Early in the morning on Sunday, 16.1.2011, our team composed of Petra Golob as Project Manager for Export Knowledge - Import Art, Mira Muršič, President of ZULK (Association of Creative People in Culture) and Mihael Rudl, photographer, cameraman and technical assistant, started our journey towards Berovo in Macedonia. This was my first visit to Macedonia, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but my two fellow passengers had already visited Berovo last summer for the purpose of the program Step Beyond, co-financed by the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) which also co–finances our project Export Knowledge – Import Art.
After a tiring 12 hour drive we arrived in a small town, still covered in Christmas decorations. The Julian calendar used in Macedonia is 13 days behind the Gregorian and so are their holidays.
We were greeted by the representatives of KUD Romi: Milaim and Djafer Destanovski, Nehru Demirovski, Mirsat Demirov, Orhan Alimanovski and Iljas Destanovski -Ice - all musicians, virtuosos of their instruments. We discussed the course of the next day during diner and were off to beds soon after.
The first task for Monday, 17.1.2011, was the completion of formalities: signing a contract of cooperation in the project Export Knowledge - Import art between the partners: ZULK – Združenje ustvarjalnih ljudi na področju kulture (Association of Creative People in Culture), represented by its President Mira Muršič, Dom kulture Dimitar Berovski, represented by Director Gligor Mamučevski and Kud Romi, which operates within Dom kulture Dimitar Berovski and represented by Milaim Destanovski, Artistic Director.
With this agreement the partners committed themselves to fulfill their obligations. As managers both Directors were interested in the obligations of their organizations and the financial aspect of the project. After their questions were clarified we discussed the details of Festival Romano Chon program for Berovo 2011.
Milaim Destanovski suggested that given the current financial capabilities the program should include: a celebration of the International day of the Roma (4/8/2011), a theatre play “Narla”, a recital of Roma poems, a dance performance of the local folklore group and a concert of the local Roma music group. Mira Muršič agreed with the program and the date of realization. Both were inserted in the contract and it was ready for signature.
Together we also made a schedule of lectures for the following day and the list of invited participants and sent them invitations. It turned out that their computer was slightly out of date and their internet connection was very slow, which could pose a considerable obstacle for activities planned in the coming days. Good thing we brought ZULK’s business notebook. Time passed quickly and suddenly it was three o’clock. It was time for lunch, which we spent talking about the possibilities of cooperation.
After lunch Milaim Destanovski kindly invited us for a visit. Of course we accepted and soon we were entering the Roma settlement, located on a hill overlooking Berovo, for the first time. We met his family which has been playing the traditional instrument zurla for at least six generations. Currently the youngest to study the instrument in the household is Milaim’s three and a half years old grandson.
Members of the Roma community organized a Welcome Party, where we got acquainted with the members of a family who keep alive the tradition of making and playing a tapan, another traditional instrument. This was also a demonstration of musical activities of Kud Roma. A group of Roma “trubači” (trumpeters) started playing and the younger Roma invited us to dance with them.
The next day (18.1.2011) we started lectures as planned:
Mira Muršič presented ZULK’s activities, the Festival of Roma culture Romano Chon and plans for its expansion.
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| Mira Muršič lecture |
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| Petra Golob presenting the project Export knowledge - Import art |
And I, Petra Golob, presented the project Export knowledge - Import art:
1. its main objectives:
- to identify strengths and weaknesses of the involved partners, the level of their ability to organize a festival with international participation and adequacy of the location and infrastructure,
- to strengthen the link between the partnering Roma associations, to encourage their mutual cooperation and to enable them to independently organize the festival in their town next year,
- to expand the Festival of Roma culture Romano Chon internationally.
3. I listed the partners involved in the project: ZULK, Dom kulture Dimitar Berovski, Kud Romi and The Rromani Social-Cultural Foundation "Ion Cioaba".
Mira Muršič explained the benefits of mutual cross-border integration of Roma associations and Roma artists in her lecture on The Importance of International Cooperation of Roma.
As organizers we were especially pleased that the lectures and discussions were attended by a representative of the Municipality of Berovo Velko Gogolski and the organizer of Carnival Ratevski bamburci from Ratevo, who also raised interesting questions about the project Export knowledge - Import art, and opportunities for cooperation and integration of non-Roma and Roma associations and artists. This was followed by further questions about various issues and a relaxed discussion ensued over coffee, juice and snacks.
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| Discussion | |
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| Creating a Facebook profile for Kud Romi with the younger participants |
We then started creating a Facebook profile for Kud Romi with the younger participants. I soon discovered that they all had existing profiles and they regularly used them for communication, which made our task easier. As most youth they used Facebook for viewing pictures and brief chats. But they didn’t know for example, that if you publish and tag an event on your profile it can be seen by all your Facebook friends and you can therefore reach a wide range of potential participants.
Since it was a really laborious day we had completely forgotten about lunch and by the time we were finished it was already dinner time.
Wednesday, 19.1.2011: today Macedonia celebrates the feast of the Baptism. On this occasion, priests throughout the country bless the water during Mass. The priest throws a blessed wooden cross into the water (a river or a stream and as we were told even a swimming pool nowadays) and younger men jump after it regardless of the cold. Whoever captures it has a special honour of blessing homes with the cross, a deed for which people give contributions for ecclesiastical purposes. We wanted to see this event since such a ceremony does not exist in Slovenia.
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| Jumping into an icy cold river in the middle of winter is only for the brave hearted. |
After the morning ceremony, we had time for a short trip to Berovsko Lake, a popular and picturesque summer destination. During winter, the motives for photography might not be so abundant, but some can still be found.
Around 12 am we gathered in Dom kulture Dimitar Berovski where Milaim Destanovski had already prepared images from the photo archive. We asked him to draw up a short text about Kud Romi, which will be used for their presentation on the website that we then started creating together with Minavera and Destan. They were excited over the selection of design tools. Miha and I left the choice of colour basis to their imagination and only advised them on the placement of the text and images. Since the purpose of this webpage is to present Kud Romi and its activities, this would be achieved most efficiently trough visual material but the page should also contain contact details. So we chose the background, set tabs, inserted contact information, a brief description of Kud Romi and uploaded some pictures with descriptions. Minavera and Destan liked the practical work on the computer and didn’t perceive it as learning, but they still seemed to gain a lot. They had further questions about the capabilities of the program we were using. And we arrived at a mutual agreement to entrust them with the administration of the page we had created. The only thing missing now was the head of the page and we all liked the design Miha had created.
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| Creating a web page for Kud Romi with Minavera and Destan |
Thursday 20.1.2011
We were supposed to depart for Maribor today, but we learn of a Carnival "Ratevski Bamburci" being organized in the near village of Ratevo and we decide to visit it.
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| Ratevo |
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Ratevski bamburci
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| Folklore group |
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| Member of FECC - Foundation of European Carnival Cities |
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| Dinosaur |
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| "Lady Gaga" |
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| Mask that scares evil spirits away weighs 57 kg |
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| Tapan dictates tempo of the dance |
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Friday, 21.1.2011
Since we prolong our departure for another day we pay a visit to Marin Demirovski, the municipality representative who was informed on the project Export knowledge - Import art by an associate. He shares his views on the project and its planned expansion and assures us that it will receive full support from the Municipality of Berovo which will also issue a letter of support to the project.
Excess time is spent on additional training for computer use. We carry out an introductory course in web page design for Elena Kofcegarska, who will be responsible for any updates on Dom kulture Dimitar Berovski home page.
The time of our visit is at an end and we are leaving early tomorrow morning. But our hosts surprise us one last time and organize a Roma evening in our honour. During five days of our visit these kind, friendly people had allowed us entry into their homes and presented all their family members from the oldest to the youngest, and we feel we’ve become friends. And the children with their warmth and musical talent, inherited from the ancestors, are an assurance that their tradition will continue to flourish.
Text: Petra Golob
Photo: Petra Golob and Mihael Rudl
