Spirit of Belgrade in Herceg Novi – Andric as the Strongest Bond Between the Two Cities

With the Belgrade spenza (an open market of handicraft works) and the “Ivo Andric – A Man Above Time” exhibition, the Days of Belgrade began in Herceg Novi and will last until March 7. The event is part of this year’s Mimosa Days. The Tourism Organization of Belgrade is bringing the spirit of the Serbian capital to Herceg Novi for the sixth year in a row, and according to Jelena Stankovic, every year, they try to do so through a different concept and program units.

– This year, in cooperation with the Belgrade City Museum, we have brought a part of the exhibit from the Ivo Andric House in Belgrade to the Ivo Andric House in Herceg Novi. The exhibition is called “Ivo Andric – A Man Above Time”, it opened on Thursday and it is available until March 7, every day until 9 pm. Curators from the Belgrade Museum will be available for guided tours to all interested visitors – Jelena Stankovic of the Tourism Organization of Belgrade said for eKapija.

She says that there was a large number of visitors on the first day of the exhibit and that it has attracted considerable attention from both the residents of Herceg Novi and the city’s guests.

– We hope that the interest will remain just as big until the end of the exhibition, within which the visitors can see various personal objects that belonged to our Nobel Prize winner and learn more about his life and work in a special way – she added.

She expressed satisfaction over the fact that the museums, the Ivo Andric houses in Belgrade and Herceg Novi, had established an even closer cooperation in 2023, because they were institutions which represented one of the strongest bonds of the two cities.

– We believe that, in the future, even based on the cooperation realized at the moment, the exchange will be even more intensive and frequent and organized in some new ways, even several times a year, not just during the Belgrade Days – said Jelena Stankovic.

The Belgrade spenza, which was set up at the Mimosa Park, also drew a lot of attention.

– In cooperation with the company Beogradske Pijace, we presented a selection of products made by Belgrade-based producers, who offered handicraft artworks, designer objects, as well as products of famous Belgrade local food brands – our interviewee says.

A special attraction within the Belgrade Says is the Skadarlija Evening, which has already become a tradition and for which there is always a great interest.

– The Skadarlija Evening is a segment that has been present in all these years that we have been organizing the Belgrade Days in Herceg Novi. Other segments change – there have been theater plays here, live shows, cabarets and various performers, artists and actors, but the Skadarlija Evening is something that has become a tradition. This year as well, at the City Tavern, which is an institution of its own in Herceg Novi, we enjoyed the spirit of the famous bohemian Skadarlija. We were in the company of the Skadarlija Lady, that is, the actress Ljiljana Jaksic, who, accompanied by as many as two Skadarlija orchestras, with plenty of song and dance, relayed anecdotes about the life of this famous street in Belgrade – says Jelena Stankovic.

The first day of the event dedicated to Belgrade was marked by a dance performance in several segments by the art center Talija, which attracted a lot of attention.

– These are our long-standing associates, who present something that is Belgrade’s heritage in a very beautiful way. I would also like to note that the Velika Skadarlija restaurant was a guest of the Skadarlija Evening, so the visitors had the opportunity to enjoy their specialties – she adds.

She also reminded that, at the then recently completed International Tourism Fair, the tourism organizations of Belgrade and Herceg Novi signed a protocol on cooperation.

– This way, we have confirmed the long-standing cooperation that our two tourism organizations have. That is, in fact, only an extension of the protocol on cooperation which, in addition to organizing the Belgrade Days, also enables us to cooperate in many other ways. We talked with our colleagues from the Tourism Organization of Herceg Novi about bringing, that is, primarily exchange, journalists and tourism agencies, which could send us guests, in the coming period. On the other hand, it all gives us room to present ourselves together and promote ourselves in some third markets – Stankovic said for our portal.

When asked whether there is plan to organize a similar event in the Serbia capital, that is, the Days of Herceg Novi event in Belgrade, Stankovic says that they are always ready to help organize events which will contribute to the promotion of Herceg Novi.

– We are here to always help our colleagues from Herceg Novi. So far, we have done so by providing support in organizing an announcement of the Mimosa Days and the famous Majorettes Parade March through Kneza Mihaila Street, to the extent that even that announcement has become an even of its own that the people of Belgrade and the media especially look forward to. Just like this event is organized in Belgrade, we are there, of course, to help our colleagues with everything else they want to organize, in order to invite the people of the Belgrade to come to Herceg Novi in the coming months, especially during the summer season – Jelena Stankovic concludes in her interview for eKapija.

First editions of The Bridge on the Drina and Bosnian Chronicle displayed at the exhibition

At the interactive exhibition “Ivo Andric – A Man Above Time”, among other things, the visitors will be able to see, until March 7, the first editions of the works The Bridge on the Drina (Na Drini cuprija) and Bosnian Chronicle (Travnicka hronika), with the original manuscripts, Marija Petrovic of the Belgrade City Museum said during the opening.

She noted that it had been very important to also take a look at Andric’s diplomatic efforts, given that it entailed two decades of a rich diplomatic carrier across 10 European cities.

– We are especially focusing on Herceg Novi, that is, those extraordinarily beautiful, perhaps the most beautiful years of his private life with (his wife) Milica Babic, which he spent in this city. That is where he lived, created and worked, and the novel Omer Pasha Latas, which was published posthumously and whose original manuscript you can see at this exhibition, is an example of that – Petrovic said.

The vice-president of the Municipality of Herceg Novi, Mirko Mustur, reminded that, in July 2022, Andric’s personal belongings had been returned to the Andric Home in Topla and that they were now part of the permanent exhibition “The Herceg Novi Paths, Faces and Landscapes of Ivo Andric”.

D. O.

Turistička organizacija Beograda

Turistička organizacija Herceg Novi

JKP Gradske pijace Beograd

Opština Herceg Novi

Muzej grada Beograda

TO Belgrade

TO Herceg Novi

PUE Beogradske pijace

Municipality of Herceg Novi

Ivo Andrić House Herceg Novi

Ivo Andrić House Belgrade

Belgrade City Museum

City Tavern Herceg Novi

Velika Skadarlija restaurant

Jelena Stanković

Ljiljana Jakšić

Marija Petrović

Mirko Mustur

Belgrade Days in Herceg Novi

Mimosa Days

Skadarlija Evening

Belgrade spenza

art center Talija