We would like to thank the Princeton University for supporting our projects.

Washington - The Director of Programs for the Serbian Unity Congress Ivana Cerovic and Milka Piljak visited Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection and met with Ms. Gerri Schaad, Curator for Image Collections and Fieldworks Archives.

Dumbarton Oaks provides resources for study and publication of scholarly works in Byzantine, Pre-Columbian, and Garden and Landscape Studies. Begun as a private collection by Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss in 1920, and given to Harvard University in 1940, the library and collections include art objects, artifacts, manuscripts, and rare books. Its considered one of the richest collections and research libraries of Byzantine art in the world.

The Dumbarton Oaks museum opened its doors in April 2008 after renovation.

Buy Blago DVDs | Send free e-cards with pictures of the Serbian Monasteries

For more information visit www.doaks.org

Vesna Peric Zimonjic, Inter Press Service

BELGRADE: Serbia has discovered that 16 Roman emperors of the third and fourth centuries AD were born in what is now Serbia. Now Serbia wants tourists to discover that too.

“Those were the dynamic times preceding the final collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the late fifth century,” said historian Aleksandar Jovanovic. “Due to specific circumstances, the emperor’s throne was not hereditary, but a matter of soldiers’ leadership and bravery. In those times, simple but successful military leaders could become emperors.

“However, theirs was a short-lived glory, only a year or two. They were guardians of the borders of the Empire, and died in battles against ‘barbarians,’ fighting shoulder to shoulder with their soldiers.”

These emperors liked to serve at the border towns where they were born, and to make them as glorious as they could, building typical pantheons, theaters and forums.

At its peak, the Roman Empire extended from modern Portugal and Spain in the west to North Africa in the south, across Europe to modern England in the north, and to Romania and Turkey in the east and southeast.

It ceased to exist as a single entity in the late fifth century, when its western part fell to Germanic tribes. The eastern part, in the form of the Byzantine Empire, lasted until 1453 - when the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople, modern Istanbul.

One of the most prominent rulers of ancient Rome in the region of the Balkans was Constantine I (272-337 AD), who ended the persecution of Christians in 313 AD and made it a tolerated religion. He was born in Naissus, today’s southeastern town of Nis in Serbia.

Modern Serbia wants visitors to step into that past. The first step in “ancient Roman tourism” was taken in Kostolac, 90 kilometers east of Belgrade, when the gates of Viminatium, a former military outpost, were opened to the public in 2006.

The enthusiasm of archaeology professor Miomir Korac, who worked at the site for six years with 40 assistants, paid off. More than 50,000 people visited the site in 2007.

“This is a unique project that can reveal ancient history, and popularise it among both our people and international tourists,” Korac said. “It brings together the past and modern times.”

Only 4 kilometers from the Danube, Viminatium boasts thermal baths, a water supply system that goes 10 kilometers up into nearby mountains, an amphitheater, and a necropolis.

Today tourist operators pile visitors into replicas of ancient Roman chariots and deliver them to taverns to eat meals made from 1,700-year-old recipes - bread with goat cheese and bay leaves, roasted pork in honey, or sesame dressed meatballs, deep fried in olive oil.

Another attraction is the recently unearthed mausoleum of Emperor Hostilian, who died in the town in 251 AD. It is uncertain whether Hostilian was assassinated, died of the plague or, perhaps, the diet.

Belgrade - Hundreds of performers from all over the world, including such big names as the Sex Pistols and Manu Chao, are gearing up to play for tens of thousands of fans in the EXIT festival, Serbia’s - and Balkan’s - largest music fest.

Held in a sprawling, 17th-century Petrovaradin fortress overlooking the Danube, in Serbia’s second largest city Novi Sad, 80 kilometres west of Belgrade on the highway to Budapest, EXIT also showcases such talents as N.E.R.D, Paul Weller, Primal Scream, Juliette and the Licks, the Hives, Nightwish, The Streets, Ministry and Deep Dish.

More than 600 musical performances overall, as well as movies and theatrical plays, are scheduled to be featured across the festival’s 25 stages until it closes on early Monday morning.

‘We’re in for the new EXIT and a phenomenal program. Everything is working perfectly,’ event manager Bojan Boskovic said.

Launched in 2000 as a protest against the rule of now-dead strongman Slobodan Milosevic, EXIT first drew 20,000 people, and the nest year’s concert, in July 2001, was a spectacular success, attracting 200,000 fans from the still war-scarred former Yugoslavia.

The festival also quickly gained a following among ‘real’ foreigners - apart from Slovenians, Bosnians, Croats and Macedonians - with Britons being the most numerous among the 20,000 who attended.

The EXIT site (www.exitfest.org) says British fans voted it the best European festival in 2007.

Organizers now expect 12,000 Britons, and apparently so too does the British embassy in Belgrade, which will have a presence on site in Novi Sad to help their compatriots and keep them out of trouble.

Three officials will be on rotating duty for each day of the festival, to provide immediate assistance to Britons, the Fonet news agency said Tuesday.

Though EXIT traditionally remains clear of big trouble, visitors have broken bones falling off the fortress walls after drinking or smoking too much and police usually detain dozens in possession of drugs.

Some 200 foreign guests were already on site at the start of the week, when a camp for 14,000 people opened beneath the fortress. Half the camp, which has improved each year from its humble beginnings and now offers free internet and mobile phone chargers, was booked months in advance.

EXIT has lured its following by offering an ‘adventurous’ variety of musical genres and directions, be it rock or rap, classical or chill, dance or drum’n'bass or electronic or experimental.

Since the first concerts in 2000, the festival has brought to Serbia Basement Jaxx, Billy Idol, Franz Ferdinand, Fatboy Slim, Morrissey, Massive Attack, The Prodigy, Robert Plant, Snoop Dogg, Scissor Sisters, Underworld, Moloko, Garbage, The Cardigans, The Cult, The Beastie Boys, Slayer, Apocalyptica and many others.

Novi Sad is 80 kilometres west of Belgrade, right on the Budapest-Belgrade highway.

A huge campsite was opened Monday, three days before the start of the four-day musical extravaganza in order to avoid the huge last-minute rush which was seen in previous years when the site was opened simultaneously with the festival.

The camp will be open until July 16 and those staying there will have access to everything from toilets and showers, to wireless internet.

The Exit Festival, held every year since 2000 in Novi Sad, started as an artistic antidote to the grim reality of the regime led by late strongman Slobodan Milosevic and has grown into one of Europe’s biggest and most vibrant musical celebrations.

The organisers say that guests from the UK are usually the first to come and generally outnumber other foreigners.

Big crowds of young people from the region also frequent the festival.

This year in the stunning surroundings of the historical Petrovaradin Fortress, visitors will rock to the sounds of Manu Chao, Sex Pistols and Primal Scream among others.

The festival kicks off Thursday and lasts through to Sunday. Tickets for the whole event cost some € 100, while daily passes vary from € 30-36. Organisers expect more than 250,000 visitors over the four days.

The tomb with the human remains, the Serbian newspaper Vecernje novosti reported, was found in the south-western part of the church that was discovered in the area 10 days ago. According the archaeologists, the skeletons are 1.93 metres long, which means that they belonged to people who were over 2 metres tall.

The discoveries – both the skeletons and the church, will have to be studied further, in order to determine what period they are from and their significance. Insufficient funding, however, means archaeologists will have to stop working, archaeologist Duško Mrkobrat told the newspaper.

The area of Gradina-Postenje is located near the town of Novi Pazar, in the region of Sandžak in central Serbia. Archaeologists have been working there for over two decades, during which they have discovered three churches, a chapel and a palace – which have led them to believe that Stari Ras – the capital of the medieval Serbian state of Raška, was located here. Another theory by experts from Belgrade’s Archaeology Institute, however, claims that Stari Ras was located near Sopoćani.

“A leading team of officials from specialized ministries will be send to Kosovo. They will define what sites Russia is to restore,” executive secretary of the National Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO Grigory Orjonikidze said.

“Then Russian architects, engineers and fine art experts will visit Kosovo. We will act in frames of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention and UN mission in Kosovo.,” Orjonikidze said.

Deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin commented on the Russian initiative and said that “it is the matter of honor to help suffering Orthodox Christians in Kosovo.”

“No doubt, several thousands of Russian churches also should be restored. But Kosovo churches are a different matter. We all remember how radicals in Kosovo defiantly destroyed crosses and cupolas, shot at the icons, burnt and blew up the churches only to wipe out the memory of Serb spiritual heritage,” the priest noted.

Albania and Croatia joined Ukraine, Iceland, Georgia, Denmark, Sweden, Latvia, Turkey and Portugal along with Greece, Romania, Bosnia, Finland, Russia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Poland and Norway, who qualified on Tuesday after the first semi-finals of the show described by some as the ultimate kitsch event on the planet.

The 2008 Eurovision Song Contest had a record 43 participating nations, something that prompted organizers to organise two semi-finals for the first time ever, to choose 20 of the final 25 acts in the grand final.

In line with rules introduced this year, the four countries who contribute most to the event, Great Britain, France, Germany and Spain qualified directly, as did the 2007 winner and current host, Serbia.

The second semifinals were not short of the glitz, glamour and mixture of pop sound, including Latvia’s Pirates of the Sea and their elaborate brigand outfits.

Their song Wolves of the Sea combined Alpine yodelling, a tune that had a vague resemblance of some of early ABBA’s songs, and choreography capped off with scimitar-waving and firing of 17th-century flintlocks.

“I love Eurovision. It is so kitsch that it approaches an underground art. It is almost Warholian,” said Nenad, 40, a Belgrade musician. “Music-wise, this is a disaster, a horror, but as an event it is really something,” he told Balkan insight after the show.

The Eurovision’s semifinals also included Sweden’s Charlotte Perelli and her backup vocals. Their appearance was well rehearsed, professional and even appealing, apart from Perelli’s odd cat-like facial expression, attributed by Swedish tabloids to her obsession with plastic surgery.

Unlike others who preferred their song in English, Turkey’s Mor ve Otesi were singing in their native language, something that gave their, otherwise average pop tune a tinge of the exotic.

Croatia’s 75 Cents performed a ballad that will likely gain fame among an older population, as the oldest member of the band is 75.

“There was nothing special tonight. It appears that the only singer in the past decade or so that may be remembered is Ukraine’s Ruslana with her 2004 song Wild Dances. At least she offered us rarely heard Ukrainian tunes and some real passion,” said Richard, 38, a Londoner who described himself as a Eurovision fan.

The 53rd and biggest-ever Eurovision Song Contest gets underway in Belgrade on Saturday evening.

The restoration will continue in cooperation with the Culture Ministry, international institutions and UNMIK.

The SPC’s Synod finished its regular spring session yesterday, stating that the Church and the Serbian people would never countenance the unlawful, violent usurpation of Kosovo, and thanked all the countries that had not recognized the province’s unilateral independence declaration.

In a statement, the Synod added that it had been ”taken aback” by the behavior of some media channels, “whose goal is obviously not to objectively and responsibly inform the public, but to publish malicious lies about goings-on in the life of the Church.”

Religious analyst Živica Tucić told B92 that the Church’s statement showed that there were no divisions within the Church, especially at a time when its head was very ill.

“I see that certain topics that have been discussed, some that maybe the public, even the religious public expected, have not been mentioned. It is very important for worshippers to hear that issues related to liturgies, for example, have been discussed. It has been agreed that services will continue as before. There are many divisions on that topic generally,” Tucić said.

He said that the references to the media “show that relations between the media and the Church are very delicate, and that there is dissatisfaction on both sides.”

“I think that a serious discussion is required between the media and the Church in a constructive tone, and in a tone that shows readiness for cooperation,” he said.

The Church also stated that a report from the Commission for Dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church had been adopted without any negative ramifications for the SPC.

Tucić said that the decision to conduct dialogue with the Catholic Church was necessary because there were many internal divisions regarding that issue.

He said that the document was being criticized most harshly by those who had not read it.

“It is a working document. I see that the Cypriot Orthodox Church stated two days ago that it had been notified of the document and would have a look at it. The SPC also stated that it was aware of it, and stated that it was not detrimental to Orthodoxy, but that it must be looked into more thoroughly,” Tucić said.

The Synod session was chaired by Bishop Amfilohije, who, under the SPC’s constitution, replaced Patriarch Pavle for health reasons.

It was stated that the meeting had dealt with “the vital questions of life, structure and the mission of the Serbian Orthodox Church.”

The Eurovision is making a splash in Belgrade this week

Serbia could soon end up with an anti-European government despite pro-Europeans winning the last election. But this week, all Serbs will be Europe’s biggest fans as the continent’s largest song contest comes to Belgrade.

In the past several years, in fact ever since the arrival here of the international community in 1999, UNESCO has become notorious for its infamous activities in Kosovo and Metohija. As early as its first missions to Kosovo and Metohija and their official Reports from the field, which were followed by active steps, UNESCO openly and unambiguously took the side of the Albanian minority rebel faction inciting and supporting its illegitimate aspirations for seceding from Serbia.

UNESCO’s entire activity was characterized by efforts to take the care for Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija from the hands of the Serbian people and to transfer it to Albanian institutions in Priština. This process went hand in hand with the tendency to rename Serbian cultural and spiritual heritage designating it “Kosovan,” or “Kosovar” or “Bysantine” or “Balkan.” It was also accompanied by publishing propaganda materials often passed around at international conferences organized by UNESCO and that other UN organization -–  UNMIK. These materials, trading in untruths and falsifications falsely represent Serbian cultural heritage as Albanian or Roman Catholic or anything but what it really is, namely Serbian.

Even the feeble attempts of UNESCO’s experts in the field, such as restoration works on Bogorodica Leviška in Prizren, have proved o be a complete fiasco. However, they did serve the purpose of showing that we are dealing here with mere manipulations and politically motivated actions designed to promote the process of taking Serbian cultural heritage out of the hand of the Serbian people and sugar-coating the transfer of this heritage into the hands of Albanian institutions in Priština with a view to creating a new state of affairs in this phantom state of “independent Kosovo.”  (A reminder: after the unilateral proclamation of independence on February 17 2008, these Priština institutions have ceased to be legitimate.)nited

UNESCO’s behavior was in complete accordance with the general policy of the so-called international community, which is nothing more than a few western countries, whose activities, beginning with the preparation for bombing and then the bombing itself, through the years of international administration, represented by UNMIK and KFOR, have always been directed towards one single predetermined objective, namely – the dismemberment of Serbia and robbing a sovereign state and a member of the United Nations of a part of its integral territory.

A most recent illustration of this is the illegitimate agreement signed by UNESKO and UNMIK in January 2007 on the transfer of restoration and conservation activities related to Serbian cultural heritage, which is to be financed by the State Department, without any consultation with, or participation of, the owner and keeper of Serbian holy places. Regrettably, a thankless role was played by the UNESCO Serbian mission in Paris.

It is not difficult to imagine what the historical consequences of such a shameless act as stealing the cultural heritage from a nation will be or how this act will affect the identity of that nation, in this case the Serbian nation, its inner self and its survival on the stage of history. It is a conscious and calculated attack on the very foundations of spirituality and the inner being of the Serbian nation, on everything that makes it recognizable in history, everything that has kept it safe on its journey between all the Scyllas and Charybdese of this world.

This inevitably brings us to the process of renovation of the Serbian holy places which were destroyed in the pogrom perpetrated against the Serbs on March 17, 2004 and which are now being rehabilitated in accordance with the Memorandum on Rehabilitation signed by the Serbian Orthodox Church and Albanian institutions in Priština in 2005. This process is characteristic of the position of the international community described above and, in addition, has proved catastrophic in its execution on the ground and yet it continues to be implemented thanks, unfortunately, to the support given to this ruinous policy of the so-called international community by a segment of the Serbian Episcopate.

In view of the fact that in spite of many attempts to implement the above-mentioned restoration and conservation policy in Kosovo and Metohija, UNESCO was unable to make much headway in this area, and we are now witnessing the newest attack of this agency on Serbian cultural and spiritual heritage —this time with the help of the expertise and financial resources of Russia, which would act within the framework of UNESCO’s project and plans.

According to published information, it is planned to include “Russian architects, construction engineers and art historians” in the project. Russia is to provide “the necessary organizational and expertise resources,”  and to work under the auspices of  the UNESCO project.

Remembering the fiasco of the rehabilitation process under the Memorandum and its catastrophic ineptness both from the political point of view and because of the unacceptable quality of work produced, the Diocese of Raška and Prizren and Kosovo and Metohija expresses its resolute opposition to UNESCO’s newest idea, as well as to its attempt to ignore agreed procedures with a view to implementing its programs in the now “independent” Kosovo. The Diocese also remains firm in its well-known position that any rehabilitation process related to the holy places in the domain of the Diocese of Raška and Prizren and Kosovo and Metohija, as well as any inclusion of international institutions in the rehabilitation process can be carried out only in accordance with principles set forth and defined by the Diocese.

So far, the incursions made by UNESCO into the area of conservation of Serbian cultural heritage and the models of its engagement therein do not augur well for future collaboration in this area.

Press Section
Diocese of Raška and Prizren
аnd of Kosovo and Metohija

Russian participation will be not only material. The country “will provide the necessary organidsational and expert resources and will, in particular, dispatch to the Serbian province highly skilled architects, designers and engineers, as well as artistic experts for arranging the restoration works,” he said.

UNESCO determined seven Orthodox Church and six Muslim monuments subject for restoration in the near future in Kosovo. Russia will agree with UNESCO the list of objects it will restore.

“I am convinced that Russian assistance in the restoration of Orthodox Church monuments will be highly appraised in Belgrade. It is a logical continuation of the Russian policy in the Balkans,” Yakovenko said.

Over 150 Orthodox Church cathedrals, including those listed by UNESCO as world heritage, have been ruined in Kosovo since 2000. Belgrade actively supports UNESCO initiative to restore and preserve the monuments of Orthodox Church culture of historic significance for the world community.

The bridge over the Drina (wfm.org)

The organization’s director confirmed this Tuesday, the AP reported.

The Mehmed Paša Sokolović bridge is the second monument in Bosnia that UNESCO has recognized, after the Old Bridge in Mostar.

The structure is considered a masterpiece of Ottoman architecture and engineering but also lies near the site of war crimes committed during Bosnia’s 1992-95 war.

The 589-foot (around 177 meters) bridge has 11 stone arches and was built at the end of the 16th century in the eastern Bosnian town of Višegrad, agency said.

Grand Vizier Mehmed Paša Sokolović - a Bosnian-born Orthodox Serb, taken by the Ottoman Turks as a child to become a janissary - ordered the construction of the bridge.

UNESCO has recognized its “outstanding universal value,” UNESCO Director Koichiro Matsuura said in Sarajevo, where he was presenting authorities with a certificate on the listing of the bridge.

“Its cultural value transcends both national and cultural borders,” he said.

The bridge connects the two banks of the Drina, which throughout history has marked the border between Serbia and Bosnia.

Bosnian Serb writer Ivo Andrić, who received the 1961 Nobel Prize for literature, wrote a book called “The Bridge over the Drina,” which described the building of the bridge and life in Bosnia under the Ottoman Empire.

During the 1992-95 war, Višegrad was a site where war crimes were committed by Bosnian Serbs against the town’s Muslim population. The AP said that some 3,000 Muslim Bosnians were killed, including 121 children adding that Višegrad is now a Bosnian Serb town.

During Tuesday’s ceremony in Sarajevo to mark the bridge’s listing as a World Heritage Site, Bosnian President Haris Silajdžić said that those who survived that part of the bridge’s history “deserve our respect.”

Matsuura’s visit to Višegrad was canceled for security reasons, however, after The Association of Women Victims of War - a mainly Muslim Bosnian group - placed a memorial placard on the bridge to remember the war victims.

The World Heritage List includes 851 properties that UNESCO deems worth preserving for their cultural or natural value. Sites on the list are eligible for funding and technical assistance from UNESCO to help with protection and preservation. ]]> http://news.serbianunity.net/2008/03/26/6722/feed/ http://news.serbianunity.net/2007/12/05/5034/ http://news.serbianunity.net/2007/12/05/5034/#comments Wed, 05 Dec 2007 12:29:43 +0000 Sasa Sekulic http://news.serbianunity.net/2007/12/05/5034/
Joy of All Who Suffer Mother of God icon, written by the Sisters of Novo-Tikhvin Monastery in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Why the Sisters of Novo-Tikhvin Monastery in Ekaterinburg Sing Serbian Songs

Novo-Tikhvin Monastery Sisters share their testimony about Serbs

“You can save the fatherland, the fruit of a 500-hundred-year-long battle. Save and preserve, o God, — the Serbian nation implores You”. The words of the national anthem of Serbia say much about the people inhabiting this country. An anthem-prayer! Russia had this, too, a long time ago… The times may have changed, the way of life in our countries changed, but Serbians and Russians are still the brethren-nations. Just as it was a hundred years ago, the Russian songs are sung today in Serbia, and the Serbian ones - in Russia. The sisters of our abode verified this in practice: they recorded a CD with the patriotic songs of Serbia, the disk which will become a gift to the fraternal Serbian nation.

Serbian Hospitality

The sisters began learning Serbian songs for the first time last year, as they were going to Serbia for the festival of Orthodox choirs. It took place in the small village of Cheretezh and was dedicated to the church feast of the village.

Even then, at the first encounter with these cordial and children-like open people, the Serbs, our sisters loved them with all their hearts. As the saying goes, the Serbians are ready to give the very last thing to their guests: on extent of the festivities, the hosts, the dwellers of Cheterezh, did not rest for a minute - they were “serving”: handing around food, taking care of the participants of the festival. Hospitality is the national trait of the Serbs. As history shows, however, Serbians can be very different, too. To all who come to their land not with peace, this freedom-loving nation is ready to give a harsh rebuff. And this, too, is one of the sides of the Serbian nature. They so often had to fight for their independence that fortitude, patience, and readiness for self-sacrifice to the beloved Serbia, have become the integral traits of Serbian character, revealed even in small things.

During the festival, everyone got so close together that this festival became more like a family celebration: people would sing only out of the desire to give joy to one another. The sisters would confess later that they never met a more grateful audience than in Serbia.

A Serb is Always a Serb

A year later, the Urals received the guests. Our monastery was visited by Chernogorsko-Primorsky metropolitan Amphilohiy who had rendered much help to the sisters during their trip to the festival. They still remember the story told by the two Serbian drivers, Radisav and Slobodan, sent to the sisters by Metropolitan Amphilohiy: “The bishop, blessing us for the trip, told us: “Remember, you must do everything for the Russian sisters!” He smiled and added: “Even if they decide they’d like to buy a hotel - buy a hotel for them!”

Of course, our abode was preparing for the Bishop’s arrival with special care. The sisters wanted to please such a dear guest with something unusual. We decided that far from home, it would be most pleasing to him to hear his native speech, the familiar tunes: thus especially for his arrival, the chanter-sisters practiced the Serbian patriotic songs. When they started to sing about Kosovo, the Bishop was immediately transformed, listening to these songs familiar to every Serbian, as if for the first time in his life. And this again testified to the amazing unanimity of the entire Serbian nation: joy and grief, songs and prayers are shared amongst all Serbs; they unite all, from the common villager to a metropolitan.

Serbia is experiencing hard times now. Yet, the times were never easy for her. Russia always supported Serbia. Our countries, as two sisters, are bound together for many centuries by the unbreakable ties of mutual love and support. Therefore, having recorded the disk with the Serbian patriotic songs, the sisters had only thereby fulfilled the bidding of their hearts […]

Entire article »

Novo-Tikhvin Women’s Monastery Web Site - A Feast for Soul

Listen to the Sisters’ singing Serbian Anthem “God of Justice” (Serbian Army version, on YouTube), Kosovo Song (Serbian version, sung by the Kosovo children, is available at YouTube), Vidovdan Song (mp3 files)… these and the other Serbian songs they have recorded - a most precious gift to Serbian nation - are all listed at the bottom of this page, on the Russian part of the web site. Novo-Tikhvin Sisters’ heavenly, sweet voices soaked in incense and prayer weaving these songs of our suffering and faith have the power to make the stones cry.

Take a moment to gaze through the Windows of Heaven on the Novo-Tikhvin Women’s Monastery Icon page, see the most incredible needlepoint icons, liturgical vestments, temple banners and cloths, and wedding/baptism sets, or send one of their beautiful greeting cards to someone you love.

2008-2009

For more than half a century, the people of the United States have supported international educational and cultural exchange programs as an investment in global understanding and peace. In that tradition, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with funding from the American people and through its contractor World Learning, will again implement a program for Serbian students, the FORECAST Exchange Program. Twenty-one Serbian students are already in the U.S. at nine different universities for the academic year 2007-2008.

FORECAST Exchange will provide scholarships for one academic year of undergraduate, non-degree study in the United States beginning in August 2008. The scholarship will cover international/domestic travel, tuition, room and board, accident/sickness insurance, a small monthly stipend, and funding for books. Students will take courses in their major field of study as well as electives. They will live in university dormitories and will have the opportunity to participate in campus organizations and activities. They will be also required to take part in community service activities in order to gain a better understanding of U.S. society and values. During their academic year they will also be encouraged to participate in an internship.

PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY:

The FORECAST Exchange Program is open to all academic fields of study (except medicine, law, and other faculties only available on the graduate level in the U.S.) and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national and ethnic origin, or disability. Competition for the program is merit based. Finalists will be selected on the basis of academic excellence, leadership potential, knowledge of English, and their preparedness for study in the United States

In order to be eligible for the FORECAST Exchange Program, applicants must:

· Be a citizen of Serbia and currently reside and study in Serbia;

· Be enrolled as an undergraduate in good standing at a Serbian university and have satisfactorily completed at least one year but not be enrolled at the final year of their studies at the time of application;

· Be between the ages of 18 and 26;

· Have a strong command of written and spoken English;

· Be able to begin study in the United States in August 2008. Participants will not be allowed to defer until a later date;

· Be able to receive and maintain the U.S. student exchange visa (J-1) required for this program.

Interested undergraduates are required to fill out a FORECAST Exchange application form available from World Learning’s office at Kralja Milana 4A, Stan 27, Belgrade. Application forms can also be downloaded from the websites: http://start.worldlearning.org . (login: serbia, password: serbia), www.worldlearning.org/sam and http://belgrade.usembassy.gov/embassy/pa/fep.html . Application deadline is 5:00 pm., January 16, 2008.

Short-listed candidates will be called for an interview by a Selection Committee, and will be required to take the internet-based TOEFL test and receive a minimum score of 80. The final selection will be made by USAID in Washington, DC.

For more information about this program, see the websites above or call World Learning at 011-361-2462.

World Learning, Inc.

Kralja Milana 4A/27 · 11000 Belgrade · Serbia · Tel/Fax: (381 11) 361-2462 , 362-6092

]]> http://news.serbianunity.net/2007/10/30/4559/feed/ http://news.serbianunity.net/2007/10/08/4315/ http://news.serbianunity.net/2007/10/08/4315/#comments Mon, 08 Oct 2007 09:14:19 +0000 Sasa Sekulic http://news.serbianunity.net/2007/10/08/4315/ Lucian Harris | Issue 179

LONDON. Six religious sites and a hamman (baths) in Kosovo are set to be restored following a $1m donation from the United States as part of an Unesco-led project.The project was launched after Joachim Rücker, head of the UN administrative mission in Kosovo (Unmik), signed an agreement with Unesco officials in Paris in January.

The sites under restoration include three Orthodox churches, a monastery, two mosques and a hamman.

They were chosen from a list of 14 identified by a committee of experts in late 2005 after $10m was pledged at a multi-national donors conference earlier that year.

The United States is the first country to release funds.Fedor Klimtchouk, Unmik adviser, said that the process had been slow because of the need to conclude separate agreements with all of the donor countries, but that Greece, Italy, Germany, France and Turkey were ready to contribute to the process of reconstruction.

He added that up to five more sites may be restored by the end of 2007.

According to National Museum archaeologist Dušan Šljivar, experts found a “copper chisel and stone ax at a location near Prokuplje in which the foundation has proven to be 7,500 years old, leading us to believe that it was one of the first places in which metal weapons and tools were made in prehistory.”

Archaeologists hope that this find in southern Serbia will prove the theory that the metal age began a lot earlier than it was believed to have, Šljivar told Beta news agency. He leads the team of archaeologists that have been investigating the site over the past decade.

Šljivar said that this finding, along with 40 similarly valuable ones before it, among which there were more parts of metal tools and weapons, as well as a smelter and furnace, prove that man on this territory began working with metal more than 5,000 years before the new era.

Prokuplje Museum archaeologist Julka Kuzmanović-Cvetković said that the site “shows that the people living on our territory started a civilization that presented the basics of the technological revolution.”

“We want to prove that the site was a metal works centre in the central part of the Balkans,” she said.

The Ministry of Culture has set aside some EUR 12,500 for this year’s excavation at the site near Prokuplje, called Pločnik.

Šljivar said that these funds have enabled experts to investigate with more detail the 25 square meters and find new specimens.

Pločnik was uncovered accidentally in 1927 while the Niš-Priština railway was being built and has been actively investigated with great interest since 1996 by Serbian and international experts.

No matter the weather, time of day or level of danger, Greek soldiers can be found standing guard over one of Kosovo’s most famous Orthodox monasteries.

Members of the 647th Mechanised Infantry Battalion have been protecting Sokolica Monastery since 2002.

One squad, including one officer and 10 non-commissioned officers, is always on duty on monastery grounds watching for possible threats and preparing to take action in case of any emergency. Should a crisis present itself, additional forces are always on standby to quickly respond.

“My main mission here is to keep the monastery in a safe and secure environment,” said Sergeant Tzivis, 647th MIB. “We protect it from the three Albanian villages nearby.”

Mother Abbess Makaria, head nun, said Danish forces were the first Kosovo Force members to guard the monastery in 1999. She said with them, as with the Greek forces now, she looks at the soldiers as protectors rather than occupiers.

“After the arrival of Nato (in Kosovo), 168 churches were destroyed,” said Mother Makaria. “If it wasn’t for Nato, they would have all been destroyed.”

Mother Makaria said the Greek soldiers have the common bond of the Orthodox religion with her and the other sisters of Sokolica/Sokollice. This shared faith has allowed the two groups to live like a family.

“I am happy we have the Greek soldiers here,” said Mother Makaria. “Last year for Holy Week we made services together. On Good Friday we had a special service with two groups of singers, one Greek and one Serbian. I sang with the Greek group, and we sounded better.” She laughs.

Mother Makaria’s agenda is one of peace. She feels her Kosovo-Albanian neighbours would respect the monastery even if the Greek soldiers weren’t present, but she enjoys the protection.

“I’m not expecting something bad in the future, but it isn’t all roses here,” said Mother Makaria. “God will decide what happens with Kosovo, and everyone will have to accept His will.”

Mother Makaria was clear that anyone in need was always welcome at the monastery. She has numerous stories of providing help to Serbian and Kosovo-Albanian people. She also has many stories of miracles occurring when people pray to the Virgin Mary for help.

According to the Kosovo.net, this famous Orthodox monastery was built between the 14th and 15th centuries, probably by a landlord from the nearby town of Zvecan. The area probably earned its status as a monastery because legend has it that a sculpture of the Virgin Mary with Christ was brought there from the Banjska Monastery in order to hide the statue from the Turks.

Mother Makaria offers two additional stories of how the statue was brought to the monastery. It’s easy to trust in Mother Makaria’s historic accounts of the monastery because she is an educated and well-spoken woman. In addition to having a doctorate’s degree in chemistry and a master’s in theology, the 66-year-old nun is fluent in multiple languages.

Regardless of what story is historically accurate, Mother Makaria is sure of the power of prayer to the Virgin Mary through this statue.

“The statue gives children to husbands and wives who are told by doctors that they can’t have children,” said Mother Makaria. “One Muslim woman came here to pray. She was married for 11 years with no children. Her husband was a good man and stayed with her even though he could have left her after five years without children.

“She said the doctor told her she could not have children,” Mother Makaria continued. “She prayed to Mary. She asked Mary for one son, and she received one son shortly after.”

Mother Makaria laughed as she told the story of the woman’s return to the statue to pray many years after she gave birth to her son.

“I asked her why she was praying to the statue again,” said Mother Makaria. “I know she had been given a son so many years ago when she asked. She said that now that her son has grown up and isn’t married, she needed to ask Mary for a bride for him.”

All of the stories of the miracles and good deeds that have occurred at the monastery have been spread through the local villages, said Mother Makaria. This could be why a day will come when some people would try to bring harm to the site in some kind of political riot. Although the Greek soldiers hope that day will never come, they will make sure they are ready for any situation.

“Of course I’m proud to protect this monastery,” said Sergeant Tzivis. “I am Orthodox, and that helps also. I miss my family, but I know this in an important site.”

Sergeant Tzivis is not married, but said he misses his parents and girlfriend very much. This is his third mission in Kosovo and second at the monastery. At the end of this tour, he will have spent two years in Kosovo. Still, he stays focused on his mission and remains proud to serve.

Tech Sgt Jason Smith is with the US Air Force, Kosovo Force.

The “Portrait of a Man” dates back to around 1918, said a Modigliani expert Christian Parisot. It was authenticated after 17 years of expert checkup, Parisot, the director of Modigliani’s Rome-based archives, said.

The painting will be shown for the first time at an exhibition in the Serbian capital, Belgrade in late November, in accordance with the owner’s wishes, the city authorities said.

The identity of the collector was not immediately revealed. Parisot said the man sought help 17 years ago to determine whether the painting he suspected was a Modigliani, was indeed an original.

“It’s authentic,” Parisot said. “After so many years of work, we can definitely say that.”

The canvas measures 46 x 38 cm (18 x 15 inches) and shows an unknown young man. Experts said the oil colors had been watered, a sign that the artist was poor at the time of the work.

Modigliani (1884-1920) worked for most of his career in France. He was a distinguished member of the so called Paris school of avant garde artists.

BELGRADE, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Serbia’s tennis prodigy Novak Djokovic described their Davis Cup 4-1 win over Australia as an incisive team effort after playing a key role in the outcome that cast contrasting fortunes on the two sides.

While the result sent Serbia through to the world group for the first time, it also relegated the winners of 28 Davis Cup titles to the Asia-Oceania qualifying zone for the first time since 1996.

“I want to make it clear in no uncertain terms this was a team win and not one of my own making only,” Djokovic said after three effervescent performances that made the final singles match on Sunday a dead rubber.

“We’ve waited for this for 20 years and I am still stunned by what we have achieved. Of course we would like to go on and win the title next year but that is a very long road,” the 20-year old world number three said.

Djokovic beat Paul Luczak and Chris Guccione, who stood in for the ailing Lleyton Hewitt, without dropping a set and did so either side of leading a rampant doubles comeback that swung the tie Serbia’s way.

Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic came from a set and two games down to brush aside Hewitt and Paul Hanley and give the Serbs a 2-1 lead, presenting Djokovic with the opportunity he clinically executed against Guccione after fighting off fatigue.

BEST SHOTS

“Anyone who might have thought the match against Guccione would be a formality knows nothing about tennis because I had to work very hard to beat him,” Djokovic said.

“I was expecting Hewitt, bracing myself for an exhausting match and preparing a different strategy but Guccione is an awkward opponent on any surface.”

Djokovic fired his best shots, including the final five points of the match, when he needed them most in a 6-3 7-6 7-6 win over the world number 94 and praised 20,000 raucous home fans for their contribution.

“This is the best crowd I have ever seen and we played our hearts out for them,” he said.

With a popular drum band leading the way, the fans turned the Belgrade Arena into a cauldron Djokovic galvanised every time he clenched a fist in the air to celebrate game-winning shots or an ace.

“The atmosphere was fantastic and gave us the extra bit of strength to keep going when the going got tough,” he said.

One of Basketball’s Most Complete Men, With a Heart of Gold

“Vlade Divac has a heart of gold, apart from being a great player. He is the best man I have ever met,” said Chris Webber in Belgrade, after greeting over 10,000 Divac’s fans in Serbian.

NBA stars, the gentle giant’s coaches, friends and teammates, along with adoring crowd of Serbs gathered at a farewell concert held in Divac’s honor, marking his retirement from basketball and launching a humanitarian campaign to raise funds meant to provide housing for 7,850 refugees in Serbia, and thousands more in Africa.

According to the official NBA web site, the 7′ 1″ Serb, selected by the Lakers with the 26th overall selection of the 1989 NBA Draft, has played for the Lakers (1989-96, 2004-05), Hornets (1996-98) and Kings (1998-2004) throughout his NBA career.

The 2001 NBA All-Star joins Hakeem Olajuwon and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players in NBA history to amass 13,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 3,000 assists and 1,500 blocked shots. A deft passer and one of the game’s most complete big men, Divac boasts career averages of 11.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 blocked shots in 1,134 total games. Divac, who played professionally in Serbia and Yugoslavia prior to joining the NBA ranks, helped guide Yugoslavia [Serbia and Montenegro] to a gold medal in the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis.

You Can Too

“It has always been my dream to host a spectacular event for Belgrade, my birth town of Prijepolje (Serbia) and for the people of Serbia,” said Divac. “This is a way for me to thank everyone who believed in me throughout my career and helped me become the man I am today. I also want to take the opportunity to address the very important issues that face refugees, not only in my country, but in Africa as well. The ‘You Can Too‘ initiative will reach out and help these people, and it is my hope that citizens everywhere will support the cause.”

Divac’s farewell ceremony was attended by former national team representatives Aleksandar Djordjevic, Predrag Danilovic, Zoran Savic and Zarko Paspalj. His NBA co-players, including Chris Webber, Scott Pollard and Glen Rice also came to support their colleague, along with Divac’s former coaches Dusan Ivkovic, Dusko Vujosevic and Gregg Popovich.

Party for Serbia

Serbian kids had a rare thrill to play with major NBA stars in the Belgrade street tournament. Chris Webber with one of the future Serbian champs.

The three-day celebrations began on Friday, Sept. 21, with the “All Stars Party,” a ceremonial dinner at the White Palace in Belgrade. Hosted by the Serbia’s royal family, Prince Aleksandar and Princess Katarina Karadjordjevic, the event included entertainment and a grand-scale auction.

But before the Friday gala dinner in Belgrade’s Royal Palace, generous Vlade found time to swing by Beogradska Arena to lend his support to Janko Tipsarevic and Novak Djokovic playing against the Aussies for Serbia’s place in the 2008 World Group.

On Saturday, Sept. 22, the festivities continued in Belgrade with a street basketball competition for children under the age of 16. The basketball contest includes champions from the “21 Across 21″ Tournament, which began last weekend in 21 Serbian cities. To honor Divac’s number when he played for the Sacramento Kings, each of the 21 cities will host their own three-on-three tournament, with every winner advancing to the Belgrade event.

The evening of the 22nd, a carnival with as many as 500 children participating took place at the Serbian capital’s Kalemegdan fortress, followed by a free concert “The Party for Serbia” outside the National Parliament building. The concert featured performances of numerous bands and artist form Serbia and abroad.

A short movie was played from a huge screen in the stage in which a score of Divac’s friends and colleagues praised his efforts and career, including NBA stars Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Bobby Jackson, Yao Ming, coach Phil Jackson, rapper Snoop Dog, Red Hot Chili Peppers, actor Billy Crystal and many others.

“I wish to thank you for a huge and selfless support you have been giving me throughout my basketball career that began here in Serbia and now ends here as well,” Divac told the crowd yesterday from a concert stage.

“Hard Work, Confidence and Respect Are the Keys”

“Today begins the most important game of my life. With your help, the biggest and best team is looking to score a vital victory and help those deprived of their land, home, and friends who are now living in conditions unworthy of a human,” said Divac.

On Sunday, Divac traveled to his hometown of Prijepolje to officially open the Vlade Divac Museum, an exhibition that chronicles a basketball career that began in Prijepolje when he was a tall 12-year-old boy dwarfing his teacher, and eventually ended in the NBA.

The museum will display European jerseys and basketball-related equipment; practice gear and official NBA uniforms from the Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, and Kings; international competition medals; newspaper and magazine articles from all over the world; game video; photos; letters from fans and children; and a special section dedicated to his humanitarian efforts.

“My goal for the museum is to show young people today that you don’t have to be born in a big city to become successful,” said Divac.

“Hard work, confidence, and respect are the keys to building a full life and thriving profession. I hope the museum illustrates this message and the children in Prijepolje learn from it.”

Humble, Yet Larger Than Life

Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee says it’s time to start planning another party for Vlade Divac “right here in Sacramento.”

Thank Vlade for the exquisite passes, the astonishingly creative low-post moves, the unifying locker room presence, the humble, yet larger-than-life personality. Thank him for being the first elite free agent to sign with the Kings, for embracing the community with such humor and grace, and in essence, for escorting Sacramentans on a wildly entertaining, six-year tour of the globe.

[…] Divac has always been a communal figure, the antithesis of the solo act, and at 39, he isn’t about to change. His celebration this weekend is only partly about ceremonial dinners, the finals of a youth basketball tournament, a children’s carnival at the majestic Kalemegdan plaza and an outdoor public concert in the historic downtown square. The other component is the launching of a collaborative campaign to raise $3 million for the purchase and restoration of abandoned homes in Serbia and Ethiopia […] The man is as famous for his generosity as he is for his abundant basketball gifts.

By Michael Levitin, Special to The Los Angeles Times

It’s Saturday night and I’m pressed against a crowd of singing, swaying, Champagne- and cocktail-toting Serbs outside one of the nightclubs on Strahinjica Bana, a street in the hip Dorcol district. A rock concert echoes up the hill, convertibles are thumping past, and the buzz feels more like Berlin, London or Barcelona than a war-torn capital in the Balkans.

But raucous nights like these are normal in the hard-partying resurrected city that is Belgrade.

“So many clubs have opened in the last few years,” said Vladimir, a guy standing in the crowd. “Now you can go anywhere and do anything. A lot has changed since Oct. 5.”

He meant Oct. 5, 2000, the day masses of nonviolent protesters assembled outside Belgrade’s Parliament and ousted Slobodan Milosevic from power, replacing him with a democratic, Western-backed government. The country has been on an upward trajectory ever since.

Strahinjica Bana, along with other hopping nightspots like it, has become a symbol of the resurgent capital. With an international theater festival this month and the renowned Belgrade Jazz Festival in October, Belgrade is reinventing itself as a fresh, dynamic cultural destination in Europe. That’s one reason — after a decade of bloody Balkan wars and NATO’s 78-day bombardment of the city in 1999 — travelers are starting to trickle back in. About 280,000 visited last year, more than triple the number since 2000.

I came here in spring, after dealing with crowds in Croatia, because I wanted to see a city that so far has been spared the tourist-catering atmosphere.

Today’s news reports from Serbia (and the Balkans generally) focus almost exclusively on two things: Belgrade’s lagging efforts to capture and extradite its war criminals and the country’s stubborn, even militant refusal to grant Kosovo independence. With 20% unemployment, an economy battered by sanctions and the nation considered a pariah by the West, these weren’t exactly touristic waters.

A MORE OPEN FUTURE

It was a bright morning as I carried my pack up one of the steep, winding streets that led away from the bus depot and followed signs pointing toward the Old Bohemian Quarter. Construction workers of various-looking nationalities were shouting over a racket of jackhammers. Old-fashioned bakeries and shops overflowed with customers. At the top of the hill, elegantly dressed patrons sat at cafe tables on the sidewalk of a gritty boulevard, opposite a McDonald’s, which seemed to confirm I had landed someplace between a classical, enlightened Europe and a post-Soviet consumer blitz.

Belgrade has always been engaged in a volatile tug-of-war between East and West. Built on a hill overlooking the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers, the “White City” stood as an enduring, strategic crossroads separating Europe from what lay beyond it. Thracians from the southeast Balkan peninsula, Celts from Northern and Central Europe and Romans settled here.

The Slavs, from whom Serbs and most nationalities across Eastern Europe descend, came in the early 600s; during the next centuries, Serb dynasties fought against Byzantines, Hungarians and the Turks, who finally defeated them at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, initiating 500 years of Ottoman rule.

The country that once produced leading European figures in the arts and sciences has been cut off from the West for so long — decades of Marshal Tito’s “new way” communism, 11 years of Milosevic’s autocratic rule and now seven years of punishing sanctions — that even Americans, despite our country’s lead role in the 1999 NATO bombardment that killed hundreds of Serb civilians, get a friendly nod.

On my initial walk through Belgrade, the past came alive in the rich array of architecture: the spartan, brick-wall design of the 17th century Bajrakli Mosque and the neo-Renaissance and Modernist structures dotting the downtown area, as well as the immense marble-white church of St. Sava (modeled on the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul), whose exterior was finished four years ago.

When I eventually reached the polished cobblestones and suave outdoor eateries on Skadarska Street in the Old Bohemian Quarter, I discovered the hotel prices were anything but bohemian. I continued through to the leafy Dorcol district and checked in at the cheaper but respectable Hotel Royal.

Like the now-gentrified Bohemian Quarter (a former gypsy settlement of shacks and cheap cafes that drew artists and writers there in the early 20th century), Dorcol also means a lot more to Belgrade’s past than its present nouveau riche night life suggests. Once a cluster of medieval homes that sloped down to meet the Danube, the neighborhood was remodeled with palaces by the Austro-Hungarians, destroyed by the Turks and rebuilt last century in a grid-like pattern with modern buildings that have sapped some of its mystique.

Major landmarks nonetheless exist. The Jewish Historical Museum has fascinating photographs and objects on display, such as ancient demographic maps and sketches of synagogues from around the Balkans. There are public galleries (with collections as diverse as ancient frescoes and modern Impressionists) and private galleries featuring contemporary Serbian painters.

Dorcol also butts up against Republic Square. The city’s bustling center point, which faces the National Theater and National Museum, is anchored around a giant bronze statue of Serbia’s Prince Michael on a horse and was the site of the earliest anti-Milosevic demonstrations in 1991. Even in the wee hours, the square, ringed by inexpensive pizzerias and outdoor cafes, is a place to sit comfortably and watch the parade of people.

EXPLORE ON FOOT

Like many of the 1.5 million people who live in Belgrade, you can take buses or trams to get around. But because of the range of neighborhoods and the shifting geographies, the best way to see the city is on foot.

On my second day, I ascended to the sprawling medieval fortress in Kalemegdan Park, which sits on a steep promontory northwest of the city center and represents Belgrade’s origins.

Standing atop the ancient stone walls that once loomed over early Slav settlements, I looked down on the slow, wide union of the Sava and Danube rivers. Dotted with historic monuments and sculptures of famous Serbs, with footpaths lacing through the trees, the expansive park and fortress is the cradle of Belgrade life.

All that serenity vanishes when you reach the park’s base at Knez Mihailova Street, a buzzing pedestrian thoroughfare that has become the commercial centerpiece of Belgrade’s resurgence. Lined with bookstores, galleries, designer shops and boutiques, Knez Mihailova is studded with outdoor bars and cafes, a handful of cultural centers — and like Republic Square, it’s clogged at all times with people.

What attracted me even more than the central flare of Belgrade, which includes the 2-mile-long King Aleksander Boulevard lined with endless outdoor markets selling cheap goods of all kinds, was the easy, slowed-down pace of Zemun, Belgrade’s charming Hapsburg-era neighborhood that lies just across the Sava River.

Zemun, considered a separate city for centuries until it officially joined the Serbian capital in 1934, is also built on and around a small hill and is marked by quaint Baroque squares, cobblestone streets and tastefully restored 18th century homes.

Close by, you’ll find some of the best works of the 20th century Yugoslav avant-garde, as well as exhibitions of current artists from across Europe, at the Museum of Contemporary Art; and aviation buffs can check out the glass-and-aluminum structure shaped like a flying saucer that houses Belgrade’s Air Museum, with a collection of more than 50 original planes, gliders, helicopters, rockets and other aircraft.

None of which tops Zemun’s best feature: It is smack on the Danube and its riverbank is full of nightclub rafts called splavovi, which fill with tireless dancing weekend crowds and have put this city’s night life on the map.

I checked out a splav and found the music deafening and the drinks a bit overpriced (considering I was in the Balkans) at $8 a pop. But the view of the starry sky and the dark forest across the river made the anchored barge a pretty cool place to have a drink.

Which is why it’s striking, given all that’s modern and Western about Belgrade, to walk through downtown and see the towering, shelled-out remains of buildings hit by NATO bombs.

“It’s not normal to have such ugly, destroyed buildings in the center of the city that people pass and see every day,” said Aca Nikolice, who works at a kebab takeout spot a block from a bombed military depot. “Eight years, my friend, eight years,” he told me, shoveling minced-meat sausages into a pita and handing me the local wrap, known as a cevapcici. “But it feels just like yesterday.” (Note: Though Belgrade abounds with excellent pan-Balkan dishes — a fusion of German, Italian and Turkish cooking that’s heavy on the meat but also offers stuffed cabbage, bean soups and other delights for vegetarians — nothing beats the price, taste and experience of a street-side cevapcici.)

Many among the post-Milosevic generation say the wound from the bombings is still fresh, but they’re ready to shake off their pariah status.

“Other countries need to see that Milosevic — his government, his system of governing and his era — is dead,” said Nenad Petkovic, 25, a book salesman.

America and Europe’s insistence on a free and independent Kosovo is the biggest thorn in the Serbs’ side. Kosovo, settled by Serbs about 1,400 years ago, is home to the Serbian Orthodox Church and represents the country’s core heritage and history. “Losing Kosovo would be like losing Serbia itself,” said Ivan Stanojevic, a political science student at Belgrade University.

But more immediately, said artist Mirjana Rankovic, Serbs shouldn’t keep being punished — by economic sanctions, by visa restrictions — for the crimes their government committed in the 1990s. “It’s humiliating. We have to ask each time we want to travel,” she said. “And often they don’t let us.”

And that’s the irony: As Belgrade heats up as a destination for culture and night life, Serbs themselves are finding it barely possible to leave. Nonetheless, the vibrant arts and music scene they’re creating is helping to lift this city slowly to a place it hasn’t been for years: among the culturally rich and respected capitals in Europe.

After I walked Belgrade’s hilly streets of past and present and talked with the people who inhabited them, the capital that I believed to exist before I came here proved to be far different from the city that I came to know.

I prefer the second one.

Agora Gallery proudly presents Native Serbian artist Bisa Bennett with the opening of Beyond Borders: an Exhibition of Fine Art from Canada.

We would be delighted if you would join us for the opening reception, Thursday night October 4, 2007.

Best Regards,

Amanda Aaron
Public Relations Department
Agora Gallery
530 West 25th Street, Chelsea, New York
212 -226 - 4151

www.Agora-Gallery.com

Bisa Bennett paintings stem from various life experiences and ripe with mature sensibilities. The intensity and strength infused in Bennett’s work create remarkable depth. Her compelling use of contrast and fascination with light make her work stare-worthy and pieces such as Forbidden Apple, saturated in rich, deep colors, gradually envelop the viewer. Bennett’s subjects reach beyond the canvas to provoke a profound connection.

Agora Gallery

Exhibition Dates: September 28 - October 18, 2007

Reception: Thursday October 04, 2007 6-8pm

Gallery Hours: Tues-Sat 11-6

Gallery Location:

530 West 25^th Street
,
Chelsea
,
New York
10001

For More Information: http://www.agora-gallery.com/ArtistInvite/Bisa_Bennett.aspx

Forbidden Apple, Acrylic on Canvas, 36 x 48 in.

“This is a great honour for me to be invited to be UNICEF Ambassador,” said Ms. Ivanovic, speaking at the Vladimir Rolovic elementary school in the capital Belgrade. “I love children, and I relish this opportunity to help them in some small way.”

Ranked number six in the world, the tennis ace has contributed funds to allow three schools to implement the “School without Violence” programme.

“I’m looking forward to supporting UNICEF’s ‘child-friendly schools’ concept,” she said. “Serbia is already on a good way in this respect thanks to UNICEF’s activities. I will give my contribution and hope that it will add up to the positive changes that are occurring for children in Serbia.”

The schools benefiting from Ms. Ivanovic’s generosity are the Vladimir Rolovic school, the Desanka Maksimovic primary school in Kovin and the Vera Radosavljevic primary school in Negotin.

Welcoming the star athlete to the UNICEF family, the agency’s Acting Representative in Serbia, Maria-Luisa Fornara, said Ms. Ivanovic has “demonstrated power and potential of sports and to further UNICEF’s mission in building a Serbia fit for children.”

Fellow Serbian tennis ace Jelena Jankovic will also officially become a UNICEF National Ambassador when she returns to her country. They will join the ranks of two other UNICEF National Ambassadors in Serbia: Aleksandar Sasa Djordjevic, a national and international-caliber basketball player, who was appointed in 2005, and Emir Kusturica, a world-famous