Култура

On August 28, in the town of Valjevo, a district center about 100 km southwest of the capital Belgrade, at one of the open scenes, at the whisper of the bubbling deep river Kalubara, the melodic voices of the Velingrad women Margarita Gergeva, Tanya Ivanova, Yordanka Nikova, Nevena Stoynova, Eli Sazdova, Irina Balabanova rose. This is the group for popular songs at the community center "Father Paisii" - Velingrad.
The time is 22. In this city, life begins now. Saturday - the last day of the Teshnyar Evenings of Culture, analogous to our Festivals of Culture. The theatres in Velingrad were invited to return the visit of the artists who showed us the show "Koshtana" in July. We were welcomed by the heads of the cultural society (KUD) "Abraevi".
An hour after the applause for the vocal concert on another stage, the Valevski spectators were subdued by the acting talents of Tsvetan Kotev, Rositsa Paunova, Atanas Gushevilov, Velichka Atanasova, Pavel Gaydev, Ginka Kaffedzhieva, Boycho Karailiev, Boryana Veleva, Tanya Ivanova, Aneta Stankova, Ani Nechitailova. Despite the cool weather, the audience with the most attention followed the acting incarnations on stage. Every appearance of Cetso and Rossi, as well as the other characters, caused a furor. The "field" conditions and poor decors brought from Velingrad did not diminish the value and success of the staging. "This is undoubtedly a professional, he is the focus, the unit of the spectacle," the hosts repeatedly repeated for Tsvetan Kotev. "But others are not to be underestimated either, especially the chubby maid," added other viewers for Rositsa Paunova.
Later on at the meeting with some of the artists of "Abraevi" ours proved again that they are "by God branded". Pavkata with the guitar took the lead, and Boycho conquered everyone with an unsuspected performance of the become "cosmic" Rhodope songs. Rossi and Cetso were again unreachable with a "bouquet" of Bulgarian song work. The hosts responded with operatic and popular melodies. Indeed, art brings together, inspires, elevates. Our visit continued with the premiere of the novel "Insurrection" by Serbian writer Svetlana Jankovi. The chairman of the Literature Club in Velingrad congratulated the success of the novelist and gave one of the books to our artists. The surprise was great and loudly applauded, with our gesture we proved that literature is a bridge between peoples.
The city leaders of Valjevo accepted us with marked attention and respect. Vojislav Slasenich, Vice-President of the Municipal Council, Vojislav Andric, President of the Cultural Society and Director of the High School, welcomed us warmly, and the Secretary of the Municipality, Mirjana Stenich, gave a welcoming speech and invited us to visit again next year. She gave us a painting of the old Velevska Charshia Tenarska, where they started these evenings in 1986. and gave their name. The greetings were answered by Deputy Mayor Recep Hodzhov, Deputy Chairman of the Community Center "Father Paisii" Ivan Trichkov and the chairman of the literary club Avram Gerev, who gave souvenirs and books.
The next day the kind hosts took us to the Brankovina cultural and historical complex, ten kilometers from Valjevo. It is a real paradise, there is also a magnificent Orthodox temple. Notable personalities of Serbia are associated with him: Nenadovich, Prince Alex, Mateja - a clergyman and voivode who uttered the impressive "I did and voivode", the scribe Chika Luba, Queen Persida Karadjordjevic, mother of King Peter the Liberator. There is the grave of the world-famous poet Desanka Maksimovi, who has an impressive monument in Valjevo, a museum and a rich library, where we also left our books. On her grave, instilling an association for the mound of Leo Tolstoy in Yasna Polyana, there is a miniature copy of the church "Vasilius Blessed" in Moscow, and among the many orders we saw "Cyril and Methodius".
The program of the Teshnyar Evenings also includes exhibitions, book premieres, meetings with publishers, folklore concerts, Roma poetry and music, theater, film premieres, performances of high school groups, reviews, discos, lectures on political and scientific topics, meetings with notable people and more, and more... In addition to the daily media reports in the city (3 televisions, 4 radios and 1 newspaper), a special newspaper "Tesnyarsky Voices" is also published during the cultural evenings. In Valjevo, naturally and casually, our guide became an ying. Milivoj Milivojevic, who is the Vice-President of KID "Abramovic" and one of the artists in "Kostana". He also introduced us to the history and economy of the city, which starts from the time of Celts and Illyrians. The economy is the work of the military industry, animal husbandry, production of raspberries, corn, etc. Substantial funds are allocated to education, culture and sport.
Summarizing what we saw and heard and after the visit to Belgrade, we made the conclusion: fatigue is forgotten, impressions and useful conclusions remain. Laconically, they are: in Serbia we have seen economic upsurge, discipline, calm. In Valjevo there are no bars of homes and shops, the arable land is not derelict, in the farmyards there are tractors, everything is processed and gives a rich harvest. People are engaged in useful labor, culture is in bloom... Unwittingly, the question arises: "Is it like this in our country? Why isn't it?".
Attention to us was exceptional, due analagic welcome! We owe our gratitude to the sponsor Dimitar Pramatarov, who took over the expenses for our stay in Belgrade; to Krasimir Mirchev, who was our music sound teacher and to the secretary of the community center Ivan Stoyanov, who was the main organizer of our tour in Serbia and Montenegro.
Avram Gerev