Terra Art Colony – Kikinda

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This weekend I visited the Terra Art Colony located just outside the town of Kikinda. Kikinda is a city of 45,000 near the Romanian border in the heart of the plains of Vojvodina.

The Terra Art Colony is a government-funded project that provides an amazing studio and property for the fine arts. It is a former brick and roof tile factory that closed down in the 1950’s. The “Banat” region of Vojvodina is a historical region in the agricultural plains of Hungary, Serbia, and Romania. The area was once a sea and has rich, red, clay soils that were perfect for bricks and terracotta ceramics. The factory is an amazing place for making a movie or hosting a Halloween party. The head artist-in-residence Jovan, showed us around the complex. There were several studios and exhibition areas. Most of the art was terracotta sculpture and there were many interesting pieces on display. Behind the main building, there was a long drying shed that used to be for the tiles. The kids loved running up and down the spooky aisles between the drying racks. It is very nice that the factory was preserved and is put to good use. I bought a small statue of a “Lala” which is a typical guy of the Banat region. He is a chubby guy because the food is so good in the “breadbasket” of Serbia and he is pictured on top of a pumpkin. This is because the Banat is so flat, that one only has to get on top of a pumpkin to see a long way.

The Summer Studio

The artists also had a pet dog that is a breed typical of the Banat region. The Puli is a working dog known for its athleticism in protecting sheep and other livestock. They have a thick, curly coat that is waterproof. They are usually black and their fur can be very long, almost like dreadlocks.

A Puli dog

I recommend visiting the town and especially the art colony complex. I am not sure what the opening hours of the gallery and if they give tours. My friend introduced us to the place and I think the artists came just for our group. That is one of the best features of Serbia is that it is not geared for tourists at all, so there are not many maps, brochures, advertising, etc. for the place and it felt like we discovered a secret place. I’ll try to get our visual art students to spend a day at the place.

Happy Birthday – Srećan Rođendan Owen

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Happy Birthday – Srećan Rođendan, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

We celebrated Owen’s ninth birthday yesterday with a party at the Jungle. The Jungle is a birthday party venue. We celebrated with a classmate, Bor M.,who also had a birthday on December 13th. The kids had a great time using the Jungle’s playground and disco. The wii dance game and karoake machine were in full force.

Nadia and I had a good time chatting with friends and playing with the kids. It is so nice to have someone else do the party so the parents can relax and socialize. Bor’s mother Jasmina was very nice.

We can’t believe it has been nine years since Owen’s birth. He is halfway to 18! It was great to watch him interact with his friends. He is growing up too fast.

The Birthday Boys

Ocean’s School Photo

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Ocean, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

The third Kralovec child is now getting school photos done. She has really changed the past few months going from a baby to a little girl right before our eyes. Below is Ocean’s class.She goes three times a week to the International Nursery School of Belgrade which is just down the road from our school.

Ocean's Early Years Class - 2011-2012 INSB

Christmas Tree Hunting in Serbia

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Ocean is pointing out the perfect Kralovec family Christmas tree at the Zuče Tree Farm. We traveled out to the plantation located near Avala Mountain, about 10 miles outside of Belgrade. The weather is unseasonably warm, with temperatures in the teens (50-60 F) and it felt more like spring than winter.

There were many trees to choose from and we picked a North American Blue Spruce. We took the option of having the tree dug up and potted so we can re-plant it after Christmas. It is a nice way of doing things and our Christmas Tree from a couple of years ago is growing in the garden of our old apartment. I hope to plant this tree somewhere in Dedinje.

After getting the tree, we drove once again to Timisoara, Romania for some Christmas shopping. We had fun with Brian, Anna, and their children, Miles and Posey.

 

It was sad to see the “plastic bag forest” below. As we were driving out of the Serbian border town of Vršac, near the city landfill, it this area of bags caught by bushes. Serbia has a long way to go with air, water, and land pollution, as do many Eastern Europe nations. I’m not sure why this plastic bag area is like this, and it puts a bad image to a rather lovely little town.

 

The Islamic Community of Belgrade

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Belgrade Mufti Muhamed Jusufspahić, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Last night I attended the Belgrade Philharmonic’s performance in the New Year Cycle. The cycle is a concert series based on the various religious New Year celebrations. Last night’s concert was the Islamic New Year. It is always interesting to watch the “VIPs” enter hall and last night was no exception. With a lot of cameras, etc, Belgrade Mufti Muhamed Jusufspahić came in to be seated. I snapped this photo of him speaking with the Philharmonic Director, who looks “artistic” with the spiked hair and fashionable glasses.

The Islamic community in Belgrade and in Serbia is quite small with only one mosque in Belgrade and about 300,000 Islamic people in the country. Most are found in the Sandzak, a region in Southern Serbia that borders Kosovo, Montenegro, and Bosnia.

Jusufspahic is a somewhat controversial figure in that he is the self-proclaimed leader of the Islamic community in Serbia. Several muftis in the Sandzak dispute this and there is political tension because of it.

I think it is nice for Serbia and the rest of the former Yugoslavia to have an Islamic community. It gives a bit of “exoticness” to the overwhelming majority Slavic Orthodox Serbian architecture and culture. The Islamic followers however, are Slavs, having been converted during the 500-year Ottoman occupation of Serbia. They don’t have different foods and look very Slavic. I enjoyed visiting Sarajevo and Mostar and hearing the call to prayer and seeing the towers of the mosques. I also visited the Bajrakli Mosque here in Belgrade in January of 2009.

We didn’t stay for the whole concert and Nadia and I went for a drink next door to the Hotel Square 9. A really nice atmosphere with not much smoking. We laughed quite a bit.

Orthodox Cathedral – Timisoara, Romania

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We drove two hours north east of Belgrade Sunday to the beautiful city of Timisoara, Romania. We went for lunch, some shopping, and some sight seeing. The first place we stopped was the magnificent Romanian Orthodox Cathedral near Opera Square in the center of the city. The Sunday morning service had just ended and we were given an unofficial tour of place by our friend, Vesna. It was the first time I had someone explain the intracies of the Orthodox Church. In the picture above is the front altar, which in the Orthodox Church is covered by a wall and doors decorated with icons, called an iconostasis. People were lining up to kiss a golden icon in the middle and they were also lining up to say a prayer over the relics of St. Joseph of Banat. A piece of cloth from his robes was in a box on a small side altar.

I explained the architecture to the boys. There are many domes and arches and the color schemes of gold, burgandy, and dark green, which are typical orthdox art style. There were paintings all over the cathedral walls. We sat for awhile on the chairs on the side and enjoyed the warmth of the church. I appreciated the opportunity to teach the kids about another religious practice.

I highly recommend visiting Timsoara. They have really good shopping – better than Serbia, I guess because they are in the EU and the prices were reasonable. We also had a nice dinner at an Italian Restaurant.

Kralovec Family Thanksgiving

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We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner last night at our home. We worked on Thursday so we postponed our family dinner until Saturday. I worked at the Strategic Planning Workshop all day, but Nadia and team Kralovec (Vera helping with the cooking and Ivana with the kids) prepared a delicious feast. The turkey was perfect and was accompanied by Nadia’s Bolivian salad, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs (my favorite), pumpkin pie, banafi pie, etc, etc., etc. We also drank some homemade Vishinata (sour cherry “moonshine”) and some excellent Romanian white wine.

We invited our friends Claudiu, Vesna, Dani, and Crina to celebrate with us. The kids had a good time and it was great to spend time with family and friends.

Claudiu Carves the Turkey

Thanksgiving Celebrations

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Although it is not celebrated here in Serbia, we did get to enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday. The school put on a “Holiday Celebration” on Thursday evening at the UK Ambassador’s Residence. They conveniently live a block away from us and we had a great night. The music teachers at the school are opera sopranos and they had a truly awesome performance. The food was delicious and plentiful and we had plenty of wine and laughs. Mrs. Davenport was especially kind to have the Detroit Lions versus Green Bay Packers football game on during the evening! We topped off the night with a Skype session with my brother’s family back in Michigan. My dad was there and he got to see Ocean and the kids.

We are doing it again today with our family thanksgiving dinner. We’ve invited some non-American friends to share the great “American Slava,” Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for in my life and I appreciate all that has been given to me.

Kolo – A Serbian Folklore Traditional Dance

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Yesterday for the opening of our gymnasium a Serbian Kolo Dance Troupe performed. The “kolo” or circle in English, is a traditional cultural dance performed in the ex-Yugoslavia, in Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia. This being Belgrade, it was the Serbian version of the dance. A professional troupe performed in the ceremony as you can see in the video above. I loved the music and costumes. Note the elf-like shoes, which traditionally are made of pig skin and are molded to fit one’s foot. They have a little “pig’s tail” on the tip of the toe.

It is a beautiful dance and great outfits. I felt like drinking a rakija while watching them!

 

Political Campaign Posters In Belgrade

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I’ve noticed around the city the past couple of weeks many political posters. This spring they will be holding parlimentary elections and next year there will be a presidential election. The campaign has begun!

The posters definitely have a negative tone to them, highlighting the faults of the other parties.

The poster above reads, “Their interest in our debt!” and the subtext is “they brought the Belgrade economy to the edge of destruction.” The poster shows city mayor Dragan Đilas speaking with the economic minister. In a “city-state” such as Belgrade, the mayor has almost the same amount of power as the president and it is a position that the major political parties go after.

The current president, Boris Tadić will be serving out his five-year term in 2013. I think this is the first time a president has done that in Serbia’s short time as an independent nation. I don’t know how he can win reelection with the economy the way it is in Serbia. Experts are predicting Barak Obama facing difficulties getting a second term with 9% unemployment and a slow recovery. Tadić should be in big trouble with 23% unemployment, foreign direct investment falling in half in the past two years and inflation close to 10%. They also have 1/3 of their budget going to pensions.

But with a situation as dire as it is, it will be awfully difficult for anyone to turn the economy around. I don’t see much difference between the political parties (much like the USA) with all of them in favor of a 1 billion Euro subway system, promising more jobs, and cutting down on corruption. Most also agree to support the agriculture sector of the economy, which is already a healthy 13% of the GDP.

The argument used to be should they try to join the EU or go it alone or have a special relationship to Russia. I don’t see the EU accepting Serbia in the near future with the economic problems of Greece, Italy, and Spain.

Serbia needs leadership that will make it easier for businesses, both foreign and domestic to start up. Serbia is one of the most difficult places in the world to do business because of the bureacracy from Communist times. The rule of law needs also to be established here with everyone paying taxes and punishment of crime and corruption. I feel they should be putting their energy to trying to unite the Balkans instead of going for the EU membership. The negative campaigns are not focusing on the real details of what needs to get done and who can do it. Politics are the same in most countries and the USA is not an exception.

The poster below is making fun of Serbian Progressive Party leader, Tomislav Nikolić. He used to be with the Radicals and the left side shows him wearing a t-shirt of Voja Šešelj, the former leader of the Radicals, now on trial at the Hague. “Who is the person who never lied to you, Nikolić or the real Toma?”

Serbia deserves good leadership and I hope whoever gains power in the next election, and focus on good government and the betterment of lives of its citizens.