Walking through the brash and brilliant City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, the flashiest in Calatrava’s global herd of white elephants, I could not but feel giddy with its ambition. The June sun, reflected on the ceramic coating of its improbably shaped buildings dispelled all the doom and gloom of 2022 Europe, and brought me back to the late 90s when I religiously watched … Continue reading Hope and Despair in Valencia
Since Serbia is remembering 30th anniversary since very harsh sancions were imposed on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and as we are being pressured to impose sanctions in Russia, I am reminded of my earliest memories, which took place by the Belgrade train station. It was hot summers’ day in 1992, and I was four, throwing a tantrum when I was supposed to be saying … Continue reading Serbia, sanctioned
For a very long time, SIV, for me, was just a drab government building. While I passed it fairly often, unthinkingly, on my regular walks between old Zemun, much like the whole of New Belgrade – with the exception of Sava Centar – it was unremarkable, melding into the grey mass of what I (and many around me) termed as “uninspiring socialist architecture”, something that … Continue reading Hidden Belgrade (66): SIVilisational decline
Ever since MTV started airing non-stop music videos in 1980s, Yugoslav pop stars were keen to embrace the style and creativity of the medium. From the get go there were many creative attempts with the format from very arty and conceptual videos of VIS Idoli to sexy high production videos to Lepa Brena’s songs. Slovenian controversial art-band Laibach’s video for Life is Life even managed … Continue reading Dejan Milićević: King of Yugoslav 90s Camp and Colour
Imagine a state where the government works hard not only to build crucial infrastructure projects but to elevate the tastes of the people through lavish funding of the arts and protects them from contemporary kitsch. A country where every larger town would have an opera and which would invest in making its citizens healthy and joyful through various initiatives. A country led by a ruler … Continue reading Art though Politics: “Hitler and the power of Aesthetics”, Frederic Spotts
Ever since the world was sufficiently globalised to allow for a common cultural language of admiration for technology and industry in mid-19th century, there have been expositions which allowed every country to show their might, progress and peculiarity on the world stage. It all started with the Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace of 1851, inside the Hyde Park, which dazzled the inhabitants of the … Continue reading Serbia and Yugoslavia at the World Fairs (1): 1885-1939
Radomir Lazić je nastavljač porodične pčelarske tradicije i proizovđač izuzetnog Fruškogorskog lipovog meda u Beočinu. Pričali smo o pčelarstvu, sve gorim uslovima za pčele i tome kako je Društvo pčelara “Jovan Živanović” iz Novog Sada uspelo da zaštiti lipov med. Beleške Društvo pčelara Jovan Živanović Fruškogorski lpov med i drugi zaštićeni proizvodi Vrškare Pratite Pokretače i na iTunesu, TuneIn, Stitcheru i YouTubeu, kao i na Spotify-u, a i slušajte nove epizode … Continue reading Pokretači #142 Radomir Lazić o Fruškogorskom lipovom medu
Prof Ljiljana Radenović je redovni profesor na Filozofskom fakuletu Univerziteta u Beogradu sa raznorodnim i vrlo aktuelnim interesovanjima: odproučavanja sreće do filozofije nauke. Pričali smo o sreći, vrednostima čitanja Fukoa tokom pandemije, problemima revolucija i liberalizma, ali i tome kako joj je Tviter pomogao da nađe nove teme i načine da se više nas bavi filozofijom. Beleške O Sreći Na Tviteru Paidea forum O Zlim … Continue reading Pokretači #141 Ljiljana Radenović o filozofiji, sreći i tviteru
Train travel used to be the stuff of nightmares in Serbia. While I was in highschool I remember packing up lots of food for a 90km train ride to Novi Sad, while any attempts to venture further – to Zagreb and Budapest (both about 400km away from Belgrade) – were day-long out trips in crappy trains that stopped in crappy stations. I n a lot … Continue reading Belgrade to Novi Sad on Soko express
Nikola Vukosavljević je Glavni urednik Srpskog DNK projekta, koji je deo širih aktivnosti genealoškog ruštva Poreklo. Pričali smo o tome šta DNK analize mogu i ne mogu da nam kažu, zašto su moćna alatka u istraživanju istorije i arhelogije, iako podložna misinterpretacijama. Beleške Srpski DNK Projekat i Poreklo O političkim debatama oko korišćenja DNK u arheologiji Lep kanal o praistorijskim temama i migracijama Pratite Pokretače … Continue reading Pokretači #136 Srpski DNK projekat i istraživanje porekla sa Nikolom Vukosavljevićem
The first time that I remember crying to a song was with my Grandmother and Mum, after a Đorđe Balašević concert. That must have been in December 1995 of 1996, while we were staying at Grandma’s and I remember putting on a Balašević tape as we loved the concert. At one point it played „Priča o Vasi Ladačkom“ (The story of Vasa Ladački), and all … Continue reading Crying to and for Balašević
If you think you are a Balkan culinary know it all for loving ćevapi, sarma, burek and kajmak, well the truth is… there is plenty more to discover. Everybody knows they are great, and with ajvar now present on the supermarket aisles from LA to Dubai, and the increasing number of restaurants serving Serbian fare all around the world: from Kafana in New York, via … Continue reading Politically charged pies and the first Chinese dish in Serbia: More stories about Serbian food
Straša Tončev je pokretač 21grams – izuzetnog restorana balkanske hrane u Dubaiu koji je uspeo da dovede dušu naših protora na ovo zahvetno tržište. Pričali smo o nagradama koje su ona i 21grams uspeli da osvoje, pokretanju posla u stranoj zemlji i tome šta je duša naše hrane. Beleške Lokacije 21grams u Meyan Mallu kod Jumeriah beach-a i u TimeOut Marketu kod Burj Khalife Tekstovi … Continue reading Pokretači #135 Staša Tončev iz 21grams o balkanskoj duši u Dubaiu
Uroš i Milena Stojanović su zamenili ulice Stare Palilule za aranđelovačko selo Misača, gde su zasadili voćnak i pokrenuli “Rođak sa sela”, proizvodnju kobasica i drugih delikatesa. Pričali smo o lepotama i izazovima života na selu: od problema sa trenutnim “podsticajima” do toga zašto bi svi trebalo da negujemo seoski mentalitet. Beleške Rođak sa sela Facebook profil O Misači i par saveta za putovanja po … Continue reading #134 Rođak sa sela: Uroš i Milena Stojanović u i o Misači
Dr Marin Jukić je vanredni profesor na Farmaceutskom fakultetu u Beogradu i jedan od naših najboljih naučnika. Dr Jukić razvija metode da se psihijatrijski lekovi bolje doziraju i tako da se pomogne mnogima koji pate od duševnih bolesti. Pričali smo o izazovima u nauci i farmaciji i njihovoj ulozi u društvu, mentalnom zdravlju i bavljenju naukom. Posebna zahvalnost Nataliji Ginić što me je povezala sa … Continue reading Pokretači #133 O nauci u Srbiji i psihijatrijskim lekovima sa Dr Marinom Jukićem
„Break the chains that bind us! Crumble the suburbs of huge and diseased Western-European cities! Crush the glass of the gilded palaces Tall towers – of National Stock Markets and Banks! War profiteers escape into the fat bellies! Hide your bought mistresses into your dirty pockets! Do you have no shame?! And you blind mothers and dumb fathers, who sell your virginal Daughters! And you … Continue reading Zenit: 100 Years of Esoteric Balkan Barbarism
In the past two years, Serbia was enjoying being rediscovered by its citizens thanks to COVID travel restrictions. As everybody “did” various spas, visits to the Uvac canyon, hikes on Stara mountain and dipped Bela Crkva lakes, one could wonder if there is anything else that remains to be visited? Thankfully, yes – and this year I decided to recommend places that were hiding in … Continue reading High speed rail, tragic romances, socialist extravaganza and breathtaking views: Where to go in 2022?
Belgrade’s democratic and indomitable spirit is probably to credit (or blame, depending on who you ask, and what you think) for frequent turnovers of its elites. For example, in just one neighbourhood, playful Ottoman townhouses of Zerek – currently referred to as Dorćol – in which the Muslim merchants languored on divans – gave way to mostly sober neoclassical houses of late 19th and early … Continue reading Hidden Belgrade (65): Three forgotten townhouses
!Spoilers ahead! It was my Dad who got me into Sex and City. As it started airing on B92, the purveyor off all things Western in the early 2000s, post-Milosević Serbia, my Dad lauded it as an instruction manual of not only the sexual and social mores of the day in the West, whereas I, just entering my teenage years, liked the title. Needless to … Continue reading Gradually, then suddenly: “And just like that…” review
For a tourist, who is not a jet setting merchant or businessman, an Expo is a mix of Disneyland and the Olympics – both of which I love. Despite my enthusiasm for both, xpoO in Dubai was my first and, overall, it was a great experience – especially given the Emirati penchant for pomp. Although Dubai’s contribution to the world of invention and collective imagination … Continue reading Expo 2020 Dubai: Hits and Misses
