MetaFilter posts tagged with serbia

War (and Peace) Photographer

netbros — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:49:59 -0800

Andrija Ilic is a photographer from Belgrade, Serbia. He uses photography to document social change to his environment and events in his homeland. He has covered some of the most important events in the region: war in Kosovo in 1998, NATO maneuvers in Italy in 1998 and intervention in 1999, numerous anti-regime protests 1996-2000, events surrounding the fall of government in Belgrade in October 2000, the crisis in southern Serbia. More recently, he has published new photos from the conflict in Israel and Palestine, every day life in Gaza, and reportage from the Faroe Islands. [some images NSFW - war violence and gore] As an American, the events in the Balkans the past dozen years always seemed disturbing to me, but distant. Andrija has used his lens to help me understand the history and spirit that predates the conflict. Architecture is medieval, people farm and ranch, it snows ... all captured with the soft, filtered colorings of the Ilic style. Then there is war. You can see the pain in the faces of those that Andrija froze for eternity on film. The numb refugees, the stoic fighters, relatives searching for lost loved ones, the crying babies and weary mothers. You see it in the crumbled brick and block, the slaughtered livestock, the orange fire and billowing smoke, the stark consequences. Andrija was in the middle of it all. He was there too as his countrymen began their awakening with protests that led to the eventual fall of Miroslav Milosevic. Andrija Ilic was in the midst of the special police forces the night they arrested the tyrant. Those faces that once bore strain and pain now reflect joy and celebration. Lately Andrija aims his camera for art. He photographs illusion and theater, desire and sport, fashion and beauty. In other words, these days Andrija Ilic is photographing peace. I wish the photos on his site were larger. Most are only a few hundred pixels in width. Some of his images, however, can be seen in larger format at Report Digital.

@28 A25BA:8 @0B

tellurian — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:06:22 -0800

Prvi svetski rat - Gritty and poignant Serbian postcards from the First World War. Just one of the seriously interesting (e.g. check out the collection of 78s) holdings at the Digital National Library of Serbia.

From the Ottoman military to the Balkan Roma

sleepy pete — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:44:24 -0800

The Mehterhane or Mehter, as they are often known, are thought to be the oldest military marching band in the world. Starting around the 13th century, the band accompanied the Ottoman empire troops (Janissaries, or yeniçeri, roughly meaning "new troops" and were comprised mostly of young men from the Balkans) into battle, spreading their music along the way and influencing western classical composers like Mozart and Beethoven. Mehter also seems to have influenced the style of music and dance known among Serbian Roma as čoček (Macedonian chochek or чочек; Bulgarian kyuchek or kyutchek--кючек). Čoček as a dance is related to the Karşılama ("face-to-face") style of dance. The rhythm of traditional čoček music is 9/16, but has been modified into 4/4 and 7/8 as well. Here are some examples in costume and in the street. The music is brass heavy as played by modern bands like Kocani (or Kochani) Orkestar, Boban Marcovic, Fanfare Ciocarlia, or Goran Bregovic's compositions for movies like Underground and Time of the Gypsies (here's an interesting article on the use of Balkan as a metaphor, utilizing Time of the Gypsies). The music can be stripped down to guitar and flute or violins and clarinet, and has been utilized by American groups like A Hawk and a Hacksaw (featuring Neutral Milk alum Jeremy Barnes on accordion/drums/bell hat). Due to proximity of origin, the music shares some traits with klezmer as well (but that's a whole other research topic). Interestingly, the terms čoček and кючек seemed to have derived from the Ottomans as well. The word köçek (related to küçük meaning "little or small," but, as one very nice language loving mefite pointed out to me, also means "foal [of a camel]" and by most accounts seems a direct antecedent to the Bulgarian term кючек) was used for men and boy dancers dressed as women. There are arguments as to whether the köçekler were seen as sexualized beings (music plays on first link) or just burlesque, but the practice continues into modern times.

Saved and Depoliticised at One Stroke

geoff. — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:06:13 -0800

"The most startling features of Kosovo, now that the cleansing of the Serbian minority is on hold, are the poverty of the province ... and the pitiful economy that keeps it locked in."

Once a supplier of farm produce to other parts of Yugoslavia, Kosovo now brings in almost all its food, along with fuel and building materials. Its leading ‘export’ is scrap metal, a harvest of rundown plant from the Milosevic era and Nato bomb damage. Kosovo’s trade gap is dramatic: imports account for 90 per cent of legal cross-border trade ... The ambiguous status of the territory has been a large disincentive to foreign investors. Who can tell where their capital will be tied up or their taxes levied ten years from now? In a largely autonomous part of Serbia? A protectorate run by a handful of jaded international bodies? Or Europe’s latest sovereign state?

Vidovdan

adricv — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 09:20:09 -0800

Today is June 28th, June 15th on the Julian Calendar, and it holds a great historical significance to Serbia. 619 years ago today, the Battle of Kosovo was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Tsardom of Serbia, which ended as a victory for the Ottomans after an epic stand to the end, resulting in the deaths of both the Serbian king and the Ottoman Sultan. 94 years ago today, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand organisation, ultimately triggering the First World War. 5 years later, the Treaty of Versailles was signed in Paris, marking an end to the Great War (The Six Months That Changed The World video lecture by John V. Denson). In 1921, King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (what was then the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes) signed the Constitution for the country. In 1948, the Cominform condemned the Yugoslav Communist leaders in a "Resolution on the State of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia), formally splitting the Yugoslav partisans and the Soviet Union under Stalin. In 1989, Slobodan Milosevic delivered a speech in Kosovo, against a backdrop of tensions between an exploding Albanian population and the existing Serbian population, paradoxically advocating unity and brotherhood between the peoples of Kosovo and simultaneously fanning nationalist rhetoric, breaking from Tito's anti-nationalistic line. In 2001, Milosevic was deported to the International Criminal Courts of Justice in The Hague to stand trial for a slew of charges weighed against him, finally dying before any ruling could be served. And finally, in 2006, Montenegro became the 192nd member of the United Nations. All of these events, on June 28th, Saint Vitus' Day.

Never Been

TimTypeZed — Sun, 04 May 2008 00:18:00 -0800

Never Been. A visual description of a year in the life of a fictional Eastern European village sometime around the early twentieth century. To explore "Never Been" click and drag the story. An article from the BBC on the artist, Stuart Kolakovic, and this project. Via Drawn!

Fragments of stealth

Abiezer — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:42:24 -0800

The F117A Swan Song, the Fall of the Belgrade Embassy...and China Rising China Matters blog offers a fascinating take on "the role that the Belgrade bombing seems to play as the creation myth of the birth of the 21st Chinese strategic military doctrine, founded on the assumption that the U.S. will unscrupulously use its military, diplomatic, and propaganda advantages not only to contain China but even to attack it when need, desire, and circumstances permit."

Serbs appear unhappy about independent Kosovo

Emperor SnooKloze — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:27:33 -0800

This past Monday, the US recognized Kosovo as an independent state. Today, Serbs appear a little upset. What this means for the UN, the US, Russia, or Serbia is unclear. Predictably, reportage varies, from the staid international press to the "stormed by mobs" diction of US news networks. The picture is confused, but it might be pointing to some significant anti-Western sentiment. In the fog of civil unrest, how do we tell?

Hoppaa!

hoskala — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 09:39:01 -0800

In a small town in Central Serbia called Guca, the "Festival of Brass Music" takes place since 1961. The main event is an epic trumpet competition which Boban Markovic has won 5 times. (You might have heard his playing in several films by Emir Kusturica, most notably The Underground.) Now there is also a film about the festival , which begins this year on the 30th of August.

The festival is an insane mixture of Oktoberfest, Carnival of Rio and folklore show with a Serbian twist.

Some examples of the music to be heard on the festival. And if you like those, you'd better check out Fanfare Ciocarlia and Taraf de Haidouks too.

Football is war.

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 09:36:43 -0800

Please, do mention the war. Really, it's hard not to. After all, in a sense football is war, as the General famously joked. Sometimes it's peace. Same goes for that other football, by the way.