall Jelovarnik and Semeško Lake, pray at Metođe, and climb to Pančić’s Peak or Oštri Krš. Pay special attention to the place rightfully named the Heavenly Thrones (Nebeske Stolice). And respect the rules of those who are there to protect both nature and us

By: Mihailo Goleški

Help
”DEČJE SRCE”, A HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION THAT HAS BEEN OPERATING FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES
Backbone and Support
Personal companion of a developmentally disabled child, personal assistant, help at home for adults and elderly people with disabilities. Inclusion of children with disabilities in the society of their peers and the local community. These are all ways of daily assistance for more than 1,200 families. The work center ”Heart Sounds”, with the cafe of the same name, has a special place. There you will be served by the residents of ”Dečje srce". You can have a drink; if you can’t afford, you don’t have to pay

By: Aleksa Komet

Examples
IN RUMA, PROGRAMS FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL, WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION
Culture for All
Through the project ”Sound of Culture”, the City Library ”Atanasije Stojković” in Ruma has made it easier for individuals with hearing impairments to navigate independently. A tactile board with Braille writing also assists individuals who are blind or visually impaired. Ramps or platforms, installed during reconstruction, are placed in the Cultural Center ”Brana Crnčević”, the Native Museum, and elsewhere, making them accessible to people with disabilities, the elderly, and parents with children in strollers. To everyone

Invitation
VRNJAČKA BANJA IS READY FOR OUR WINTER CELEBRATIONS
Joy and Invigoration
In the New Year’s village, with wooden houses reminiscent of Lapland, the youngest will discover their magical worlds. The square hosts a concert welcoming the New Year, and all restaurants and hotels have their rich programs. On Mount Goč, skiing and other snowy adventures await. Of course, all the amenities characteristic of a modern spa are also available. It’s up to you to create your combination of all these

Health
AT ”MERKUR” DISCOUNTS ON EARLY RESERVATIONS THIS WINTER
Planning Ahead
You already know: in the center of Vrnjačka Banja, an exceptional team of specialists, modern diagnostics, a contemporary physical block... What would take months in your local surroundings can be done here effortlessly, in seven to ten days. And now, all of this comes with additional benefits