Edition 25 0 March 2016

Gazanfer Bayram

The Hotel Enjoying an outstanding location at the heart The resort offers the highest level of elegance of the city – the antique Old Bazaar- this and comfort combined with traditional unique 5 star resort in elements, and creates a “Bushi Resort & SPA” is located welcoming environment where next to the most famous city you can feel at home. attractions like the Old Bazaar, Mustafa Pasha Mosque, Saint Bushi Resort & SPA has 48 hotel Spas Church, National Museum rooms of different typologies: and just few steps away from the Standard Rooms, Superior main embassies, state institutions Rooms, Duplex Suites , Junior and business buildings. Suites and Presidential Suite . The hotel is less than a half All the hotel rooms are equipped kilometer from the Stone Bridge, with luxury and contemporary 293m from the Kale Fortress and a half kilometer furniture, seating area, work desk, free Wi-Fi, smart from the Macedonia Square. The Skopje TV, free satellite TV channels-, minibar, safe box, International Airport is 16.1 km away. telephone, coffee/tea maker machine etc.

SPA Center The SPA Center of Bushi Resort is the only of its kind in the whole region. It offers an indoor swimming pool, Jacuzzi, 5 massage rooms, seats for foot massage, Sauna, Salt Room Sauna, very professional and well equipped Turkish bath, changing rooms, showers, reception area and Bar. At Bushi Resort & SPA you will enjoy the tradition of the art of relax from the Asian Countries. The variety of massages, the professionalism of the local and international physiotherapists- from Thailand – makes it unique in Skopje. e-mail: [email protected] , tel: +389 2 3125 130 “Stara Çarshia” Terrace Bar- Restaurant is the main restaurant with an amazing view over Old Bazaar

Our terrace bar-restaurant is opened during the day for the public as well. Everyone can enjoy the culinary art of our chefs by trying any traditional food or the Mediterranean and international specialties. It is very frequent for the special day events such as: a special birthday, wedding, cocktails, receptions, company party etc.

Conference Rooms Bushi Resort & SPA houses 2 Conference Rooms - Conference Room and Çarshia Restaurant. The hotel’s main conference room has a maximum capacity of 150 participants in theater style. It has a natural day light and an exceptional style in Skopje with brand new and very comfortable cinema seats and aside lodge on the second floor. Each cinema seat has a personal plug in and a personal mini-worktable that gives the opportunity to participants to place their personal items such as laptop, notebook, pens, agenda etc. It is equipped with 2 incorporated translation cabins with very hi-tech translation equipment, microphones, headphones, screen, podium, flip chart, registration table, projector etc.

e-mail: [email protected] , tel: +389 2 3125 130 Recommendations DMWC Recommends In this issue we introduce a new section: a yellow-pages-type directory of services which we can recommend to our readers. Please feel free to share your experiences and opinions with us via the web site http// www.dmwc.org.mk/contact. We will be in touch with the providers of all the published ads and will share your feedback with them.

UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE SAUNA • JACUZZI • TURKISH BATH GARDEN MASSAGE • WINE THERAPY SPA

BOUTIQUE HOTEL

: +389 (2) 609 21 91 GARDEN SPA www.gardenspa.mk PHONE

6 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk www.dmwc.org.mk

In this issue: Published by Remembering the Great War “Dobredojde” It is not a very well known fact that Macedonia Welcome Centre Macedonia, although not a state Ul. Alzirska bb at the time, took a great part, or UZ Vlado Tasevski rather, suffered a lot in World War One. p.11 1000 Skopje Vardar Gemija - Republic of Macedonia Memories of the [email protected] Times Past Editor-in-Chief Since Macedonia is a Emilija Miladinova Avramcheva landlocked country, all [email protected] the terms, customs and experiences connected to the naval or maritime life evoke a strange feeling and Contributors curiosity amongst its population. p.14 Robert Alagjozovski Ladino – the [email protected] Enigmatic Nadica Janeva [email protected] Language of Zaneta Gelevska-Veljanovska Macedonian [email protected] Jews Lyubov Gurjeva

The big expulsion of the Jewish population from Spain [email protected] (1492) and Portugal (1498) is well known. p.18 Jasmina A. Casule graphic design Crown on the Ceiling [email protected]

As one of the most important towns ISSN 1857- 9213 in Macedonia, Tetovo competes with for the status of the second only to the capital administrative, educational, economical and trade centre. p.20

Macedonia Welcome Centre Magazine is a non-profit publication that is financed by advertising and donations. Donations can be remitted to our bank account: NGO: “Dobredojde” Macedonia Welcome Centre, Skopje Bank Account: 200002723446003 ; Bank: Stopanska Banka ; VAT number: EDB 4058009503130 We welcome donations of any amount. Thank you for your support! Yours Gratefully, Macedonia Welcome Centre Magazine Editorial Board DMWC Coffee Mornings

Embassies, international communities and organizations introduce their countries, cultures and activities. A monthly event open to everybody.

Russian Coffee Morning Dutch Coffee Morning Thursday, April 14 at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 12, at 11 a.m. at TCC Grand Plaza Hotel at TCC Grand Plaza Hotel

“Making Connections” is the motto of the Netherlands Presidency of the EU Council (January-June 2016). On 12th May, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Macedonia, H. E. Mr. Wouter Plomp and Ms. Henriette Winkler will host a Dutch Coffee Morning, dedicated to the connections DMWC Russian Tea/Coffee Morning between Macedonia and the will take place at TCC Grand Plaza Netherlands. After the opening Hotel on April 14, 2016 at 11 a.m. word, Dutch specialties H. E. Mr. Oleg Scherbak, Ambassador and coffee will be served. Welkom! of the Russian Federation, will address the guests with a brief talk on the history of and present-day international cooperation in space, and present a photo exhibition “The milestones in Space exploration”. To commemorate the 55th anniversary of the first manned space flight and the International Day of Human Space Flight, all guests are welcome to lay flowers (provided by the Russian Embassy) to the monument to Jury Gagarin in Karpos Municipality. Executive Committee Emilija Miladinova Avramcheva President and MWC Magazine Editor Robert Alagjozovski Culture and Literature Coordinator Zaneta (Zani) Gelevska Veljanovska Painter and Art Teacher Irina Georgieva Healthy Lifestyle Coordinator and Yoga Instructor Dr. Biljana Ancevska PR and Training Coordinator Lyubov Gurjeva MWC Magazine and Membership Coordinator 8 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk Editorial Spring Agenda

his spring we that aims to promote Macedonian intangible will continue cultural heritage in the media and among Tto work on our the expat community in Macedonia. The annual charitable second grant supports the international project for the benefit mosaic fair that will bring together mosaic of vulnerable children. artists from many countries and promote 2016 DMWC International this traditional art form in Macedonia as Charity Bazaar well as give an impetus to the development will take place on of the appreciation of mosaic and stimulate Saturday, June 4 an interest towards this somewhat forgotten by Emilija Miladinova at the ground level of art among artists, craftsmen and the public. Avramcheva GTC shopping centre These two projects will give our readers President of in the centre of Skopje. many opportunities to learn more about “Dobredojde” Macedonia It is already a tradition filigree, traditional jewellery making, wood Welcome Centre that the host of carving, weaving, pottery and mosaic. I this event will be would also like to appeal to our friends the Municipality from the countries with a long established of Skopje. It gives me great pleasure to tradition of mosaic to consider taking part in announce that the Honorary President the International Mosaics Fair. of 2016 DMWC International Charity We have been working on this issue during Bazaar is H.E. Charles Garrett, the the Western Lent, which overlaps with the Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Orthodox Lent only by two weeks this year, Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the Orthodox Easter falling on the1st of May. the Republic of Macedonia. Easter is the most important religious holiday This is the fifth time that DMWC for the majority of Macedonians, and just as will celebrate the International in the Western churches, it is preceded by a Children’s Day, June 1, together with six week Lent. The last Sunday before Lent the international community and the is known as Procka, the day of forgiveness. school children of Skopje. There will be This year it falls on 13 March. The rituals performances by various schools, an art connected to this day have incorporated workshop, and stands where embassies a long pre-christian tradition of marking will sell their national products and the transition between winter and spring promote their countries, a lottery and other by dressing up and wearing masks. There fun activities. Our beneficiary this year will are also ceremonial fires and divination. be the Centre for Street Children in and Prilep carnivals have become Shuto Orizari in Skopje. The Bazaar is international cultural events. After Procka a unique opportunity for the embassies, starts the Lent fast that includes the first six the local government, schools, artists and days of the Holy Week known in Macedonian NGOs to work together for a great cause. as the “Week of Passion” and ends in the Apart from a grant from City of Skopje that very early morning of Easter Sunday. will fund the organisation of the Bazaar, this With this issue we also mark the transition year DMWC has competed for and won two from winter to spring, introduce our new grants from the Ministry of Culture. The first projects and wish to all our readers celebrating grant supports the project In the Rhythm Easter a happy and joyful holiday. of Macedonian Artistic Traditions and Crafts

www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 9 Editorial European Capital of Culture in 2027

n the second half of a new common story will be even more December the City important than the project itself. Iof Skopje announced It is of no surprise that one of the arguments its decision to take part of the current city government in support of in the competition for the ECOC initiativeis that Skopje 2014 has put the title of the 2027 in place a new cultural infrastructure that now European Capital of needs a European project that would make Culture. I was especially it internationally famous. The «spectacular» glad to hear of this museums and theaters now need guests decision as this was to produce spectacular performances. The exactly what I suggested opposite argument would be that a new by Robert in this column six European story can only be built on the Alagjozovski months ago. The nature shoulders of the failed Skopje 2014 project. cultural manager, of the program is such We will see how we will move through the literary critic that every three years debate on these issues. one city of the candidate The city must prove it has enough cultural countries will receive the title alongside potential, including infrastructure, to win the two EU cities. There is also a principle of title. But the project should also create a new exclusion – countries the cities of which story, new culture, new audiences, and new have won the title are no longer eligible to infrastructure. ECOC director for Novi Sad participate. This means that as time goes in 2021 even said they were not planning by the chances of eligible applicants to win to include in the program the current best increase. Skopje stands a good chance of European open air festival, EXIT. winning in 2027. Finally, it is important to mention another Now we have to consider our internal fact. The European Union provides only one strengths and weaknesses. Given the and a half million euros for this program. current division and confrontation in society, So the remaining tens or even hundreds it is good that the application is set far in of millions are provided from local and time. 2027 is near enough to arouse positive national sources or by other donors. This energy and far enough for many wounds to financial arrangement underscores that heal and for a consensus to be built. There the European Capital of Culture is primarily is no question that without a consensus a venture by us and for us. We must give and support from local authorities and ourselves and the town a new fresh energy. national government, as well as from all key We must invent a new life with new cultural stakeholders in the city, including the wider standards. But the European dimension is cultural scene and the cultural community, a important because of the foreign visitors. good program is not possible. Skopje 2014 The title and its resonance in Europe and project has demonstrated that top-down the world are important to attract foreign initiatives without a strong public support tourists and to identify the city on the cannot succeed. It is important to mention European map. Before and after the year that after Skopje 2014 only a project of the of the title there is always a big increase in level and scope of the European Capital the number of foreign visits and an influx of Culture (ECOC) can give a new major of money into the local economy. The next authority in the city and that, in the divided question is how to retain the benefits in the country, building consensus and finding long term. But that’s another story.

10 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk History Remembering the Great War

t is not a very well known fact that fighting. Peaks and hills were gained and Macedonia, although not a state lost several times during each battle. The at the time, took a great part, or front line was stable for a long time until rather, suffered a lot in World War it was broken by the Allied forces in 1918, One. One of the most stable front which lead to the capitulation of Bulgaria Ilines of the conflict passed through the and restitution of the Serbian state on whole territory of Macedonia. The front Macedonian territory. attracted great numbers of foreign troops The war brought a great many new who fought fierce battles resulting in experiences to Macedonian peasants, epic destruction, diseases and death tolls who were not very mobile at that time. among soldiers and the local people. The Encounters with new nations and races, (Solun) or strange love affairs, encounters with stretched from the Adriatic coast to the feminism, cross-national friendships, Struma River. The Allied forces (Britain, extreme suffering, poverty and hunger France, Greece and ) were fighting moved and inspired Macedonian writers against Bulgaria and smaller detachments such as Petre M. Andreevski, Ivan of the armies of the Capovski and Luan Starova. They wrote (Austro-Hungary and Germany). Bulgaria about brothers mobilized by rival armies took over Macedonian territory from the at the front, brave female nurses, love falling Serbian state. From Ohrid to Bitola, affairs between soldiers and locals, the then along the rivers Crna and Vardar, and first encounters with Arab and African around Lake heavy bombardment soldiers, unusual animals (camels), big and severe man-to-man battles took place. guns etc. The battles of Kajmakcalan, Krivolak, Commemoration of the centenary of the Kosturino and Dojran are notorious for Great War started in 2014 and will last the number of casualties and prolonged until 2018. As commemorations and other

www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 11 History

ceremonial events are held all over Europe, activists there have merged new projects Macedonia is becoming increasingly aware focusing on the memories recovered from of its part and suffering in this global letters of soldiers, forgotten graveyards of catastrophe. the loosing (Bulgarian) army have been Military cemeteries and war memorials restored, and more attention has been were built soon after the war. They were given to the fate of the local mobilized well maintained and annual ceremonies population. were held in many locations. Yet, There have always been physical these monuments mostly belonged remnants of the war hidden beneath the to the winning Allied forces. As the surface in forgotten trenches, bunkers, history written by the winners has been towers, and other frontline and battlefield increasingly challenged by historians and infrastructure. New building projects,

12 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk History

forestry or agricultural projects on new one can spot the road built by the French land, and even archeological digsand river troops. The village of Brod was where the or lake bed investigations reveal dozens of hardest battle in this section of the front guns, grenades, elements of uniforms and was fought. weapons. Such findings have attracted Bitola has already created the First more local interest since administrative World War Walk in Pelister National Park. decentralization over the past fifteen years. The path offers recreation and education Municipalities have expressed an interest for the whole family. At the same time, in mapping their assets and unique points it commemorates the hard days of war in of interest and using them for organizing and around Biota. The town was under social life and promoting tourism. constant bombardment for two years. Many interesting initiatives have Historians say over 20 000 bombs fell on emerged lately. The Municipality of the city. The population loss was horrific: Dojran is using EU grants for cross- of the 60 000 inhabitants before the war border cooperation and partnering Bitola had only 23 000 left in its aftermath. with Kjustendil, Bulgaria, to mark and In the hills above Valandovo on the road revitalize the area and historical military to Strumica, Bulgarian forces won decisive infrastructure in the area. The project has battles in 1915 and 1916 over a British a noble aim of uniting through what once (predominantly Irish) regiment. Almost divided the neighboring countries. every year descendants of those brave The Municipality of Novaci is developing soldiers and officers visit the hills and a similar project. They are inspired by how villages of Kosturino, Sobri, Darlambos the region of Lower Normandy in France and Rabrovo. They have an internet has commemorated World War Two. Lower forum where they exchange information Normandy has established a structured and personal stories. They are mostly bilateral cooperation programme with devoted amateur enthusiasts but some Macedonia, and one of the most exciting are professional curators working in areas of the programme is the war time museums in Britain. They recreate events museichology and tourism. There are of 100 years ago according to the private many traces of heavy fighting abound in diaries of the soldiers and other records. the Macedonian municipality: trenches, We hope that this World War One machinegun bunkers, tunnels, built-up commemorative period will stimulate more caves, warehouses and hangars. There is research, care and local development in even a former military airport in the village the years to come. of Bac. The military hospital was near the present army installation Skocivir, and

www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 13 History Vardar Gemija - Memories of the Times Past

ince Macedonia is a landlocked that of gemija sailing along the Vardar country, all the terms, customs river. Gemija is a larger sail boat rang- and experiences connected to ing from 10 to 20 metres. They were the naval or maritime life evoke used for fishing near the sea shore and a strange feeling and curiosity for river trade. Historical records say the Samongst its population. As members of Vardar was good for sailing from Veles to the Macedonian Academy of the Sciences its mouth in the Aegean Sea near Thessa- and Arts have stated, “Macedonia does not loniki (Solun). It was actually the gemija have access to sea, but strongly smells of fleet that powered the Veles-Solun trade the sea” being just a stone`s throw from and turned Veles into one of the most pro- the Aegean and the Adriatic. In its folklore gressive towns in Macedonia with the first and epics there are many words, scenes school, the first theatre, the first female and expressions associated with the sea actor and the first socialist ideas. and maritime life. They are remnants and Back to our story, researchers like Lju- traces of the past life when the current pco Danov and Petar Peckov believe there borders did not exist, so that ancestors are two main reasons for the development of the present-day Macedonians lived in a of the unusual sailing river trade. First of broader and unrestricted territory includ- all, the markets, especially of agricultural ing the sea shores. Experienced transla- goods, needed a fast means of transport, tors know that and often dig deep into the and the river sail provided it. And, second, old poems to find adequate expressions the Ottomans who levied sizable taxes on when translating maritime literature. other means of transport (road tax, bridge One of the most evoked sea faring tax etc.) had only a small flat-rate fee for traditions in the recent years has been water transport. This made caravan trans-

14 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk History

portation (also requiring animals and rid- Once the load was delivered to Sol- ers, armed guards and food for animals) un, the boat was ingeniously recycled. a lot more expensive. Besides the roads The gemija was broken up and sold as were bad. wood, as sailing up the river was not fea- Gemija boat was easily built from wood sible. and was not very costly. The trip to Sol- The little dock where the boats were un took two or three days depending on loaded was called skele. As the trade the cargo and weather conditions. Each grew, the number of the docks rose from gemija could accommodate 600-700 kilo- 2 to 31. The sail makers also perfected grams of cargo and needed two or three their product. Improved design resulted sailors to man it. The shape of the boat in the increased pay load capacity of the was hexagonal, which allowed for good boats. Ottoman records say that in 1857 maneuverability during sailing. There was more than 105 000 tonnes of cargo were a rudder with two long paddles on each transported by them. According to some side. The front one was used for avoid- estimates, more than 12 000 gemija boats ing rocks and branches and for clearing sailed from Veles in a year and the present the way. Torches for lighting the way dur- day woodless landscape around the town ing the night were in the front part of the dates back to those times. Caravans of boat. Initially the biggest risk was being mules, horses and camels from the whole attacked by robbers in the narrow Demir region including Macedonia, Bulgaria, Kapija Gorge, but soon the traders started Serbia and Kosovo carried goods to Veles paying a fee to attackers to avoid the rob- for sending downstream. Wheat was one beries. of the most traded goods, but there was

www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 15 History

16 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk History also wool, cotton, poppy and sunflower that name, and a bridge, the sports center seeds. Locally produced and widely and the football fans club are named after sought after goat leather ”sahtiyan” them. The Municipality of Veles is ready to material used for making riding gear and invest more in its brand value. In order to other luxury goods, was also carried south revive the tradition enthusiasts from Veles by gemija boats. have founded the so-called Veles Regatta The gemija trade deteriorated and from Veles to Gevgelija, the last town soon stopped after the construction of along the Vardar before the Greek border. the railway line Skopje-Solun in 1873 Members of the Red Cross, Scouts, and that quickly rendered the river transport other adventurers and river enthusiasts relatively slow and expensive. sail in rowboats following a wooden Yet in 1903 gemija came into the lime replica of gemija recreated by carpenters light again when a group of Macedonian especially for the event. It took them three revolutionaries wanted to call Europe’s months to recreate the boat on the basis attention to the suffering of Macedonians of the 1830s photos. Participants said the under the Ottoman rule and to put the issue “regatta” was an amazing experience even of the country’s liberation on the international though the Vardar was a calm and easy to agenda by conducting a series of terrorist navigate river. Their only challenge was attacks in Solun. Being mainly from Veles, floating tree branches and other wooden they adopted the name Gemidzii referring to debris which abounds on the river in the once famous trade. By doing so they also rainy years. Their ambition is to reach symbolically connect their revolutionary act Thessaloniki in one of the coming years. with the boat trip of no return. Today the memory of the gemija and Gemidzii is commemorated all over Veles. Many companies carry

www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 17 Heritage Ladino – the Enigmatic Language of Macedonian Jews

he big expulsion of the Jewish called Romaniotes, in Macedonia since population from Spain (1492) Byzantium, but Ladino overwhelmed the and Portugal (1498) is well older Jewish communities and became known. It is perhaps less the sole language of all Macedonian well known that the Ottoman Jews. Older communities accepted and TEmpire offered them hospitality, shelter integrated into the cultural and linguistic and a new homeland. They settled all codes of the newcomers. Ladino was over the empire but mainly in Rumelia, a rich language. They had all the main its European part. These Jews used to be religious books already translated into part of the most prosperous Arab Moor it, and all the new books were written in states on the Iberian Peninsula which Ladino. The language produced a huge are famous for the beautiful cities such corpus of oral literature, poems, stories, as Cordoba and Sevilla, and palaces like proverbs, etc. Belonging to a higher class Alhambra and Alcazar. Having lived in of the society, the language reflected its more advanced societies, they brought whole culture including the work ethic, innovation, prosperity and high culture to social rules, conventional wisdom, cuisine, Ottoman provinces. They were excellent wedding and burial ceremonies and other merchants, pharmacists and jewelers. customs. For the linguists, especially for To cite just one example, they opened Spanish researchers, it has been a unique the first printing house in 1493, only one case of how a language was conserved year after their arrival in Istanbul. They for 500 years in a state it was in the 15th dominated the printing business, in which century. While in other parts of the world they excelled, for centuries, and it was Hebrew, which later became the official not until 1728 that the first non-Jewish language of the state of Israel, had a printing house in the Ottoman capital was greater currency, Macedonian Jews, kept established. their Ladino dialect. Along with skills and trades, they also Of the present-day Macedonia it was brought their language, a peculiar Spanish- in Bitola that the biggest community of Jewish dialect known as Ladino. It was a exiled Jews settled. In the beginning they variant of the Spanish language spoken by congregated into communities depending the local majorities in their old homeland. on the country of origin. The Spanish Ladino had predominantly Spanish words. Jews concentrated around the Il Kal It was written with Hebrew letters and Aragon synagogue, while the Portugese used some syntax constructions from the Jews built Il Kal di Lus Portugezis. It was old Hebrew and Aramaic. only later that both communities merged. There were Jewish colonies, the so- The Ottoman “defters” (census books)

18 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk Heritage book) School whose director was the well- known writer Josef Ibn Leb. By the end of the 19th century there were four Jewish schools, two elementary, one female and a few classes of high school. It was the existence of continued education and care for the written books that preserved the Ladino language in the perfect shape. But at the same time the language kept being influenced by the surrounding communities with which the Jews coexisted in the Ottoman urban mix. As empire was multicultural, Greek, Turkish and Slavic were heard and spoken around and borrowed from by Ladino speaking Jews. Later, another peculiar linguistic influence occurred. As Bitola became a city of consuls of the European states concerned over the condition of the local witnessed the growth of Bitola Jewry Christian population, global influences over the 16th century. The census in 1528 appeared. Thus the world famous Alliance registered only 241 Jews, which tells us Israelite from Paris was active in Bitola as that in the very beginning they were a tiny well. It created a strong influence of the community, or that they arrived in Bitola in French language and culture. Many Bitola large numbers at a later stage. However as Jews were educated in the French system the population grew to several thousand, and became France oriented intellectuals. half a dozen of other synagogues were They opened the prestigious Talmud Torah built. The synagogues were depositaries of School with a rich book collection in 1895. important religious books. The older ones The community of Bitola Jews maintained were written on parchment rolls tied with their language and prosperity until the silk ribbons. The newer ones were printed. tragic holocaust during the Second World Some of the religious books were written War, when almost all of them lost their in the old Jewish language but many also lives. Despite that, Ladino oral literature in Ladino, especially the didactic books of has been preserved, so that there are religious and social ethics. The authors living traces of this unique phenomenon were mainly priests, religious leaders of interculturalism and immanent (rabbi) and teachers. They printed their communication of people regardless of books using the strong ties with other their origin or heritage. Jewish communities as far as Amsterdam. Already in the 16th and 17th centuries (The text is based on the studies schools were opened. One of the most by Aneta Stefanovska, Naume prestigious was the Talmud (Jewish Holy Gjorgjievski and Vladimir Janev)

www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 19 Travel Destination Crown on the Ceiling

s one of the most important who inhabited the town. They constructed towns in Macedonia, Tetovo several of Tetovo landmarks such as the competes with Bitola for the Arabati Baba Tekke, the Tower of Fatime, status of the second only to the Painted Mosque, the Stone Bridge, the capital administrative, and the Hamam. Aeducational, economical and trade centre. Their style also influenced residential Nested in the heart of the vast and fertile architecture exemplified by the houses of Polog Valley, Tetovo was mentioned beys (lords), kadis (judges), and imams throughout antiquity by different chroniclers. (priests). Several of such residences have Those close to the rulers always noted when been preserved and turned into museums the valley was conquered or lost. Tit Livius, and memorial houses such as Halim Bey the celebrated Latin historian, described its Deralla’s, Isa Bey’s, Goce Stojcevski’s, value when Romans fought “Macedonian etc. The most valued among them is the Wars”. In the Byzantine age the town was Mehmed Bey mansion. There is no record a Episcopal seat, and Anna Komnene, the of the construction of the mansion, but writer-princess, recorded the Norman since the early 1800s it has been owned intrusion as well as the Serb conquest in by the Pallosi family. It is situated in the the late eleventh century. Already then the very centre of the city. The house was built density of the population in the valley was in the oriental style. Minaret-like chimneys noted. and decorations of the upper floor The town grew and flourished during windows follow the Ottoman architectural the Ottoman times when many stores pattern. The overall simplicity of this large and workshops were founded and new and spacious square house is elevated to quarters were formed. People arrived perfection; it emanates magnificence and from all over the valley attracted by the harmony. The timber elements between important secular and spiritual leaders the floors, in the windows, under the

20 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk Travel Destination

roof and on the big terrace (cardak) give warmth and nobility to the elegance of the white façade. Tetovo builders have excelled in using the abundant natural elements of the surrounding Sar Mountain and have displayed the mastery of the craft on the par with the famous Debar masonry school. The ground floor kitchen where the food for a rather big family was prepared has a big chimney. Various food supplies were stored in two big basement rooms. The living area was divided into four rooms, chimneys. One of its most decorated parts each with its own fireplace, which let them is the ceiling. It is the central part of the have different functions. Yet, the room ceiling in its most decorated room which which was meant to accommodate guests makes Mehmed Bey Mansion one of the and cousins was different from the rest. most significant cultural heritage spots in As in other similar houses from the period, Macedonia. A unique rosette in the so-called the decorative elements were wooden and stucco style is carved in such a way that a often carved, which included beds, tables fine circle of grape leaves spreads around it. with carved legs, chairs and columns. The The internal part of the rosette is filled with Mehmed Bey house interior also has many flowers and circles covered with leaf crowns. decorations on the doors, windows and A wooden octagon frames the rosette. The rich decoration of the house reflects not only the wealth of the family but also their elaborate taste and refinement. The style and the beauty of the rosette is so unique, that back in the 1990s the government decided to use it for the reverse side of one of the most used Macedonian banknotes, the 100 denars.

www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 21 Interview Interview with H.E. Charles Garrett, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the Republic of Macedonia

How long have you been in Macedonia? What has been your experience of Macedonia so far in the context of your diplomatic career and personal journeys? Have you had an opportunity to familiarize yourself with and relate to the country’s cultural diversity? I have been here just under two years, two years which have flown past. Professionally, this is a excellent job. Macedonia, as a future member of the EU and NATO, is an important partner for the UK. And I find that working to make that happen is both challenging and rewarding. We have all, as a family, enjoyed our time here enormously. It is impossible not to. Macedonia is a beautiful country with wonderful people and fascinating culture. Being surrounded by that, we

22 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk Intervew count ourselves very lucky. Macedonia is of course very different from our previous postings – Hong Kong, Switzerland and Taiwan – but it is making just as big an impact!

You are the Honorary President of the 2016 DMWC International Charity Bazaar dedicated to the International Children’s Day. How do you feel about this role? Would you like to comment on the choice of beneficiary of this year’s event? It is an honour to take on this role. The diplomatic community here, through the DMWC, wants to support children in Macedonia. And it is a privilege to be involved in that. The Centre for Street Children in Shuto Orizari does fantastic work supporting Roma children. It offers them a refuge away from the street and gives them a safe environment in which they can learn and enjoy themselves. On visits to the postings, often working with the children Centre I have always been struck by the of diplomatic families to support local positive energy there and by how much communities. A favourite example was the children benefit from that. I hope supporting the Taipei European School in some of the children can be involved in sending groups of students to Cambodia the Bazaar and in events leading up to to help build new houses. it – that way everyone involved will have Diplomatic communities are, in my the opportunity to meet them and see for experience, keen to support local charity themselves what a difference the Centre work. They are also extremely well- makes. placed to do this. And Macedonia is no exception. I am sure we can, collectively, What is your experience of charity make a difference. work of the diplomatic communities in other countries, and how do you How do you see the role see the charity engagement of the of Dobredojde Macedonia Welcome expat community and international Centre in Macedonia’s expat organizations in the Republic of community and wider society? Macedonia? It is central. It plays a great role, not My greatest involvement in charity work just through initiatives like the Bazaar, has been through an organisation set but also in helping diplomatic families up my by wife Veronique in Moscow to orientate themselves here and enjoy support families of children with Down’s themselves through their postings, and syndrome. That is an important project in bringing foreign diplomats closer to for us. But I have also been involved in their Macedonian hosts. That’s important. many projects and initiatives in previous Keep it up! We really appreciate it.

www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 23 Travel Destination Cave Tourism: a New Attraction

ith its 346 registered and in the central and western parts of almost 500 estimated Macedonia, where the geological structure caves, Macedonia has is mainly lime. There is an estimate that a growing potential the lime and caves area covers up to ten for new types of percent of the territory of Macedonia. adventureW tourism - cave visits and cave Macedonian caves offer a variety of exploration, speleo-alpinism, etc. The experiences - from the underwater Vrelo, most entrepreneurial travel agencies which is believed to be amongst the and speleological societies are already deepest in Europe to the Pesna cave that testing the spirit of enthusiasts by was recently praised in the global media. organizing speleological courses and pilot Many of the caves have a variety of water tours around the country’s most popular features ranging from underground rivers caves. The courses offered by the Peoni and small lakes, to waterfalls and fountain Speleological Society include speleo- like reservoirs. Some are rich in geological alpinism, rock climbing with a rope and forms like stalactites, stalagmites, pillars, basic alpinism. Caving tours have so far drapery, and corals. Gothic lovers might focused on the caves in the vicinity of be attracted by the variety of scary cave Skopje (Jasika and Ubava), Mavrovo fauna: crabs, spiders, bats and dangerous national park (Alilica) and Makedonski insects. The Indiana Jones fans can chase Brod caves (Gorna Slatinska, Pesna and fossil remains dating back to Pleistocene Puralo). and the fauna like cave bears or saber The majority of the caves are located tooth tigers.

24 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk Travel destination

In spite of their great number, only same vertical pattern in the first 200 four caves are protected by the state as meters, after which it expands into a rare natural formations: Gorna Slatinska, large chamber with ceilings as high as 50 Mlecnik, Ubavica and Pesna. Others are meters, again, the highest cave chamber deemed to be hard to access and explore. in the Balkans. It features extraordinary The deepest cave in the Balkans was ornaments of green ice and stalagmites located just under the Solunska Glava of up to two meters high. Bela Voda peak in southwestern Macedonia at the located in the vicinity of Demir Kapija is depth of 450 meters. It maintains the the longest horizontal speleological object

www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 25 Travel Destination

the rocks, which are over two meters high, with brilliant reliefs. And due to the big entrance, sunlight reaches the far end of the cave making its ceiling and walls shine with amazing colors, from light green to deep purple. There are strong springs flowing into the cave. Some believe that its water comes from the melting of the snow and spring rains, but others are of the opinion that it is an arm of the local river Krapa that forms several lakes and waterfalls. It is widely believed that Pesna is part of the biggest cave system in Macedonia that is over 10 kilometers long. Remains of a medieval fortress called “Devini Kuli” (Deva’s Towers) lie near the in Macedonia. It is 955meters long with cave. Legend connects the ruins with the a stunningly beautiful lake at the end of epic figure of King Marko who is alleged the cave. to have built two fortresses for his two Pesna cave is one of the most gorgeous. sisters, Deva and Pesna, who were given It is located only six kilometers away from this land. While the remains of Deva’s Makedonski Brod. Its special appeal is castle can still be seen, her sister’s castle in the combination of incredible natural was built inside the cave. As in those attractiveness, medieval remains and days women were not allowed to go out historical legends associated with it. Pesna unaccompanied, according to the legend, has the biggest cave entrance in the the sisters communicated every morning Balkans. Its mouth is thirty meters high. using the echo produced in the interior of Nature itself has wonderfully decorated the cave.

26 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk Advertisement

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www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 27 Travel Destination The Realm of Fern: a Mijak Colony

n the central part of the country, just they are the only three Mijak villages above Veles there lies one of the outside the original Mala Reka area in most beautiful and well preserved, the western part of the country. There but at the same time, one of the is evidence that the first family was the most deserted villages in this rather Kuzman who came here in the 1770s. The Ipopulated region. Papradiste is part of the village was a midway home to the masons Azot area famous for subversion and social between their work place in Veles and the unrest from medieval Bogumils to 19th ancestral Mala Reka region. The legend century revolutionaries and 20th century says that the old name of the depopulated partisans. It is situated in the upper village was Zvezdanovo (village under stream of the Babuna river and nested stars) and the current name was given in the Dautica mountain at 980 meters after the new settlers covered their roofs above sea level. The village was founded with fern instead of straw, Papradiste by families originating from the Mijak meaning abundance of fern. The wealth of region - from Galicnik, Gari, Lazaropole, the village was based on sheep breeding, Tresonce and Selce. Together with the masonry and cloth making. The soil there nearby Orese, and Smilevo (Bitola region) is generally not good for agriculture, but

28 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk Travel Destination

near the village, in the vicinity of the stand as witnesses of his sublime craft. river, there are conditions for growing His churches are masterpieces of sacral potatoes. So the villagers became famous architecture. He developed his own for that product as well. Industry and characteristic style of a three nave church resulting wealth enabled its inhabitants with with half-cylindrical domes. He paid to study and work abroad and to become close attention to the acoustics of the more cultivated. They migrated to other interior and the decoration of the columns. Balkan countries, but also to Kiev and Besides the famous St. Joackim Osogovski Saint Petersburg. They got a sense of the in Krriva Palanka, he built churches in revolutionary struggle and felt the need Veles and Stip, Nis and in for a national liberation. Several illustrious Serbia, and in Sarajevo and Mostar in figures of the national history and culture Bosnia and Herzegovina. originate from this village. In Dimitar Andonov Papradiski (1859- Dimitrija Cupovski (1878-1940) is one 1954) we have at once the last zograf of the most important national figures. He (religious artist) and the first secular was a publicist, historian, revolutionary painter who is famous for his historical and politician, mainly living and working paintings and portraits. He was born in a in Saint Petersburg. From there he was family of masons, stone and wood carvers. constantly advocating for Macedonians Already at the age of 20 he joined a zograf as a separate nation and fighting for tajfa (group of religious artists). He was Macedonia as an independent state. He also a revolutionary who was imprisoned established Slavic–Macedonian societies, several times, but in 1919 he settled in edited papers and magazines and wrote Skopje and opened a painting studio. petitions to the League of Nations. He was the first teacher of the founding Other famous Papradiste persons are fathers of Macedonian modern art Nikola connected with the arts. Martinovski and Tome Vladimirski. Andrea Damjanov (1813-1878) was one Gjorgji Zografski (1871-1945) is another of the greatest masons in the Balkans last descendant of a big family of carvers whose churches across the Balkans and church artists. After quitting the family

www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 29 Travel Destination

craft he devoted himself to portraiture. One and mountain tourism. In the village there of his most precious historical paintings is a wonderful renovated mountain hut depicts an attack of a neighboring serving all the mountaineers on their way Albanian gang on a Papradiste family. to the high peaks of Solunska Glava and Armed gang attacks happened frequently Ceples. Mountain routes to the peaks and in these remote difficult to police regions. elsewhere are well marked. The hut is For that reason the Ottomans built a a former school that kept the traditional protective tower where a duty squad was façade; classrooms have been turned into based in warm seasons. Remnants of the hostel type rooms. It is open from April to tower can still be seen in the vicinity of September, while in other months the stay the village. Another landmark is the local must be arrange beforehand. church devoted to Saint Peter and Paul, Unfortunately only a few inhabitants just as the famous Galicnik church. Having live in the village, despite the fact that colonized this village, the Mijaks kept the many of the houses are in a good shape. traditions from their old homes. It meant During traditional reunion days and in that the biggest feast was 12 July, St the summer more than two thousand Peter’s Day, but there were a few other descendants return to their old homes. feast days brought by the other settlers. Yet what can be seen as a spark of hope As they migrated further, much like for the future of the village is that a few Galicnik or other Mijak villages residents, people have returned there escaping from they traditionally gathered in Papradiste the busy and impoverished city life. In the during the summer. Yet, they tried to nature they have found a new meaning of intermarry only among their Mijak kin. existence and a healthier living. The village has a big potential for rural

30 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk Nature Flight of the Butterfly by Jasmina Boshevska

Паунова пеперутка - Inachis Io or many people they are are on the International Union for the beautiful, wonderful and Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list of colourful, but for some they are endangered species. There are unique ugly, poisonous and frightening. species of butterflies originating from the In some cultures, butterflies are Glacial Period which managed to survive Fthe symbol of the soul, mind and rebirth. hiding in rock crevices. Scientists call them They may be official state symbols as is “the hiding species”. the case in some American states. Favourable climate and rich flora are the Butterflies are everywhere around us, reason behind the diversity of butterflies they are one of the oldest beings on Earth, in Macedonia. Wherever you are in the and they belong to the order of insects country, you can observe the calm flight called lepidoptera. Macedonia is a small of butterflies from the first weeks of Balkan country with a great biodiversity. February. Among the earliest butterflies is 203 species of butterflies and over 1500 the lemon yellow Gonepterix Rhamni. species of moths have been registered in In this beautiful country you can find Macedonia. On the world entomological both Mediterranean and Continental map Macedonia is marked as a European butterflies due to the combination of Hot Spot, because of the fact that our semi-Mediterranean climate in the Adriatic country has endemic butterflies which basin and continental climate in the north.

www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 31 Nature Macedonicus Alpine relief with low altitude mountains is especially favourable for rich endemic Parnassius Apollo, endemic butterfly fauna. Dardanicus The endemic Parnassius Apollo that can be found on Galicica Mountain is an endangered species on the INCNl ilst that is also banned for trade. In the 1980s one could see there even the rare Gonepterix Cleopatra butterfly that lives on the Olympus Mountain in Greece. There have also been some recent sightings of this butterfly in Dojran.

Цар Пие Вода – Papilio Machaon

One of the endemic butterflies existing only in Macedonia bears the name of the Macedonian who first described this species.

Gonepterix Cleopatra

The biggest moth in Macedonia is Eudia pavonia (or ноќен пауновец) with the wingspan of 12 cm. Moths are usually active at night, but Zygaenidae is an unusual moth that Pseudochazara cigovskii

The most beautiful of the endemic butterfly species can be found in Galicica National Park.

Aполонова пеперутка - Parnassius Apollo 32 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk Nature

also flies by day. Scientists explain this butterflies change their outer layer twice, behaviour by the fact that it is poisonous but some as many as four or five times. and thus safe from birds and other insects. Butterflies pass the winter as pupa, and the explosion of reproduction happens in Metamorphosis the spring. The first to emerge as adults Usually the life span of a butterfly are the so-called “white butterflies” of the is one year at the most, but some Pieridae family. species hybernate through the winter If you have a wish to get to know and live longer. Butterflies have an Macedonian butterflies, the Natural interesting reproductive cycle known as Science Museum in Skopje possess an metamorphosis. The first phase is egg, impressive collection of all Macedonian the second phase – larva (caterpillar), butterflies and a few exotic species third – pupa (chrysalis), and, finally, adult which had been received as gifts from its butterfly. friends in other countries. The world of In the caterpillar phase some of the butterflies is open to new enthusiasts, but beware, as a Macedonian saying goes, when they catch your eye they may steal your heart.

www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 33 Archeology Eextravagant Fashion Pin

acedonian archeological all based on the safety-pin principle. Unlike sites are rich in ancient most modern brooches, however, fibulae jewelry. Living on the were not only decorative; they originally periphery of the ancient served a practical function: to fasten world under rich Illyric clothing. Fibulae replaced straight pins that Mand Paeonian kings and later in the Greco- were used to fasten clothing in the Neolithic Hellenistic world, the population enjoyed and the Bronze Age. many fruits of civilization. Among them Brought from Greek workshops in Asia was jewelry of all kinds – earrings, rings, Minor, fibulae slowly penetrated Macedonian bracelets, necklaces – that was an important territory. The earlier specimens found in the fashion accessory and status symbol. A lot graves of Illyrian rulers, such as Genthios, of ancient jewelry comes from tombs, and were arch-shaped. fibulae are ever present among them. The In the Hellenistic period fibulae were fibula developed in a variety of shapes, but usually made of silver and bronze. There just as most modern brooches, they were were basic techniques by which metal

34 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk Archeology components were joined. First, the pieces relief with the Nemean lion pelt with its front were mechanically fitted together, and paws hanging on either side of its head. then they were metallurgically united by The catch-plate has a protome decoration soldering with another metallic alloy having consisting of the forequarters of the winged a lower melting point. Or, they were joined Pegasus flanked by a spherical dome. In by fusion-welding — pouring molten metal another fibula of the Macedonian type the of the same composition into the joint and catch takes the form of a hippocampus, and supplying the energy to melt the two parts there are facing lionskins on either side of locally by diffusion. This process had to be the catch-plate. used because two pieces of bronze could not While fibulae clearly served as fastenings, be connected by heating and forging due to researchers are skeptical that the fibulae the oxidized outer layer. In order to bond found in graves had only this everyday the two pieces, a bronze wire was heated to function. They stress that beyond everyday the melting point and then used to connect usage the fibulae were specially decorated the two pieces. to show social status of the wearer and Necropolis sites all over Macedonia, from that ultimately more valuable and more Ohrid Lake area to Prilep and Skopje are rich decorative specimens were crafted for the in bronze and silver fibulae with different burial ceremony to serve the dead person decoration of the arch. Some variants are in the afterlife and to make him or her more in leaf or spear shapes. In the middle they attractive when in contact with the gods. have two separate ribs which come together There is even evidence suggesting that towards the end. They are usually made dead bodies were adorned with more fibulae of three parts forming a triangle. Another than they would have worn when they were variant is the fibula with lion heads. One of alive. The comparison of fibulae in graves the most popular is the so-called Macedonian and on sculptures points in this direction as gold Pegasus & Nemean Lion Fibula from the fibulae on the representations of living the Hellenistic Period dated 330-300 BC. humans are fewer in number and poorer in Each side of the hinge-plate is decorated in design than those found in graves.

www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 35 Skopje Gradski Park, Skopje – A True City Park By Eva Hevesi

park for the people, but not city dwellers, and I am not exaggerating just a public park in Skopje. when I say that generations grew up It is THE Park. One of the here. I personally think that it is the best fountains, a well-known outdoor place where one can choose meeting place, simply called from a variety of possibilities in order to Afontana and a much bigger landmark, the have some fun during the week or at the stadium, can also be found here. On sunny days, it seems that everybody comes here for recreation under the trees, some of which must be very old. The park was established in 1926 - as if they knew that one day it was going to be very much needed. It has seen a lot of development throughout the years. Now, in the 21st century, it has its own Facebook page. In English, it is simply called City Park. It has been an escape for decades for

36 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk Skopje

the ‘grim side’ of the park on grey winter days. Loud cawing of the carrion and hooded crows accompany you as you walk through it. However, besides the beautiful magpies that also nest here, numerous playgrounds make the park more colourful. It provides recreational activities for all ages. It takes only 15 minutes to get here from any part of the city. Although its pathways are winding, it is perfect for cycling or rollerblading. Go to the zoo, enjoy canoeing on one of the lakes, take weekend in any season. your children for a ride on a train in the As it is full of joyous laughter in the kids’ amusement park or for a run around summer, you would find it hard to imagine in the green hedge maze.

www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 37 Cusine / Tradition White Beans in the Field, Delicacy at the Table

and chopped onions and red peppers are added. More onion, black pepper and other spices are fried separately and added to the beans. After almost two hours of cooking, all the ingredients are transferred to a clay pot. Then the dish is finished off by baking in the oven making sure it does not dry out or become too here is no person, Macedonian moist. Depending on the size and style or foreign, who has not tried of the restaurant as well as the number the top national dish called of guests, a bigger pot or smaller single “tavce gravce” (beans in a portion pots can be chosen for the skillet). This delicious meal preparation of this dish. Given how long Tcan be found in every traditional eatery and demanding the cooking process is, it in the country, from the most prestigious is no wonder that tavce gravce is the restaurant to the grill kiosk. Cooked in side dish of choice with all types of grilled a clay pot it can be seen slowly cooking and roasted meats. But it also goes down for hours on the margins of the grill smoothly with fried fish or with pinjur as spreading its typical bean aroma mixed a starter, with homemade bread and white with traditional spices. cheese, it is also suitable for vegetarians The culinary miracle is, of course, and those who are on a religious fast. based on a demanding cooking process. There is of course another story behind The beans are washed and soaked in this ubiquitous Macedonian specialty, and cold water for a few hours to soften (a it is connected with the high quality of gourmand would soak them overnight). beans produced around Tetovo. Tetovo After that the cooking process starts. bean is the brand that stands behind the After the beans come to a boil, the water dish. It is recognizable by its white colour is thrown away to reduce the forming of and kidney shape as well as by the distinct gases during digestion. Then fresh water taste.

38 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk Cusine / Tradition The region called Polog is the traditional colour, they are harvested. This usually area of the cultivation of Tetovo beans. happens in two or three batches during Polog is bigger than Tetovo area and the month of September. Bean pods are also includes the town of Gostivar and its dried naturally and beaten to separate the surroundings. This creates a local tension beans. If the beans are still too moist, they because up to now the geographical are further dried in thin layers to reach a indication of the “Tetovo bean” has only moisture level of 10-12%. Then beans been applicable to the produce of the are manually sorted and cleaned; all five municipalities around Tetovo. The impurities, including unhealthy and broken southwestern part of the Polog municipality beans and other seeds are removed. The would also like to use and profit from the grading of beans is done according to the registered appellation. size, weight and shape. Graded seeds are There are also other regions that want packed in bags and stored in dry places. to profit from the production of Tetovo Marketing experts recommend specific beans. One of them is the neighboring processing and packaging of beans. Skopje area, but others are further away Beans of a specific geographic origin and abroad. Serbia produces “Tetovo should not be sold in bulk or raw because Beans of Leskovac Area”. In Montenegro of the danger of being mixed with other and Vojvodina there is Panonian Tetovac. varieties, but there should be direct links In Slovenia the process of registering a between producers on the one hand and Tetovo bean is underway. Even worse, wholesalers and retailers on the other. some big markets in the region are selling The markets, especially green markets, “Tetovo Beans” produced in China. Experts usually have special bags where the say this is due to the confusion between white kidney-shaped Tetovo beans lurk a type of bean and a specific geographical in big quantities. However the reputation origin. The initiative to protect Tetovo of Tetovo beans is well established and bean and an appellation claims that it the quality is well known. So the buyers is a specific bean variety originating do not hesitate to buy them at a higher and maintained locally for decades with price as they know that the price is also local seeds that are spread among local the first indicator of quality. Very often farmers. consumers buy directly from farmers as The third success story around the bean Macedonia is a small country. There is a is connected with the cultivation process. big potential for expanding in the regional Traditionally beans are planted together markets, especially in Serbia, where there with maize. Beans are nested between are at least three national dishes based rows of maize and the planting is done on Tetovo type beans:prebranac (boiled simultaneously. The fields are irrigated beans), white beans soup and baked when the beans are blooming. The harvest beans. of beans precedes the harvest of maize As the demand for Tetovo beans is and is done manually. During vegetation growing there is a danger of a decrease the soil is loosened three times and the of the local production and substitution plants are sprayed three times: after the by cheaper imported beans. The number first leafs emerge, after the plants reach of skillful growers is getting lower with a certain height and finally some two the aging of the farming population, weeks after the second loosening. They fast urbanization and emigration. But are watered every 15 days as drought the popularity of Tetovo beans offers might badly affect the quality of the an opportunity of rural revival and a produce. When bean pods reach the right significant growth of agricultural income.

www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 39 Literature

Slave Gjorgjo Dimoski is a poet, essayist and translator who was born on 18 March 1959 in the village of Velestovo near Ohrid.He graduated from the Faculty of Philology of Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. He is currently the President of the Board of the Struga Poetry Evenings Festival. Dimoski translates from Slavic languages.His poems and poetic cycles have been translated into over thirty languages and have been included in all the anthologies of Macedonian poetry published in the country and around the world since 1981. He has won numerous poetry awards in Macedonia and abroad, including the Miladinov Brothers Award, the Aco Shopov Award, the Grand Prize for Poetry Award (Romania) and the Sergei Yesenin Award (Russia). Poetry collections: Engravings (1979), Project (1982), Cold Urge(1985), The Last Manuscripts(1988), By-way, (1991), Subjects and Arguments(1994), Forms of passion(1998), Dark Place, (1999), Word Measurer, (2007), The Triptych of Language(2015). Children’s books: Alissa (1989), Crystal Dream(1990), Wordgames(1991), Versoteque(2000). Collections of essays: Amedeo Modigliani (2000), A Bottle in the Sea, Volume1, (2004), ABottle in the Sea, Volume 2, (2011).

Mother tongue Aubade And you look at yourself eye You too sucked Open your eye to eye Mother’s milk like a soap bubble with two bubbles From the mother tongue. to see yourself rosy and quivering flying because: Didn’t you? From the tongue above the clouds Which is milked because while flying the bird drowns In a golden pot you encourage the bird in the air And brought in space and the wind To the table. and the wind goes too far: to sweep along the lather is Dear Writer (young?) smeared over the face While you suck Open also your other eye by the sigh which to see yourself in the grass warms you. The tongue only perishes melted in the dew on the battlefield because by melting Translation: Ewald Osers For you. Night and day. you encourage the lather smeared over your face The light is a huge secret Day and night. to hum a matutinal tune the light Translation: Zoran Ancevski and a sigh is a huge secret to warm you over the land

40 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk Literature of Adam’s The deceptive mountains: howling nightmares: What have I lost here? sway me, my Lord On the top What have I lost? the wings are so light A swarm of words something tightens the air over the dark blue waters Like a pool of water something has dragged Reveals you. the very heights the celestial volcano like a great tortoise quenches the shine You believe the words and towards me. of the stars the water Dark horse weighs over the Are one. You fee! mountains. sway me invisible Its hooves are in the crags. whilst the world closes The saliva Dark underground water into a secret Drying mutters in the very joints opaque Upon your face that set centuries into mo- blueness tion. Translation: Zoran Ance- Dead silence. I must move Translation: Zoran Ance- vski through this moss vski (this rapture of terror). A dark horse weighs What have I lost, over the mountains what? I ask the horse. The Word and the It weighs dark Echo of the Water A dark horse weighs over the mountains. over the mountains. Dark horse dark foundation Translation: Ewald Osers So much water dark underground water Washes you where that sounds You are – through centuries. The omnipresent you! I pass under the horse, The foul body of the night gloom and madness deaf Engulfs you. You climb in its stride In spasms I drive away

Danilo Kocevski

The main characteristic of the poet Slave Gjorgjo Dimoski and the nature of his poetry is lyricism. He is one of those lyricists in whose work the lyrical baroqueness of the language and the richness of poetic expression cannot be separated from the perpetual novelty and the continuous innovation regarding the themes and motifs in his work. His expression generally imprints itself through subtle poetic and creative paradoxes resulting in particularly entertaining and unpredictable outcomes. Moreover, there is a certain emphasized meditative and philosophical thread, a certain reflexivity that recurs throughout his verses. Those are, at times, relatively speaking, entire essayistic passages, reflections of folk wisdom and philosophy, but also passages from European and global, not only poetic, but cultural tradition in general. Dimoski possesses a sixth sense which helps him perceive the echo of folk tradition and language and transpose it adequately and originally into poetic language. In addition, he never misses an opportunity to embark fearlessly on an exploration, searching for new pathways and experimenting, undoubtedly in a positive way. And this is where his great- est attribute as an artist lies: he succeeds in establishing his own measure, thus combin- ing tradition with his own unique, poetic view.

www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 41 GIFT FOR ETERNITY FROM THE MASTER OF THE ORDER OF STONES “Beauty will save the world” - Dostoevsky Academician Gazanfer Bayram, a consists of nine circles, the number mosaicist of international renown, nine - a permanent synthesis of with his monumental mosaic Four thought, body and spirit. The circle Elements - Universe has been is a universal symbol of infinity. integrated in the histor y of our highest With masterful creativity, the artist institution of sciences and arts. The manages to present the illumination author, a mosaicist, painter and a and penetration, the collision and master teacher, educated in Skopje, restoration of the basic elements. (Academy of Fine Arts and Lightness and darkness collide in the postgraduate studies in monumental monoliths. These are the fundamental painting), with mosaic specialization in endeavors of the Academy. Monoliths Ravenna, has his mosaics exhibited in museums are timeless, aimed at detecting the known and and private collections in the United States, Italy, the unknown, the past and future. This suggests Australia, Turkey, Bulgaria and other countries. that science is a search for the truth, and art is He has accomplished extraordinary creative imagination itself. The left and the right sides projects: monumental mosaics in the central hall of the mosaic represent the events associated of the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia, with the establishment of the institution. In at the airport “Alexander the Great”, at the the upper part there is a constellation of stars Macedonian National Theatre, and in other above the sky in Ohrid and the date of MASA’s institutions. His latest monumental work is a great establishment. On the right side is the green success, the mosaic Four Elements – Universe, riverbank of the Vardar with pebbles from the with its aesthetic burden and greatness, with river. In the upper part are the stars above Skopje its own all-embracing, penetrating reflexivity on the day when MASA moved to its home. and imaginative illumination. Specific dates are written under the firmament The four basic elements: fire, earth, water of Ohrid and Skopje... and air are integrated in the center of the Gazanfer Bayram is considered a master of mosaic through their eternal existence, the pleasing order of stones, searching for the metamorphoses, opposition. The mosaic beauty that will save our world... Academician Luan Starova

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www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2016 43 44 March 2016•www.dmwc.org.mk