WIDE-OPEN DOOR

As the mission of culture dictates, culture should connect people and not separate them.  Arsim Aslani, the head of the “Vuk Karadzic” public institution in Bujanovac,  has many arguments to support this claim.

“When talking about the city of tradition and culture”, Mr. Aslani said, “one primarily thinks of   the diversity of folklore and national costumes that are part of the cultural events that are traditionally fostered here. The cultural center organizes four traditional activities per year:    the Saint Sava’s week, when the premises of the cultural center are rented to the “Zapisi” (Records) association, which  organizes a cultural program; the exhibition of kindergarten children and primary and secondary school students dedicated to the painting of Easter eggs; the Cultural Summer is traditionally held in July, when three folk music concerts in Serbian, Albanian and Roma are organized, followed by three pop-music concerts in Serbian, Albanian and Roma, two plays, out of which one is in Serbian and one in Albanian, and a performance given by children from all the kindergartens.  All the events are held at the flat area located in front of the cultural center, while the Day of the “Vuk Karadzic” cultural center takes place in November and is dedicated to the birth of Vuk Karadzic, when the “Vredne ruke” (Diligent Hands) organization and the cultural center collect handicrafts and artifacts from the municipality of Bujanovac and organize concerts in Serbian and Albanian. 

Those events are envisaged by the cultural center’s program and they are regularly held, but this public institution was far more prolific during the previous year.  Namely, a large number of events took place at the cultural center in Bujanovac over the past year. They were mainly cultural and social events, such as round tables, promotions and presentations.

“There are five cultural associations giving performances at our institution – two Serbian ones, which are “Soko” and “Kolo”, two Albanian ones, which are “Glas doline” (The voice of the valley) and “Jehona”, as well as the Roma cultural association “Zulficar Bajramovic.” All events are multi-ethnic”, said Mr. Aslani.

There were a great many cultural events over the past year, which include 15 plays, of which five were given by professional theaters, of which eight children’s plays, of which five were performed by professional theatres, which is very important, so that  the children, who will have to live together for decades and create an environment full of inter-ethnic and multi-cultural synergy, could slowly begin giving up misconceptions of the older generations; eight literary evenings organized by the Albanian and Serbian authors, as well as eight exhibitions of paintings. There were as many as 73 other events, which include concerts given by cultural associations, magic and circus shows, a beauty contest, games without frontiers, a ceremonial academy, masquerades, performances given by kindergarten children and primary and secondary school students and charity concerts.  

“And that's not all. We had an event called “Bujanovac Cultural Summer”, which lasted for 15 days, “Diligent Hands”, which lasted for four days, “Easter Egg”, which lasted for two days, as well as a film festival of documentaries and feature films, which lasted for five days.  However, the cultural life of Bujanovac would be far richer and the culture would contribute more to the inter-ethnic co-existence if we had more funds to finance the programs and projects that have already been designed”, Mr. Aslani said.  

As for the media scene in Bujanovac, there are two televisions in the city, one radio station and several Internet portals.  According to the number of employees, the largest one is RTV Bujanovac, which broadcasts programs in Albanian, Serbian and Roma, and which, under the new Media Law, should be privatized by the middle of next year.  Television “Spektri”, which belongs to the owner of the “Elhan Commerce” company and which is believed to be the most influential media in the Albanian language, celebrated its tenth anniversary last year.

Radio “Ema”, which broadcasts in Serbian, will also have its twentieth anniversary soon.  

All heads of the Bujanovac media, whether they are in the Serbian, Albanian or Roma language, agree on one thing - the language doesn’t matter, everyone here can speak Albanian, Serbian and Roma, but it is important to understand one another as human beings.  What is important is that the government understands us, invests more financial resources and shows more political will, so that we could continue doing our work or the mission of coexistence of three ethnicities to the best of our abilities.

Source: Vranjske newspapers and Coordination Body