June 7

The 50^th anniversary of the Serbian-Norwegian Association was marked in Nis. The ceremony was attended by Ms. Marina Kostic, the Assistant Mayor, who welcomed the guests on the behalf of Nis City. The president of this association Zoran Petrovic spoke about the great friendship of two nations. The aim of the Serbian – Norwegian Association is to spread friendship between the two nations that dates back to World War II, when thousands of Serbs were in Nazi concentration camps in Norway, where they encountered enormous friendship and support from the Norwegian people. The association also engages in the presentation of Serbian culture, tradition and history in Norway, organizing contacts between Serbian and Norwegian families and mutual acceptance, organizing study visits of pupils and students in both directions, organizing business contacts between Serbian and Norwegian businessmen and contacts of Norwegian municipalities with municipalities in Serbia.

March 12^th

The first theater festival entitled “Theater at the Crossroads” began last night at the National Theater in Nis. “Theater at the Crossroads” is a competitive festival of drama and the theater of the Balkan cultural space organized by the Nis National Theater. By March 19^th, eight contestants and one guest performance from Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia will be shown. In addition to eight competition performances from the country and the region and performances in honor of the winners, whose premiere performances were played during the preceding calendar year a number of accompanying programmes would be organized: a round table of critics, a panel “Theater at the Crossroads”, as well as the promotion of books and theater journals. The festival will include prizes for: best performance, directing, four acting awards, costume design and stage design, for original stage music, for stage movement, and special festival award. Until March 19^th Nis will be, in the true sense of the word, the theater capital of culture that will gather actors, directors, journalists, critics from the Balkans. “As the only theater festival that, in one place, wants to gather the theater art of the Balkan cultural space the festival aims to affirm the similarities and differences of the cultural identity of the states and peoples sharing the same space strengthening international cultural exchange, the promotion of theater arts and creators, the exchange of ideas and theatrical practices, and it is dedicated to the challenges and perspectives of contemporary theater“ as Spasoje Z. Milovanovic, the director of Nis National Theatre, said. “All this would not be possible if it were not for the citizens of Nis who had this need for such important cultural content and such a significant festival”, said Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, who added that “this festival was significant for the wider Balkan cultural space. It is so important for us as well, for the people of Nis, who have the opportunity to show their creative and artistic work and achievements, and to show our hospitality. I would like to warmly welcome all the people, guests, actors, directors who came to our city.”

February 21^st

The City of Nis and Nis National Theater will be the hosts and organizers of the First Festival of Drama and Theater of the Balkan Cultural Space “Theater at the Crossroads” from 12 to 19 March, at which 8 performances by theatre groups from the region would compete. The idea of the festival is to affirm the similarities and differences of the countries and peoples in the region of the Balkan. The festival will be opened on March 11^th on the day of the Nis National Theater with the premiere performance of the Traveling Theater Sopalovic. “Theater at the Crossroads”, will gather performances from the region from Maribor, from Cetinje, Varazdin to Pleven. The program council is chaired by the director Nebojsa Bradic and the jury of the festival is led by actress Mia Begovic, bringing together eminent theater producers from the Balkans.  The newly established festival will offer to the audience, through eight competitive performances, and debates and promotions, the similarities and differences of the cultural identity of the countries from this region. The new festival offers the opportunity to offer different platforms for dialogue with theater producers in the name of the Balkan theater and the possibilities of cooperation – from the exchange of programs and artists to co-productions.

January 12^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with the management of the Naisus Youth Philharmonic and the soloists performing at this year’s traditional New Year’s concert. Mayor Bulatovic pointed out that it was a real pleasure to see that even at this time, when the so-called “popular music” was absolutely dominant, the classical music still had its audience, and the traditional New Year’s concert has been proving it for years. That is precisely why this event is included in the line of public city events that are supported by the City of Nis, because the city without culture is like a body without soul,” said Bulatovic. The director, founder and conductor of the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra Naisus Zoran Andric said that the citizens of Nis would be able to enjoy an unforgettable and unique event. “Twelve soloists, six sopranos and six tenors in one place, at one concert, are something that has never been seen anywhere in the world. That is exactly why we decided to hold a concert with 12 soloists on January 12^th, before the Orthodox New Year, and to introduce a unique program that will be remembered for a long time, “said Andric. The guest coming from Italy, Argentina, Austria, Armenia, during the meeting with the Mayor, spoke about their impressions about the city and their expectations for Saturday’s concert. Marco Frusoni, one of the most respected Italian tenors, who has performed several times at the New Year’s concert in Nis, thanked the hosts for the warm welcome on the behalf of the performers.

Nis National Theater in cooperation with the Student Cultural Center and the City of Nis organized the special ceremony Whose Are You, Small Nation of Serbia to mark the Armistice Day. In the presence of numerous officials and representatives of the army, police and church officials, the ceremony was opened by the City of Nis Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur, who, in his speech, evoked memories of the days of glorious Serbian history and reminded of the role of Nis in the First World War. The ceremony and the programme was dedicated to all our ancestors who sacrificed their future for the generations that came after them. The end of the First World War is the end of a complete madness. After the First World War and all the wars through which we passed, we now live our free life, “said the director of the Nis National Theater Spasoje Milovanovic. The actors from Nis National Theatre and Academic Theatre of Student Cultural Center gave their best performances to the texts of Bishop Nikolaj, lyrics by Dobrica Eric and Ms. Lisinac. Academic Choir of the Student Cultural Center of the University of Nis, under the conductor’s baton of artistic director and conductor Zoran Stanisavljević, the Ethno Vocal Group of the Academic Women’s Choir of the Student Cultural Center, the Academic Folklore Ensemble ORO of the Student Cultural Center and the Student Cultural Center National Folk Orchestra Nis performed during the ceremony.

With the performance of the Nis Symphony Orchestra under the conductor of the band Svilen Simeonov and virtuoso on the violin Mario Hossen, the 44^th Nis Music Festival – NIMUS was opened last night. The first festival evening featured the works by Beethoven, Mascgni, Rossini and, of course, Paganini, who is also the favorite author of the famous Austrian violinist of Bulgarian origin. The festival was officially opened by the artistic director of this year’s NIMUS and the director of the Nis Symphony Orchestra Mr. Svetozar Vezenkovic and the Secretary of the City Administration for Culture and Information Mr. Nebojsa Stevanović, who pointed out that the Nis music festival had been for almost half a century one of the cultural symbols of Nis and the City of Nis, because of such festival, had the opportunity to host some of the greatest names of the world music scene. Otherwise, this year’s NIMUS will last until November 7^th.

City of Nis was the official guest city at the 63^rd Belgrade Book Fair and it was the opportunity for the city to promote publishing houses from Nis, cultural institutions, literary events, literary awards and well-known writers. The present audience at the Branko Miljkovic Hall was greeted by the Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur who emphasized the importance of the writers from Nis being presented at the most important literary event in the country. Joint presentation by publishers and writers from Nis means a great return to the cultural scene of Serbia, after many years when Nis was inadequately present both at the book fair in Belgrade and at the publishing scene of Serbia.

Nis City Council Member Jelena Mitrovski met with the children who were participating in the traditional concert Meetings of Friendship – Joy of Europe. Center for Traditional Culture and Spirituality Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic and Children’s Cultural Center from Belgrade are hosts and organizers of the concert on the occasion of children’s week. The sponsors of the concert are the City of Nis, the City Administration for Culture and Information, the City Municipality Palilula, the City Municipality Pantelej and Land Army Forces of Serbia HQ. Let the Planet Shine is the slogan of this year’s meeting of children of Europe which is held for the 49^th time in Belgrade while the concerts in Nis are being held for the 11^th time. Over a thousand children from Russia, China, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Sweden, Greece, Austria, Romania, Montenegro, Cyprus, France and Belarus has taken part in the concerts for the past eleven years.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with the representatives of the Association of cooks of the Mt. Athos Hilandar Monastery on the occasion of announcing the promotion of food, well-kept Hilandar recipes and wine, scheduled for December this year in Nis. The organizer of this unique event, which is held for the first time in our country, is the Nis Media Research Center in cooperation with the Tourist Organization of Nis. Welcoming the distinguished guests, Mayor Bulatovic thanked for the honor that the City of Nis would have in being the first city in Serbia to present the well-guarded secrets of the Mt. Athos monastery and to take advantage of this event for the promotion of Nis tourist capacities and tourist offer. Bulatovic pointed out that the City was ready to support and help organize this unique event, which, as announced, will be organized in Nis and after that in Belgrade and Novi Sad. The Delegation from Greece, consisting of the commercial manager of the Hilandar Monastery, Zacharias Panagiotis, the chief cook of the Hilandar Monastery Christos Gremos and the chef Casioras Marios conveyed the warm greetings from the Hilandar Monastery Prior Archimandrite Methodius and thanked for the hospitality and readiness to support and assist the presentation and promotion of wine from the monastery cellars and vineyards, as well as the ancient cuisine of Atos and Hilandar. According to Zacharias Panagiotis, in this way, the people of Serbia, who perceive the Hilandar Monastery as one of their greatest sanctities and centuries-old center of spirituality, will have the opportunity to learn some of the long kept secrets, which are not directly related to spirituality and faith, but are the part of its heritage. At the same time, as it has been said, this will be an opportunity for closer connection and cooperation between the Nis and monasteries of Mt. Athos from the aspect of tourism as well as for the promotion of trade in both directions precisely through the promotion and development of gastro-tourism, which started in the spring of this year, when Nis delegation visited Athos and Greek region of Volvi. Beside the Mayor, the meeting was attended by the Nis City Council Member Jelena Mitrovski and the director of the Tourist Organization of Niš Uroš Parlić, as well as the initiator of the whole idea and the director of the Media Research Center Zdravko Stojnic.

Nis City Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur met today with the participants of the Art Colony Sicevo 2018. The Art Colony Sicevo is the oldest art colony in the Balkans. It was founded in 1905 according to the idea and with the advocacy of the Serbian painter Nadezda Petrovic. Due to its unusual beauty Sicevo landscapes represent inspiration not only to painters, but also to writers and all lovers of nature. This year’s Art Colony Sicevo gathered 12 painters from the region. The participants of the colony presented themselves individually and spoke about their impressions of the beauty of Sicevo gorge.