ISSN: 2560-1601

Vol. 23, No.3 (RS)

November 2019

Serbia social briefing: Several Cultural Events Marked the Month of October in IIPE

1052 Budapest Petőfi Sándor utca 11.

+36 1 5858 690 Kiadó: Kína-KKE Intézet Nonprofit Kft. [email protected] Szerkesztésért felelős személy: Chen Xin

Kiadásért felelős személy: Huang Ping china-cee.eu 2017/01

Several Cultural Events Marked the Month of October in Serbia

Abstract

Several large-scale cultural events took place in Serbia during October. With a number of manifestations held throughout the country, the Serbian Orthodox Church marked a great jubilee - 800 years of its autonomous status (autocephaly) from the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Apart from this remarkably important anniversary, other significant cultural events during October included some of the most visited gatherings in , such as the 64th International Book Fair. In connection to these events, the general public has shown additional interest in Serbian Church’s decoration of the country president Aleksandar Vučić and the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency member Milorad Dodik, as well as the settlement through which the missing fragment of the medieval, UNESCO-protected manuscript „Miroslav Gospel” was retrieved from Russia. Other cultural events also included the 35th Belgrade Jazz Festival and the first major retrospective of the world-renowned performance artist Marina Abramović in her hometown, titled „The Cleaner“, hosted by the Museum of Contemporary Arts.

Between October 6th-9th, Žiča monastery near Kraljevo was the central place of the 800th anniversary of the recognition of the autocephaly of the Serbian Orthodox Church, alongside several other events organized in the Patriarchate of Peć and other Serbian monasteries in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as a large ceremony in Belgrade’s main congress arena, the Sava Centre. The selection of Žiča monastery extends beyond mere historical importance, although this aspect carries a significant weight, as a seat of the first Serbian Archbishop Sava (formerly a Serbian prince, Rastko Nemanjić) and a royal temple where medieval Serbian monarchs had been crowned. Actually, the symbolism of Žiča is two-fold, having in mind its importance in both the Serbian spiritual (religious) history and the institutional (governance) history. During the holy liturgy in front of several thousand believers, the Serbian Patriarch Irinej also higlighted this aspect, reminding about the apostolic mission of the church which had always, throughout history, been „harmonious“ with the state in safeguarding the national being. One of the main messages of the anniversary program was to display the everlasting need for unity between the state and the national church. This especially applies to challenging circumstances for the Serbian people, their institutions and heritage in Kosovo and Metohija. Representative

1 of the state at the gathering in Žiča was the First VP and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dačić.

In the days that followed, the church representatives headed the holy liturgies and other religious activities in the UNESCO-protected monasteries such as the Patriarchate of Peć and Visoki Dečani monasteries, in Kosovo and Metohija. Likewise, on October 8th a ceremony titled „’s Pledge” took place at the Sava Centre in Belgrade. The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, under whose patronage the jubilee was also realized, has been awarded the highest decoration by the Holy Synod, the executive institution of the Serbian Church – the Order of Saint Sava. During the ceremony the Serbian Patriarch attributed the Holy Synod decision to the „tireless work on the territorial integrity“ of President Vučić, who during his speech declared that „he would continue the fight not only for Kosovo and Metohija, but also for support of the Serbian people in the region and in other countries“. The Synod also decorated a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, with a medal Order of Saint Simeon. President Vučić on that occassion offered his apology to the Patriarch for criticism against the Church for awarding him the Order of Saint Sava. In that context, the Metropolitan bishop of and the Littoral, Amfilohije Radović, stated that a certain number of bishops had not been supportive of honoring the President with a Church decoration. The Montenegrin metropolitan bishop however also stated that the Church remained united in its respect for the Synod and the Patriarch and that there were no divisions within the Church.

The 64 International Book Fair took place at the Belgrade Fair between October 20-27th under the title “Tails=Heads”. Up to 200.000 people had the opportunity to visit around 500 exhibitors, out of which 60 were foreign, making the fair among the largest international events of its kind in Southeastern Europe. During the opening, a Serbian writer, prof. Milovan Vitezović, connected the jubilee of the Serbian Church with the history of the , announcing that the literary associations, aided by the ministries of culture and foreign affairs, will continue to work on projects for returning up to several thousand medieval manuscripts or their digital copies which are dispersed around the world. The honorary country guest was Egypt, a country which has been growingly visible in terms of demanding the retrieval of its ancient heritage. The Book Fair coincided with the retrieval of the missing 166th page of perhaps the most renowned medieval manuscript, the „Miroslav Gospel“, dated to the 12th century. According to the available information, during the October visit of the Russian

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President Medvedev, an agreement was signed through which the National Museum of Serbia would exchange 7 pictures of the famous Russian emigrant paintor Nikolay Rerih for the missing page of the Miroslav Gospel. Several members of the artistic community have questioned the cost-benefit ratio of this exchange and the model through which it was conducted, voicing concerns over potential breech of procedures in that case. Having in mind that there might be thousands of remnants of Serbian heritage worldwide, the retrieval strategy and its methods will likely attract similar public attention and lead to similar questions in the future.

Other events also included the 35th Belgrade Jazz Festival, as well as Marina Abramović’s exhibition in the Museum of Contemporary Arts. Up to 30 concerts of renowned domestic and international artists were carried out for up to 20.000 jazz fans during the BJF under a slogan „Jazz celebration“. Famous names included the Mingus Big Band (one of the most appreciated jazz grand orchestras from the United States), Charles Lloyd (an acclaimed saxophonist), Theo Ceccaldi and the Freaks (French new-wave artists who include punk rock elements) and others, including several Serbian jazz youth bands. Likewise, one of the most popular performance artists, Marina Abramović, officially opened her exhibition “The Cleaner“ at Belgrade’s Museum of Contemporary Arts at the end of September. Beside other activities, she also held an open-air workshop with 5000 people where she presented her understandings of art, her experiences and personal work philosophy, a set of principles referred to as the “Abramović method“. Having in mind the scale of “The Cleaner“ as a comprehensive restrospective of her long career, Marina Abramović has been granted the entire museum space (freshly renovated during the previous few years). Over 120 items (drawings, paintings, objects, photographs, audio and video recordings, films, arhive objects) are displayed over 5 floors and 1500 square meters of the Museum until January. Thousands of visitors from Serbia and the region have visited the Museum during September days alone and at the moment of writing this briefing the event is still among the leading cultural events in the country.

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Conclusion

The month of October in Serbia was very dynamic and interesting in terms of cultural events. The Serbian Orthodox Church celebrated its 800th independence anniversary in several events accross the country. The Church Synod on that occassion also decorated the President of Serbia and the Presidency member of Bosnia and Herzegovina with prestigious medals, although, according to the information from the media, the reactions haven’t been uniform within the Serbian Church. Several other events, from the International Book Fair, over the Belgrade Jazz Festival, to Marina Abramović’s exhibition have attracted thousands of visitors, have made the cultural scene very dynamic during October. In addition, the retrieval of the missing page of one of the most respected scriptures “Miroslav Gospel” from Russia in what seems to be an exchange for six valuable paintings of Nikolay Rerih from the National Museum has caused some concern in the artistic community regarding the respect for procedures in domain of protection of cultural legacy.

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