Tag: Serbia

Hidden Belgrade, The Belgradist

Hidden Belgrade (28): The Wall of Undesired Things

All those following the contemporary art scene, know that one man’s trash these days is not only another’s man potential fortune, but actual exhibit-able art. Guided by this logic, the almost permanent, seemingly curated collection of debris found on the wall of 26 Hilandarska street in Stari Grad, can be considered a rare instance of folk, collaborative street art installation. According to the Serbian press, … Continue reading Hidden Belgrade (28): The Wall of Undesired Things

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Politics, Serbia

Serbia and Albania: Know Thy Neighbour

In October 2017, I went to Tirana for a conference about relations between Serbia and Albania, jointly organised by the Albanian Institute for International Studies and the European Movement in Serbia. One of the topics of the conference was the public perception of the relationship between the two countries, which made me instinctively shudder. Despite the recent displays of friendship between the Albanian Prime Minister … Continue reading Serbia and Albania: Know Thy Neighbour

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Pokretači, The Nutshell Media

Pokretači: 2.03 Burek Stankoski, Pančevo

  Sada već kultni burek Stankoski sa kolenicom, kiselim kupusom, piletinom i gorgonzolom ili četiri sira, privlači ljude širom regiona u Pančevo. Iza ove prelepe kombinacije starog pekarstva i savremenih ukusa stoje Svetlana i Danilo, čiji put do “viralnog bureka” je krenuo od gubitka posla, vodio preko dugih meseci učenja pekarskog zanata i, posle medijske pažnje, doveo do još napornijeg svakodnevnog rada da se mušterijama … Continue reading Pokretači: 2.03 Burek Stankoski, Pančevo

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Balkans, Travel

Finding Count Vronsky in Serbia

In 1878 Leo Tolstoy somewhat abruptly ended the story of desperate and broken Count Vronsky in Anna Karenina by sending him to Serbia to fight in the Serbo-Turkish War of 1876-1878, where he sought adventure, or even death, as penance for his famously ill-fated affair. A century and a bit later, this slightly inelegant end to the story of one of the protagonists of this … Continue reading Finding Count Vronsky in Serbia

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Pokretači, The Nutshell Media

Pokretači: 2.02 Lazar Bodroža / Ederlezi Rising i Metaklinika, Beograd

Lazar Bodroža je režiser filma “Ederlezi Rising” koji je proglašen za najbolji domaći film na FEST 2018 i uz to je poneo nagrade za režiju kao i za obe glavne uloge. Lazar je takođe suosnivač i kreativni direktor studija Metaklinika koji stoji iza mnogih upečatljivih projekata, i 2011. je bio uvršten na listu najboljih 20 umetnika mlađih od 30 godina od strane prestižnog PRINT magazina. … Continue reading Pokretači: 2.02 Lazar Bodroža / Ederlezi Rising i Metaklinika, Beograd

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Politics, Serbia

“Serbsplaining” the West

From the early days of modern Serbia, and arguably before, Serbian perceptions and expectations of ‘the West’ were in many ways inextricable from how Serbians perceived themselves. Serbian uprisings against the Ottomans were from the outset imagined as a way for Serbia to re-join and catch-up with its Christian brethren from the West, who were expected to embrace it with open hands. After the last … Continue reading “Serbsplaining” the West

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Pokretači, The Nutshell Media

Pokretači: 2.01. Krsto Radović / Mandarina, Beograd

Prvi gost u ovoj sezoni je Krsto Radović, jedan od najvećih majstora poslastičarstva u regionu, koji je sa svojom sestrom Kamelijom Radojčić pokrenuo Mandarinu, sada već kultno mesto na beogradskoj kulinarskoj sceni, poznato po kreativnim kolačima, kroasanima i čokoladama.   View this post on Instagram Samo ove nedelje, naši klasici – kolači koji su od prvog dana sa vama biće u izmenjenom obliku. Uveliko spremamo … Continue reading Pokretači: 2.01. Krsto Radović / Mandarina, Beograd

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Balkans, The Belgradist, Travel

Why are Serbians not outdoorsy?

As we were climbing around the ruins of Machu Picchu, feathery clouds clung to peaks covered with thick emerald forest. Rain, which pounded from the morning, stopped and allowed sunlight to shyly caress the sheer black cliffs above the foaming river. Around us, hundreds of tourists were jostling with selfie sticks to capture these magical scenes. My chain-smoking Belgrade-born-and-bred mother slowly moved uphill, panting. Once … Continue reading Why are Serbians not outdoorsy?

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Politics, Serbia

Poverty and Politics in Serbia

I only became aware of inequality and class division once I moved to a country which is almost synonymous with them: the UK. At both university and work, my British friends frequently dissected levels of “posh-ness” in themselves and others, assessing how appropriate it was to play rugby or vote Conservative, given their background. I was, of course, dumbfounded. In Serbia, discussing “class” and inequality … Continue reading Poverty and Politics in Serbia

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Hidden Belgrade, The Belgradist

Hidden Belgrade (26): Slavija’s strange history, from MacKenzie to McDonald’s

Hated by drivers, and considered the ugliest square in Belgrade, Slavija’s riveting history ironically started off as an attempt to introduce British-style urban planning to Belgrade. The development of the square began with Francis Mackenzie, an enterprising Scottish missionary who moved to the city in 1876 in hope of making Belgraders devote more time to the Bible, rather than smoking and drinking. In 1879 he … Continue reading Hidden Belgrade (26): Slavija’s strange history, from MacKenzie to McDonald’s

Srdjan Garcevic4 Comments
Culture, Reviews

Ederlezi Rising (2018) Review

A Serbian low-budget sci-fi film  featuring a renowned adult entertainer in the role of an android designed to help (and pleasure) her astronaut/operator on the trip to Alpha Centauri, sounds like something that could, at best, aspire to be a cult-classic taken apart by trash-movie enthusiasts like Mystery Science Theatre 3000, or, at worst, languish in the depths of IMDB’s Bottom 100, only occasionally drawing … Continue reading Ederlezi Rising (2018) Review

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Politics, Serbia

Serbia’s paradoxical affair with history

When pundits look for a culprit for instability in the Balkans, their fingers often point to history, or rather the great fondness the people here have for it. Visitors to Serbia are often baffled by Serbians’ tendency to explain contemporary actions and attitudes by referencing events that happened several centuries ago. For example, it is not uncommon for somebody to explain Serbia’s awkward teetering between … Continue reading Serbia’s paradoxical affair with history

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Hidden Belgrade, The Belgradist

Hidden Belgrade (24): Bežanija airport

2017 marked the 90th anniversary of the opening of the now mostly forgotten, Belgrade International Airport, which was located next to the old Austro-Hungarian village of Bežanija, in what is now New Belgrade. This airport, however, was not the first airfield serving the city. The first airplane to fly from Belgrade took off in Banjica in 1910, close to where VMA, the military hospital complex, … Continue reading Hidden Belgrade (24): Bežanija airport

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Serbiana/Srpska posla, The Belgradist

Start-ups in Serbia: Going Against the Gloom

Serbian entrepreneurs face more than economic and administrative challenges when launching new businesses Trying to make it on your own is nerve-wracking even in the most orderly of countries, but all the start-up Kool-Aid that Silicon Valley serves up nowadays is only slowly seeping into the Serbian water supply. This, of course, is primarily a result of real economic constraints, where few have sufficient capital … Continue reading Start-ups in Serbia: Going Against the Gloom

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Pokretači, The Nutshell Media

Pokretači 1.18 Via Serbia

Gosti poslednje epizode prve sezone Pokretača, Aleksandra Cvetković (koju znate iz 12. epizode) i Nemanja Potrebić iz Via Serbia, prirodnjačkog kluba koji stremi povezivanju ljudi u Srbiji, i šire, sa prirodom. Naši gosti su takođe podelili i par saveta o tome kako uživati u prirodi zimi, kao i svoja omiljena mesta u Srbiji (moja su ovde, a i moja drugarica Jelena je napisala zašto treba da … Continue reading Pokretači 1.18 Via Serbia

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Balkans, Culture, Travel

Serbian New Year: the perfect time to start appreciating Turbofolk

The extended holiday season in Serbia finally ends with a bang and a hangover on Serbian New Year’s day, on January 14. Like our belated Christmas, it is a consequence of the Serbian Orthodox Church’s continued adherence to the old Julian calendar, which lags 13 days behind the predominantly used Gregorian calendar. Unlike Christmas, Serbian New Year’s eve is a very raucous affair and a … Continue reading Serbian New Year: the perfect time to start appreciating Turbofolk

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Pokretači, The Nutshell Media

Pokretači 1.17. Burger House Beograd

“Ako uspete u Srbiji, možete uspeti bilo gde drugde” Braća Mirko i Stefan Lazar Larazervić su ljudi iza, po mom mišljenju, najbolje hamburgerdžinice u Beogradu: Burger House-a (FB, Instagram). Pričali su o tajnama iza njihovih preukusnih burgera, ne samo o sastojcima koje brižljivo biraju i često prave sami, već i kako su se od svojih početaka u 2013. marljivo i promišljeno bavili izazovima ugostiteljtva u … Continue reading Pokretači 1.17. Burger House Beograd

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Uncategorized

Understanding Marina Abramovic

For a nation that takes immense pride in its famous sons and daughters, the Serbian public’s apparent disinterest in Marina Abramovic’s global success as an artist is an aberration. Despite the fact that Abramovic is by far the most acclaimed living artist from the former Yugoslavia, the average Serb would probably not know her name. She is mostly absent from the Serbian press, there are … Continue reading Understanding Marina Abramovic

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Culture, Pokretači, The Nutshell Media

Pokretači 1.16 ARTEZ

ARTEZ iliti Andrej Žikić se bavi uličnom umetnošću od 2003. Sada njegovi nadrealni murali krase zidove širom sveta: od Urugvaja do Finske, i od Indije do Brazila. Andrej je podelio svoj fascinantan transkontinentalni put od 14. Beogradske gimnazije, preko Arhitektonskog Fakulteta do učešća na svetskim StreetArt festivalima. Beleške Behance profil Sanje Milanov StreetSmart Belgrade Andrejev profil o nomadskom životu Street art umetnici: ARYZ Vhils Theic … Continue reading Pokretači 1.16 ARTEZ

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Hidden Belgrade, The Belgradist

The Refugees Who Built Modern Belgrade

A century ago, twin revolutions enveloped Imperial Russia, already weakened by participation in World War I. The February Revolution dismantled the centuries-old autocratic system by ousting the Tsar, while the October Revolution marked the rise of the Bolsheviks who were to emerge victorious from a five-year civil war against the remaining royalists and other opponents, and ultimately proclaim the Soviet Union. This turmoil, which set … Continue reading The Refugees Who Built Modern Belgrade

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