Encounters
IN TRSTENIK AND LJUBOSTINJA, DURING ”JEFIMIJA’S DAYS”, HALF A CENTURY FROM THEIR INCEPTION
In the Golden Glow of the Language
Marked by the double jubilee, the prestigious event brought together excellent Serbian writers, musicians and scientists this year again. The ”Jefimija’s embroidery” award for 2021 was presented to Dragan Lakićević for the collection ”Harvester and Šumanović”. Famous Serbian artists presented themselves in the program ”From the lineage of light and glory”. Experts discussed the topic ”Female rulers and noblewomen of medieval Serbia”. The yearbook ”Ljubostinja Offerings”, ”Ljubostinja Lily” was awarded, and eight selected poets presented offerings to Jefimija. Exemplary organizers have shown that not everything in this world depends on money
By: Slađana Ristić
Photo: Tomislav Dimitrijević, Archives of the ”Jefimija’s Days”
On the left bank of the Ljubostinja river, under the linden trees, in the monastery yard, and on the small square in Trstenik, every June for three days, a poem is opened by the poets themselves. Pod zvezdanim nebom poezija osvaja tišinu. Under the starry sky, poetry conquers silence. In the small square next to the monument to Empress Milica, three poets are in unison with the princess. Two evenings later, in the yard of the Ljubostinja monastery (the endowment of Princess Milica, erected at the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century), centuries are unlocked and poets recite their verses, uniting with Jefimija’s letter. History and art are opened in the light of the Church of the Assumption
of the Mother of God, and the audience does not stop applauding the poets. The unification of the people through art and pure word with Jefimija, the heroine of medieval poetry, does not stop. Everything pulsates as it did centuries ago, from the verses to the painting colors and the singer’s voice.
This year again, the cultural-spiritual event ”Jefimija’s days”, in honor of the first Serbian poet-nun, opened its doors in Trstenik and the monastery of Ljubostinja. Jubilee: 50 years since the founding (1971), 30 years since the renewal (1991) of the event. The cultural holiday lasted from June 15 to 17, with a rich spiritual and artistic program. It is very important as it preserves the national identity by nurturing cultural,
historical and religious values. In honor of Princess Milica (monastic name Eugenia) and Despot Jelena (monastic name Jefimija), it follows women’s creativity and women’s diplomacy in all later times.
The first ”The first” were held in the yard of the Ljubostinja monastery from 19 to 22 June 1971. They were organized by the Cultural Association of the Municipality of Trstenik in cooperation with the Workers’ University ”Đuro Salaj” from Belgrade. The initiator was the cultural activist Radoslav Agatonović Raka, as well as the painter and art historian Milutin
Dedić on behalf ”Đuro Salaj”. The play
Olivera by Petar Petrović Peci, was performed by the Kruševac Theater, in the monastery yard, dedicated to a shocking historical event – Princess Milica married her daughter Olivera to Sultan Bayezid in order to save Serbia and her people. The program was adorned with their singing by ”66 girls” from Šabac. There were over three thousand visitors. Desanka Maksimović will then say: ”the first time, Serbia and our homeland received a unique event dedicated to us, the creators and those who will be creating
inspired by this event.” Florika Štefan
: ”Desanka Maksimović: ”For.” Florika Štefan: ”A lot of people came from Belgrade and Niš. Everything rushed towards Trstenik and Ljubostinja, to see and hear what no one has managed to organize so far.”
Everything looked meticulous, everyone was satisfied, but still someone held a grudge...
Thus, in 1973, ”Jefimija’s Days” were renamed into ”Days of poets and Embroiderers”. That year, they were held under that name, and as early as 1974, they were abolished ”for political reasons”. In that last year, before the abolition, the ceremony lasted only two days, and the poems were recited by Gordana Brajović, Grozdana Olujić, Radmila Lazić, Boško Ruđinčanin, Slobodan Marković Libero...
RENEWAL AND RISE
In 1991, ”Jefimija’s Days” were renewed, again with the support of the Workers’ University. The main initiator, along with the mentioned Radoslav Raku Agatonović, was the then president of the municipality of Trstenik, Milan Maričić.
With the founding of the Cultural and Educational Association of Serbia and its Trstenik branch in 1997, the organization of ”Jefimija’s Days” was taken over by this institution. The event was returned to the People’s University in 2012 as the main organizer. People from the culture of the city joined in the realization of the renewed event: Miroljub Radosavljević, Veroljub Vukašinović, Veroljub Risimić, a little later Radošin Zajić and Božidar Petrović.
In the first years, the program of the event also included exhibitions of famous Serbian painters, such as Danica Mastiković, Slobodanka Rakić, Danica Basta, Ljubica Mrkalj, Ljubica Cuca Sokić... Poet Radomir Andrić, one of the first participants and winners of the ”Jefimija’s Embroidery” award, remembers that In 1971 and 1972, the event gathered a large number of poets and artists: ”Thus, poets Desanka Maksimović, Vesna Parun, Mira Alečković, Florika Štefan, Dara Sekulić were invited to the first meetings in Ljubostinja... but also poets Tanasije Mladenović, Branislav Petrović, Matija Bećković, Aleksandar Sekulić, Dragan Kolundžija, Adam Puslojić...”
From the renewal until today, a large number of poets, painters, singers, choirs, actors passed through the event, roundtables on numerous topics were held, magazines were presented... Participants were Miodrag Pavlović, Milorad Pavić, Miroslav Maksimović... Pavle Aksentijević, ensemble ”Renesans”...
After last year’s break due to the pandemic, on June 15 at 8 pm, in front of the monument to Princess Milica in Trstenik, this year’s ”Jefimija’s Days” were officially opened. Milena Turk, President of the Municipality of Trstenik, greeted everyone present. The female singing group from the 
local music school ”Kornelije Stanković” opened a rich program. Danica Crnogorčević presented a bouquet of traditional and spiritual songs with her angelic voice. The evening entitled ”From the lineage of light and glory” was enriched by the guest appearance of the writer Ljiljana Habjanović Đurović. She spoke her sermon about Jefimija and medieval heroines, ladies Milica and Jelena, as well as about her personal view of medieval and today’s Serbia. The evening was enhanced by a wreath of poetesses: Slađana Ristić, Jelena Stojisavljević, Zorica Lešović Stanojević. The square is boiling with people, applause is heard long into the night. Jefimija’s spirit hovers above the city and then everything seems to become one, united in an instant: artists, hundreds of people, the city, the river and the sky.
IN MEMORY OF LINDEN
The round table Women Rulers and Noblewoman of Medieval Serbia was opened in the Hall of the People’s University on June 16. Katarina Mitrović, Marko Aleksić, Larisa Vilimonović, Kristina Mitić, Boris Stojkovski, Aleksandar Uzelac, Aleksandra Kostić Tmušić, and Jelena Marković participated. On the same evening, the yearbook Ljubostinjsa Offerings number 6 was presented on the Youth Square. The newly established award ”Ljubostinja Lily” was awarded to high school students. Memories, programs of events, poetry represented at these meetings, sermons and archival photographs were published in the yearbook. All the laureates of the ”Jefimija’s Embroidery” award and their sermons are presented there, and also a selection from the legacy of the People’s University, a collection of icons and paintings.
As part of ”Jefimija’s Days”, there was an exhibition of paintings ”Ljubostinja Inscription” in the Homeland Museum. This exhibition is the story of a linden tree from the Ljubostinje yard, 
which has lived there for centuries, remembering moments of truth, absorbing time and events, blooming next to the grave of the nun Boards were made from that linden tree on which women painters painted scenes from Jefimija’s and Princess Milica’s lives with various techniques, their nobility, courage, wisdom, loyalty to the people, sacrifice, vow of silence.
And on June 17, in the yard of Ljubostinja, under the starry sky, there was the final ceremony ”In honor of Jefimija”. Actress Jelena Stupljanin spoke Jefimija’s Praise to the Holy Prince Lazar. Poetic offerings were given by Radomir Andrić, Matija 
Bećković, Dragan Jovanović Danilov, Branislav Matić, Branislav Zubović, Bojana Stojanović Pantović, Dragica Stojanović and Blagoje Baković. Bora Dugić painted the evening with flute music, accompanied by Boban Prodanović on the accordion. The choir of the music school ”Kornelije Stanković” enriched the program with prayer chants. Dragan Lakićević was awarded the ”Jefimija’s Embroidery” award for 2021 for the book of poems Harvester and Šumanović. The jury consisted of Jovan Pejčić, Nikola Marinković and Miloš Petrović.
Addressing the audience, Dragan Lakićević, among other things, spoke as follows:
”Poetry strives for the golden glow of the language to reflect the ceremony of creation, for the poem to look like an embroidery, because the poem is also guided by the hand and the heart, and the verse is filled with noble beats. The laws of Jefimija’s embroidery could also refer to the art of the sculpture Harvester from Topčider and to the colors of the snow, silence and melancholy of winter scenes of Sava Shumanović, a Serbian new martyr from World War II. Jefimija had her followers in embroidery and poetry. We, Serbian poets, who celebrate Jefimija’s embroidery, pain and language in all centuries from her to the present day, also belong to her followers in poetry.”
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On the Red Atlas
Jefimija, first Serbian poetess, embroidered her masterpiece, Praise to the Holy Prince Lazar, on the cover for his tomb, on a red atlas, with gold threads. Her poetry is service, devotion, faith, an example that modern poets follow on their thorny path and in their fruitful creative act. This poetic embroidery of the medieval poetess is a metaphor for poetry in general and for the survival of the Serbian language.
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Handke and the Morava
Just like beautiful verses in honor of Jefimija, the West Morava, a river that witnessed all historical turmoil, flows mysteriously through this area. This is reflected in the arrival of Peter Handke, a writer and Nobel laureate, in Trstenik, his listening to the West Morava, and his conversation with the heroines of the Middle Ages. One June, the writer sat on the river for hours and looked at the magic of the whirlpools, trying to penetrate the secret of the survival of that river and its people.
