SERBIA - National review no. 8

Prologue

There was not much luck in Wimbledon (who knows, that might be good), but the golden war children of Serbian tennis are still on the top of the world and they will stay there for a long time, no matter what others say about it. Last year, answering a question concerning the roots of the «Serbian tennis miracle», Novak Đoković said, with a smile on his face: «There is no system. The system is to be built. There are only people. The secret is in the people.» That is why we think even more about our children, many of them, in different areas of life and creative work, on their way to the top. We have nothing more valuable from our children; we do not have a better investment or a more beautiful future.

ГАЛЕРИЈА

CONTENTS

Prologue
Children

Panorama
Illuminating the Church, The secret of Lepenski Vir, The triumph of culture, The medal, “Cinema City”, The season, “Exit” and “Guča”, Tamburitza, The town on the water, The race“Srbijafest”

THE BEAUTIFUL FACE OF SERBIA
Aleksandra Radonić

Mountains
RAJAC, REMEMBERING HEAVEN
Mountain as a Home
This peak of Suvobor, in western Serbia, 848 meters high, covered in grass which is mowed three times a year, rich in nature and people, sun and balms, with the best mountain home in former Yugoslav regions, is attracting visitors for one whole century. After the project of Duško Jovanović and his mountaineers, since the end of the 60s, on St. Peter’s Day or on the first weekend after, the famous Mowing of Rajac is taking place here, which gathers several tens of thousands of people from Serbia and abroad. The competition, the symbolic work and the festivity of the ending of mowing of mountain meadows will be organized this year (July 11th to 13th) for the 36th time

NR Press
Photographs by: Dragan Bosnić

Flow
AZBUKOVICA: ETHNO VILLAGE VRHPOLJE AND OTHER STORIES OF DRINA RIVER
People from Wild Waters
Drina River is generous to all those who love it and understand its character. Participants of Drina regattas are such people, which they will confirm this summer, in July, on St. Peter’s Day. Among contents on the beautiful river, which is winding between Serbia and Republic of Srpska, very interesting is the vivid ethno village near Ljubovija, but many more

By: Luka Vesković
Photographs by: Dragan Bosnić and Branko Jovanović

Paths
IN BUDŽAK, ON STARA PLANINA, WHERE SOMETIMES EVERYTHING
REMINDS US OF A CLOUD HANGING ON BABIN ZUB PEAK
New Life in Vrtovac
A long time ago, Roman legions and nomads made their paths and roads on which civilization came to this area, luckily or unfortunately, Along with that civilization came diseases, which are still remembered by almost all old names of the present settlements. Today, plague is here again, but white plague, shameful and hypocritical. And if young outsiders from town basements, from moist subtenant apartments and houses in the suburbs would come here once, who knows, maybe they would remain eternally seduced by its beauties

Text and photographs by: Dragan Bosnić

Oasis
TWO ISLANDS, TWO LAKES, ONE BAY AND ONE PENINSULA,
FOUR KILOMETERS AWAY FROM THE TOWN CENTER
An Island by the Shore
In “the other reality”, far away from the nearby town chaos, we once lived another life, by special rules. Many fugitives found their shelter, as well as adventurist; the talented found their inspiration and many bachelors found their wives. The academy of great sciences and arts of this island was sometimes more influential than the one in Knez Mihailova Street. On these rafts, in these pile dwellings, on those ships many important pages of Serbian literature have been written, as well of Serbian theatre, painting and music

By: Brano Pavličić

Register
ŠAJKAČA, ONE OF THE SYMBOLS OF FOLK SERBIA
The Heart Underneath
It is made out of šajak-čoja, similar to homemade coarse woolen fabric. From the 15th to the 19th century, they were worn by šajkaši, the river warriors against the Turks on Danube and Tisa rivers. Later it became more popular, it became a unique national symbol, much more than a regular cap – the symbol of defiance and courage, the shape of tenderness and spite. One can never take it off, only in front of God in the church. Its only bad characteristic is that it turns into a hat in peace and prosperity, easily forgetting itself. The ones, who keep on wearing it, are the ones you can count on

By: Momo Kapor
Photographs by: Željko Sinobad and Dragan Bosnić

Road sign
KOVILJ, NEAR NOVI SAD, THE RELIGIOUS, CULTURAL AND TOURIST CENTER
The Land of the Living
According to a legend, St. Sava made peace between his brother Stefan the First Crowned and the Hungarian King Andrew II, at that very place in 1216. He built a church from which a monastery emerged later, today one of the most numerous in the Serbian Orthodox Church, well-known for its religious programs for treating young people from drug addiction. The village of Kovilj is famous for Laza Kostić, its brandies and wine, workers and feasts, porches and songs

By: Jasmina Rakić Kujačić

Pilgrimage
HOLY MOUNT PATHS (3): HILANDAR, THE “SCALES OF SERBIA” AND THE “BAROMETER OF THE SOUL”
Fire of Purgation and Atonement
Was the fire which entangled the Serbian imperial Laura in the Holy Mount of Athos in March 2004 the same one that rages in our fatherland for years, taking away the people and holy relics, countries and centuries? The holy monastery, as a spiritual foundation of the Serbian nation, from its beginning, shared the faith of fatherland. As it used to be, it is so now

By: Мišo Vujović

HEART OF SERBIA A NOTE FROM THE NINE-YEAR LONG NIGHT OVER KOSMET,
IN WHICH ONE CAN BE IN THE DARK ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
The Land of Shadows
Between mountains of Kosmet, crime settled as the thickest darkness. In still warm and bloody beds different people laid, they set at kitchen tables covered with other people’s plates, spoons, forks, with other people’s bread, from other people’s fields. Beneath the nail on which the icon was hanged now lays an empty wall, empty eyes, the breath of death which cannot be driven away, silent moan of the murdered ones, slaughtered, dishonored, dispersed all over the world. There, on their firesides, there is no happiness for anyone else. It is so since beginning of time, and it could not be changed with magic of rich and powerful

By: Jakov Dragović

Crowns
SERBIA — THE HOMELAND OF ROMAN EMPERORS – MAXIMINUS DAIA (305–313)
The Disgraced Jupiter
He was the son of Galerius’ sister, born and grown in Šarkamen, about 20 kilometers away from Negotin. He was of modest origin and education; he was chosen to be emperor on the proposal of his uncle, surprising everyone. In the battles for power which upset the empire during the 4th century, he survived great defeats and a loss of honor. He outlived his disgrace only a few months. He died in Tarsus in Cilicia, also a place of the epiphany of Alexander the Great and of the funeral of Julian

By: Professor Aleksandar Jovanović (Ph.D.)

Famous loves
PRINCE LAZAR AND PRINCESS MILICA
Silence as Thick as Darkness
She knows it. It means she can do it. To save, she repeats. To save the children and the lands. The children for the lands and the lands for the children. Words for oneself, love inside oneself. To save the courage, wisdom, to save oneself from falling into sorrow. To save the pride. To save others from yourself, in order to save yourself from the others. To save faith at any cost. To save the cost of your faith. She whispers to her heart: rejoice… And enough! Say no more

By: Milena Z. Bogavac

Road watchmen
MEDIEVAL FORTRESSES: RAM
For a Peaceful Dream of the Danube
The fortress of which we see the remains was built in 1483, on a place of an older fortification, by the Turkish Sultan Bayezid II. With fortifying the Danube border invasions of Hungarians were to be prevented. Some tome later, Turkish borders were moved to the north and the west, and Ram started living a different life. This was where from Mateja Nenadović, as the deputy of the uprising Serbia, first went to Russia in 1804. Vuk Karadžić also worked here as a customs official. Today, it is the place whose historic and tourist potential should be used for sure

By: Vojislav Filipović

Life, novels
COUNT SAVA VLADISLAVIĆ (1668-1738), THE IMPERIAL ADVISOR AND THE TRUSTING DIPLOMAT OF PETER I OF RUSSIA, THE MOST POWERFUL SERB OF THE 18TH CENTURY
A Man of a Special Mission
A gifted man from Herzegovina, very educated and very clever in “agile games of high politics”, made peace with the Sultan in Pruth for the Russian emperor, a pact of friendship with the Chinese emperor in Peking, an agreement with the pope in Rome, a military union with the mighty prince of Moldova in Jash. He formed the Russian Intelligence Agency. On the slave market in Tsargrad, while he was visiting, he bought a young man from Ethiopia to the Russian emperor, who will become the grand-grand father of Alexander Pushkin. In Siberia, he formed a town in which there is a church dedicated to Saint Sava of Serbia. He never forgot his people, his language and his faith. He is buried by his three daughters in the Holy monastery of Alexander Nevsky in St. Petersburg

By: Jovo Bajić

Century
THE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE “ANNEXATION CRISIS” WITH LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES
Heralds of Storms and Freedom
A wave of fierce protests in Belgrade against the Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in October 1908 was led by the poet Jovan Dučić and writer Branislav Nušić. People patiently waited in long lines to enlist as volunteers. “Brothers, Homeland is in danger! Let us gather together, join, embrace and die for the Homeland together!” spoke Nušić at the Theater Square, in front of the Monument of the Prince. “This is a critical moment!” cries Dučić from the front page of the special edition of “Politika”. “Our negligence in this moment would be cursed by our grandsons and great grandsons, and the curse of numerous generations would lie upon our graves!”

By: Jovan Pejčić

Glove
THE FIRST BELGRADE DUEL: OFFICER VS JOURNALIST
While a Promise Was a Promise
Because of a text published in the magazine “Opposition”, in March 1905, the Court Marshal of King Petar I Karađorđević sought for satisfaction from the Editor-in-Chief. Sources claim that the editor was not scared of the rank or the military skills of his challenger. He claimed that he had irrefutable proof for all statements of the text and he refused to make a public apology. After that, everything developed quickly and in secret. The duel took place on March 16 at 04:00 pm, on a clearing of Banovo brdo, which was far from the town at the time

By: Petar Branov

Reading book
THE ECHOES OF ALEKSANDAR RANKOVIĆ’S REPLACEMENT IN JUNE 1966 IN THE LIFE
OF THE REPATRIATE MILOŠ CRNJANSKI
Emigration as a Heavy Burden
Persuading the great writer to return to his homeland from his life in exile lasted long and from many sides. He submitted only after receiving personal guarantees of the then vice-president of Yugoslavia and the most powerful man of UDB (National Security Office) Aleksandar Ranković. However, only two months after the return of the writer, Ranković was politically canceled at the plenary session in Brioni. How did this reflect on Crnjanski? We have before us a memory of a direct witness

By: Milovan Vitezović

Worlds
HOW AN UNUSUAL ART COLONY, THE SANCTUARY OF THE SPECIAL ONES, WAS CREATED IN 1994, IN THE WOODS ABOVE PLJEVLJA
Defense and the New Days
For a long time they preserved one of the last lines of artistic defense of Skadarlija and Belgrade. They, the defenders of the house of Djuro Jakšić, owners of dreams and visions, introduced too big of a turmoil among new owners of everything that can be touched. Then they decided to temporarily withdraw and not to waste their strength in vain. So, the gallerist and artist Ljubo Gačević, together with the painter-sorcerer Milić of Mačva, in his hometown of Mataruge, founded a Painters’ Settlement “Ivanjdan” (“St. John’s Day”). Several academies of fine arts passed through it or were born in it. Today it is older than many states we know. And more serious

Photograph by: Rade Bošnjak

Ars sacra
FROM THE DEPTH OF THE EYE: MOMČILO FUNDUP
Irrevocable Escape into Meaning
This Momčilo Fundup is a painter who doesn’t care whether the colors are oil, pastel or any other, as long as they are before him, and his painting world immediately finds its place in the whiteness of the canvas, seductive as vice and pure as morning

By: Dragoslav Božović
Photographs by: Rade Bošnjak

Legends
ŠABAN BAJRAMOVIĆ (1936-2008), A POETIC PICTURE OF LIFE AND DEATH
Blues for this Languishing World
Once upon a time, a great poet lived in Trošarina, the poor neighborhood of Niš. In India he was officially proclaimed king of Roma music, his performance of the song “Djelem, djelem” was elected as an anthem of all the Roma of the world, three years ago the “Time” magazine proclaimed him one of the five best blues singers on the planet. And he, sprouted from a mythical camp in the steppe, sang wherever they invited him to sing. To help this one, to help that one, to heal at least some sorrows. He sang for homes, he sang for orphans, he sang for abandoned old people. He sang for everyone, except for himself, ill and lonely. The newspapers say that first his voice betrayed him, then his heart. As usual, the newspapers lie. Only people betrayed him

By: Božidar Dimitrijević

Echoes
THE BELGRADE “EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2008” SHOWS THAT ALL RECORDS
ARE BEATEN AND THE HIGHEST STANDARDS WERE REACHED
Farewell in Russia
In the year of celebrating half a century of its work, and half of a century of television in Serbia, Radio Television Srbija excellently realized maybe the greatest organization and production project in its history. Broadcasting in almost 50 countries, on four continents, for more than 200 million spectators, over one thousand hours of first class program, series of unforgettable shows in only a few days... Beside great quality, Europe was amazed by multi-million savings. Positive effects for Serbia are immeasurable

Charity
HUMANITARIAN FUND “TOMA MAKSIMOVIĆ”, NOVI SAD
Taking Actions

Leaders
THE PRESTIGIOUS ANNUAL AWARD OF THE BELGRADE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE GIVEN TO “BEOGRADSKE ELEKTRANE”
Permanently Raising the Scale
This time, the prize “Commercial Winner” has been awarded to the youngest public utility service in Belgrade but also to the biggest system for producing and distributing heating energy in SE Europe. Along with the renewal and modernization of the system, from 2001 until March 2008, new five million square meters of apartments and office space has been attached to remote heating

National Review Press

PUBLIC UTILITY COMPANY “GRADSKE PIJACE” CONTINUE THEIR MODERNIZATION
Green Oasis in Our Neighborhood
The green market in Mirijevo is now renovated, and “Đeram”, Kalenić, Bajloni and Palilulska market are planned to be modernized; the making of the super-modern “Veletržnica” on the location of “Kvantaš” (a wholesale market) is planned as well

Health
DOCTOR BO KSINUA, THE EXPERT FOR TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE, FOR SEVEN YEARS IN SERBIA
Healing the Cause
Traditional Chinese medicine is used for more than four thousand years. It combines acupuncture, ventouse, massage and medicinal herbs. There is no chemistry. It is concentrated on the cause of the disease, and then on its consequences. Even though it is connected with the depths of Chinese philosophy, it reaches great results in Western cultures as well

By: Katarina Vlahović

Health
SLAVICA JANJUŠEVIĆ, THE FOUNDER AND THE MANAGER OF “KIRKA CORPORATION – KIRKA PHARMA”
The Modern and the Ancient Recipes
Using the most modern technology and scientific results, leaning on millennium knowledge and folk tradition, this upstanding company produces top-level tea, bio-cosmetics and many products based on medicinal herbs. Its products are excellently positioned on Serbian, regional and European market, and they penetrate also to the most distant continents

More than sports
ALEKSANDAR MIJAILOVIĆ, THE PRESIDENT OF THE HUNTING ASSOCIATION “BEOGRAD” AND THE ENDANGERMENT OF SERBIAN HUNTING GROUNDS
The Danger Called Man
An area of 35.000 hectares of hunting grounds in Belgrade starts right behind the last houses in the suburbs, in the area of Veliko Selo, Slanci, Višnjica, Padinska Skela. There are so many of them that it is amazing, but what is worrying us is the disturbed natural balance in them

National Review Press

Gastronomy
“BELLA CASA” RESTAURANT IN ZEMUN: THE MEDITERRANEAN AND THE MIDDLE-EUROPEAN
A New Pearl on the Danube