The 60th Anniversary of the Theater on Terazije

Belgrade, Dec. 21 2009, (Serbia Today) - The Theater on Terazije Square in Belgrade will celebrate on December 23rd the 60th Anniversary of its existence.
The Theater on Terazije Square is today the only music hall in Serbia. Founded in 1949, it went through several conceptual and name changes. Starting as a “Theater of Humor”, it changed its name in 1954 to a “Belgrade Comedy Theater”. Few years later it merges with the Belgrade Drama Theater and works under the name Modern Theater. In 1975 it again becomes independent theater group and adopts its present name “The Theater on Terazije Square”.
In 1991 the building on Terazije Square, where Theater had its space, went through long construction renovation. The Company returned to its home in 2005
Some of the biggest names of Serbian theater worked on the scene of Theater on Terazije Square: Branka Mitić, Željka Rajner, Dragutin Dobričanin, Miodrag Petrović Čkalja, Mića Tatić, Vesna Predojević, Tanja Bošković, Dragica Maksimović, Rade Marjanović.

The first twenty years of the Theater’s existence, on the repertoires were comedies and operettas. In sixties, the first musicals were presented to the public: “The Oklahoma”(1966) , “West Side Story”(1968), Kiss me Kate”(1969) etc. Some of the hit musicals on the repertoire today are: “Chicago”, “Grease” , “Cabaret”, “Somebody likes it hot”.
The Theater is lately expending its offer by introducing “The Small Cabaret Scene – Milenko Zablacanski”, and the Ballet Theater. Through their “Open Audition Program” they give chance to young theater artists, writers, dancers and musicians to become a part of this respectable theater institution.

Mirjana Karanovic received The Konstantin Obradovic Award

Belgrade, Dec. 15 2009, (Serbia Today) – The renowned Serbian film and theatre actress Mirjana Karanovic has been elected as the 2009 recipient of the “Konstantin Obradovic Award” given each year to those who gave significant contribution to the protection and advancement of the human rights.
According to the Award selection Committee, Mirjana Karanovic has earned this distinguished Award as the great artist who didn’t hesitate to use her public image and raise voice for the protection of human rights and for the betterment of the society.
“I often ask myself who I am and what is the purpose of my existence. All of the people who work on the advancement of the human kind have one thing in common – they believe in humanity and human goodness” , Mrs. Karanovic told journalists when accepting award.

Violin Maestro Jovan Kolundzija in Belgrade

By Valentina Radulovic
Belgrade, Dec.10th (Serbia Today) – Maestro Jovan Kolundzija, the same Serbian violinist that amazed Belgrade audiences with his concert in the 2007-2008 winter season with ‘Do you love Beethoven’, will perform ‘Bravissimo Maestro Mozart’, devoted to Mozart’s extraordinary opus.
In his last concert Maestro Kolundzija performed integral versions of all Beethoven’s sonatas for violin and piano. This exceptionally ambitious choice of music is rarely seen on the great concert podiums of the world. It requires a violinist to have great experience and to put hours and hours of hard work, because the performance of such a technically program is extremely demanding for a musician.
On December 10th, 13th, 15th and 17th, at Kolarac Concert Hall, Kolundzija will perform four concerts, together with his sister Nada Kolundzija and Eugene Choi from South Korea accompanying. Natalija Lavrik Mladenovic from Serbia will also perform. For the first time in Serbia, Marianna Hametska from Canada will be performing related pieces on the piano. They will be playing 15 of Mozart’s sonatas. Mozart’s composed and performed over two centuries ago, but this selection of his work is unequalled in its inspiration and the challenge it provides to the performers.
Kolundzija is the leading Serbian violinist graduate from the Belgrade Academy of Music under Professor Peter Toskov. He continued his post-graduate studies with Professor Henryk Szeryng. During his early career he became professor Szeryng’s favorite disciple and one of the most praised young violinists in the world. Szeryng commented in the past that “Kolundzia has the inborn qualities which cannot be learnt or taught. He has the quality of the sound, the warmth, the human approach to music, the feeling for style. He is a happy combination of heart and spirit, and a unique jewel among violinists.”
Kolundzija also participated in special concerts organized by UNESCO in Belgrade and Paris, and has made recordings for numerous radio and TV programs (he appeared twice in France’s world famous Jacques Chancel’s show on French television. The Maestro is a member of FIAN-UNESCO and he has numerous recordings to his credit, including the recently realized CD of Complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin by J.S. Bach.

Roma Band ‘Amaro Del’s New Album Out

Belgrade, Dec.8th 2009 (Serbia Today) - The popular Roma band “Amaro Del” famous for unique manner of performing of traditional Roma music will release a new album titled “Lilijako” early next year.
“The album is finished and since we have signed a contract with a Romanian music company, it will first be released there and then in Serbia at the beginning of next year. We are much more popular in Romania than in Serbia, we are often guests there and we frequently appearances in their media. I hope that we will have more opportunities to perform in Europe after the visa liberalization. We have great expectations for next year. We will perform at several festivals in France and we have already sent applications for the festivals in the Czech Republic, and Hungary,” says Marko Milovanovic, a guitarist of the band Amaro Del.
“Every other Saturday we play on the boat “Leonardo”. As far as bigger concerts are concerned, we mostly perform at the festivals. We played at EXIT 2006. We regularly play at the Festival of Street Musicians, the Days of Wine in Novi Sad, and the Palic Film Festival. Our band has been playing for 21 years and we are the most enduring Roma band in Serbia,” says Milovanovic.
Amaro Del is one of the more established Roma bands in Serbia, and they have carved out the reputation during the most difficult of times.
“Even during the difficult 1990s we remained attached to traditional Roma music and I want to point out that we play Roma music from about ten countries. Some of the songs are composed by us, but they will be included in one of our following projects. It is always awkward to talk about yourself and according to the people who come to our gigs, our concerts are unique experiences, something quite different from anything else, you know that it is Amaro Del and that is very important to us,” says Milovanovic. He has also expressed hope that during the Decade of Roma people from 2005 to 2015, Serbia will pay more attention to the promotion of Roma population and culture.
Just as in numerous other things, we are late in comparison to the rest of the world. In other European countries, there is much more promotion of equality of rights of Roma people. There are special TV shows and newspapers dealing with problems of Roma population, which unfortunately is not the case in Serbia,” Milovanovic concludes. .

The Legacy of Literary Giant Milorad Pavic

Belgrade, Dec. 7, 2009 (Source: Blic) - Milorad Pavic, the notable academician and writer, was buried yesterday in the Alley of the Greats, ‘Aleja Velikana’, in presence of his family members, respectable cultural and public workers and admirers of his work.

As a spokesman of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU), Nikola Tasic talked about Pavic’s work, his unusual spirit and a personality which had a unique charm, his domestic and foreign awards, etc.

“An interesting detail from his biography is that he is an exception in our Academy. According to the statute of SANU, a regular member can only be someone who had previously been a corresponding member. However, the committee composed of distinguished writers presented a paper emphasizing his qualities and significance, implying that he can be a regular member despite the fact that he had never been a correspondent,” said Tasic, adding among other things, that his work will be a subject of great attention.

In the name of people from Krunska, Dragomir Acovic, said farewell to “the first writer of the 21st century” as he was often called and read Svetlana Velmar Jankovic’s words. Addressing Pavic in a warm and personal way, she recollected the 1950s, when they often met in Makedonska Street in front of the tavern “Pod lipom” across the street from Radio Belgrade, where Pavic used to host a radio show “1000 years of lyrics”.

Funeral service was held by episcopes Lavrentije and Atanasije, while among those who attended his funeral were Djilas, the Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic with his wife Katarina, Vuk Draskovic, Ljubomir Simovic, Dusko Kovacevic, Miroslav Josic Visnjic, Neda Arneric, Dragana Jugovic del Monako, Sava Stojkov, Milos Sobajic, Caci Mihajlovic, Cile Marinkovic, Jovan Delic, Pedja Markovic, Predrag Palavestra and others.

On the way from the chapel to the Alley of the Great People, where he was buried next to Olja Ivanjicki, admirers of his prose mentioned the characters from his novels, his thoughts: “Nobody is smart and beautiful during all seven days of the week,” “Whatever you want and you pray for it and believe that you will have it- you will have it, because the space is a law of mirrors.”

Art of Serbia’s Children Reaches the World with UNICEF

By Jelena Jovanovic

Belgrade, Dec.5th, 2009 (Serbia Today) - United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for Serbia, with the support of Instituto Cervantes in Belgrade, organized the exhibition `Greeting Cards Full of Life`. The exhibition, which runs from December 3rd to December 6th, displays that the artwork and literary work submitted by students from Serbian primary schools. It is all part of the competitition to make the best New Year's greeting cards. The competition topics were ’My UNICEF Greeting card` and `My New Year’s wish’.
Some of the best works that can be seen in the Cervantes gallery belong to Lazar Kostic, a seventh grade student from Milutovac, Jelena Taskovic, a sixth grade pupil from Belgrade, and Djordje Krunic, a seventh grade pupil from Lucani.
Children awarded for the best literary work were; Jovana Zivkovic from Negotin, Sandra Petrovic from Belgrade and Bogdan Dzekic from Uzice. Their ideas for UNICEF greeting cards will become part of the big family of greeting cards in the blue boxes that can be bought at the end of every year in countires around the world. The winning students also receive gifts from the companies which supported the campaign.
President of the jury judging the students work was Zefirino Grassi, Chief Editor of Belgrade magazine `Politikin Zabavnik`, a magazine for those with a ’young spirit’. It readers include people from every age. Members of the jury were illustrator Dobrosav Bob Zivkovic, photographer Nebojsa Babic, graphic designer Konstantin Petrovic, writers Jasminka Petrovic and Ljubivoje Rsumovic and columnist Nadezda Milenkovic. Representatives of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia and UNICEF also participated in the jury.
The UNICEF exhibition at Cervantes Gallery marks the 60th anniversary of the UNICEF greeting card campaign. With funds raised from the sale of over 60 years, UNICEF has provided aid,medical and educational services and other assistance to children from all over the globe.
UNICEF greeting cards have become a symbol of hope for a better and happier future for all children. During the last 6 decades, UNICEF greeting cards were made by anonymous artists and authors, as well as famous ones. UNICEF’s first greeting card was a painting by seven-year-old Jitka Samkova, whose village in Czechoslovakia received UNICEF emergency assistance in the form of food and medicine in 1947. She created greeting cards to thank UNICEF and that is where the whole story began.
Many accomplished artists were invited to create artwork specifically for reproduction by UNICEF as greeting cards. Raoul Dufy’s watercolor painting of the United Nations building in New York City was the first, followed by the works of Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali. Some celebrities have also created greeting cards and contributed to the UNICEF mission, such as Julio Iglesias, Audrey Hepburn, Paloma Picasso, Lucciano Pavaroti, and Paul McCartney.

Global Recession and the Arts Collide

By Li Novak
Belgrade, Dec.5th, 2009 (Serbia Today) - One of the strongest influences on current cultural events in 2009 was the influence of the global recession as a theme, and also as a force which drained money away from cultural activities and the arts in general.
Difficult times have always been the source of inspiration for the themes selected by artists, and masterpieces have often been created during wars and amidst poverty. But, in the modern world, the impact of scarcity seems to be having a different effect. Art, in some measure, depends on funding from somewhere, especially the visual arts. Also, the state funds for culture are the first to disappear in a time of crises.
The latest Bitef Festival, which normally presents progressive new theatrical tends, was held in September. Its theme was, ‘The Crisis of Capital’, and ‘The Art of Crisis’. It is only natural that Bitef would have such a current topic as the subject of its festival, as the theater is one form of artistic expression which reacts most quickly to social changes.
All plays offered a different interpretation of the economic situation. Many artists asked themselves the same question: will the crisis of capital also be a crisis of art?
Bitef selectors attempted to highlight productions that dealt with the subject directly or reflected it in the subject matter. Bitef was also affected by these complicated financial times and produced a much smaller festival.
The global recession also had influence on the funding of entertainment events. One example of this impact is that the city of Belgrade almost always organizes a New Year’s celebration. It is usually comprised of concerts with various performers, and concessions for food and drink. This year the celebration will be much more modest with a reduced number of performers.
Serbian Minister of Culture, Nebojsa Bradic, announced that “the effects of the global recession are present in culture. The lack of money is just the beginning. But, people in the arts are already used to disadvantageous circumstances and there are many strategies for survival. We are satisfied with passing the year’s budget, but we should find different sources of financing from international organizations to make up for missing funds. Even in conditions of economic crises, the best institutions and projects must be supported.”
The effects of the global recession can be seen in literature as well. The editor of publishing house Geopoetika, Jasna Novakov Sibinovic, told Serbia Today about the condition of her business, “the global recession is affecting book sales, but not the amount of readers. Sales are down in all sectors and naturally in ours, as well. In our type of business, it was obvious at the Belgrade Book Fair.”
Srdjan Stojanovic, director of Multimedia Concerts, is also feeling the effects of the recession in his sector - the music business. Stojanovic said, that “the entertainment industry is very sensitive to economic trends. When the consumer is under pressure, only the primary expenses are covered. Every serious producer had to revise the calculations and lower the expectations by at least 30% to 40% this year.”
According to some artists, the effects of the global recession could be positive. One example of this is that many art galleries are following buyers move away from the more expenses artists to lesser known more affordable artists that the collector personally enjoys. This will give formerly unknown artists with promise a chance to shine.