September 8^th

In the year 1905, enchanted by the beauty of the Sicevacka gorge, the great Serbian painter Nadezda Petrovic gathered her Slovenian and Croatian colleagues with whom she studied in Munich. The first Yugoslav Art Colony was formed that year. The first art colony besides Nadezda Petrovic gatherd  Rihard Jakopic, Ivan Grohar, Ferdo Vesel, Pasko Vucetic and Ivan Mestrovic. Each of them imparted their imprints and dedication to nature and transposed it into a pictorial language and sculpture. The Sicevo Art Colony with its entire fifty-year existence has followed and in some way encouraged the development of contemporary art in our country, continuing the tradition of Nadezda Petrovic, which has survived for more than half a century. Traditional participation in this event is taken by artists from the country and abroad who have the opportunity to create in a beautiful natural environment. Painters from Lithuania, France, Mexico, Japan and Romania, as well as seven artists from our country – from Belgrade, Aleksinac and Vranje – took part in this year’s Sicevo Art Colony.

September 8^th

The constitutive meeting of the Council for work with people with disabilities was held at Nis City Hall. People with disabilities in Serbia are daily discriminated against and do not have the opportunity to exercise all their rights. State and educational institutions, city transport, cultural institutions, as well as most of the other facilities are largely inaccessible to people with physical disabilities, which significantly reduces the process of inclusion of persons with disabilities in society.

On this occasion Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said it was a common task to carry out activities in cooperation with the City Council in order to improve the position of persons with disabilities in the city at all levels. Also, City Municipalities will be actively involved in all activities that can help in practical way the achievement of the goals of people with disabilities through the adoption of technical standards and the planned elimination of architectural barriers. Cooperation with other cities and the exchange of experience in the field of social care is also one of the ways to raise the level of protection of persons with disabilities.

The aim of this Council is primarily to initiate and solve the problems of persons with disabilities at all levels and that is why the formation and operation of this council is of special importance because it is a key initiative body that should connect the institutions of the Mayor, the Assembly of the City, the City Council and the competent administrations.