October 7^th

Nis City Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur has met with the children from Macedonia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Russia who are participating in the international meeting of children entitled Joy of Europe held in Nis. The children’s meetings have been organized for the past 10 years by the Church ensemble Branko from Nis with the help of the Children’s Cultural Center in Belgrade. This is the 10^th jubilee festival “Friendship Meetings – Joy of Europe” in Nis, and this year’s motto of the festival has been inspired by the verses written by poet Mika Antic – Every child has wings, he or she has just to remember where they grow hidden, and they will immediately fly.

October 6^th

Nis City Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur met today with the Ambassador of Argentina in Serbia Mr. Ricardo Fernandes, who arrived in Nis on the occasion of the Argentinian   Film Festival. The two officials discussed the cooperation of the two countries in different areas. The Ambassador expressed his satisfaction with his visit to Nis, a city of rich history and culture, which is rapidly modernizing industrially. Argentinian cinematography takes a significant place in world cinema, and several achievements have won Oscars for the best film outside the English speaking area.

September 27^th

The Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey organized in the Crystal Hall of the Hayat Hotel in Belgrade the reception for children from Nis who won the Serbia in the Rhythm of Europe competition, as well as for the friends of the Embassy. In this way, the ambassador wanted to reward friends and children who represented Turkey at the competition held in Sombor in June this year. Welcoming the guests, he stressed that he was very pleased that Nis and the children from Nis won this prestigious competition because they represented Turkey. “I have to admit that my initial idea was to gather you in my house, in the residence, and to have party there, to have the children from Nis as my guests, but the rain and this changing weather prevented us from doing so. I am glad we got together. If you are wondering why the children from Nis are with us, I will remind you, and you probably all know that there is a music competition called “Serbia in the Rhythm of Europe” and these children won this competition. Here with us are also presidents and mayors of cities who participated in the competition, “said the Ambassador of Turkey in Belgrade – Tanju Bilgic who presented the children with gifts while main gift, the trip to Turkey, is yet to come. The stars of the evening were the children from Nis who performed their winning song. Mayor of Sombor handed over the transition cup of “Serbia in the Rhythm of Europe” to Nis City Council Member Bojan Krstic who thanked on behalf of the city of Nis for the reception and promised that Nis would be a good host of the next year’s competition.

September 20^th

National Foundation 4 Dance and the Belgrade Dance Festival with the support of the Art Mentor Foundation from Lucerne and the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government, have begun the implementation of the Dance Caravan project. The patron of the project is Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabic. The goal of the project, which begins on September 22^nd in Nis, is to present and promote the art of dance through artistic, creative and educational, and above all, interactive programs in 15 selected cities in Serbia. In the period from September to December, the attention of the widest cultural public in Serbia, especially young people and new audiences, will focus on artistic discipline recognized in the world as one of the most important in the field of creative industries and tourism, as well as benefits it brings to the local population, from work with children and young people, winning new audience, to recreational and dance therapy programs. The idea is that Dance Caravan through a three day programs in each city offer many activities, bring classic ballet and contemporary dance to all interested participants and visitors, while at the same time offering a different cultural content. In Nis and other cities, the audience of all generations will be able to attend performances, follow the film program and presentations, discover art photography from contemporary productions, listen to lectures about the history of the dances, new choreographic settings and alike. The youngest will have an opportunity to engage in practical educational workshops or master classes. Through this intensive program we will see the level of public interest, the possibility of further involving talented children in different programs. Dance Caravan should stimulate talent education and scholarships, involve new audiences in ballet and contemporary dances, and at the same time encourage local organizations to develop a production network and set the foundations of creative industries. All programs are free for the public, and the goal is to have three-day activities in each of the 15 selected cities, gathering at least 3,000 visitors and participants of all generations.

September 14^th

Last night, the 27^th Literary Colony was officially opened in the beautiful ambient of the village of Sicevo near Nis. This year, 13 Serbian writers are taking part in the colony. The colony was officially opened by this year’s Ramond Serbika Prize winner Vladimir Kopicl. Kopicl is one of the most prominent and most respected Serbian poets. He has won numerous awards. Jelena Mitrovski, the member of Nis City Council for Culture, said on the occasion of opening the colony said that it was the event of special importance which has been confirmed by the years of its existence as well as a serious approach to the organization of this colony. “Many important figures of Serbian and world literature has taken part in the work of the colony during all those years. As a local self-government, we strive to nurture literature, to encourage young people to love it, but also to develop speech culture, thanks to events such as this.

September 7^th

The participants of the 52^nd Sicevo Art Colony visited Nis City Hall where their hosts Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and Nis City Council Member for Culture Jelena Mitrovski welcomed the guests and reflected on the great significance of the colony itself, which represented a kind of Nis brand and they expressed great satisfaction with the number of participants of this year’s colony and wished the artists to come back to Nis again. The participants presented their impressions of Sicevo and emphasized that the quality of the artwork that was being created there was at an exceptional level and that it deserved a space for permanent exhibition. The Art Colony in Sicevo was founded in 1905, and Serbian painter Nadezda Petrovic inspired by the beauty of the Sicevo Gorge gathered her Slovenian and Croatian colleagues for the first time.

September 7^th

Dance Caravan aimed at presenting and promoting artistic dance through artistic, creative, and above all interactive programs in 15 cities in Serbia, was presented today in Nis in the presence of Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, who was the sponsor of the project. The caravan is realized by the National Foundation 4 Artistic Dance and the Belgrade Dance Festival, supported by the Art Mentor Foundation from Lucerne and the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government of Serbia. During the next four months, until December, the citizens of  Nis, Kragujevac, Pirot, Subotica, Vranje, as well as the citizens of Novi Pazar, Negotin, Kraljevo, Vrsac, Valjevo, Strpce, Uzice, Cacak, Zrenjanin and Smederevo will have the opportunity to participate in the Dance Caravan.

The director of National Foundation 4 Artistic Dance Aja Jung explained that the idea of the Dance Caravan was to offer numerous activities through a three-day program each city, popularize classic ballet and modern dances to all interested participants and visitors. The youngest will have the opportunity to get involved in educational workshops, talk to their peers who attend professional ballet schools in Belgrade and Pancevo, while parents will be able to consult with pedagogues and experts. All content is free, and the goal is to involve at least 3,000 citizens through three-day activities.

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic pointed out that it was very important to start generating generations that will be creative and widely educated and would have developed political thought. “Research has shown that the main reason for moving people from smaller communities to larger cities, besides the economic, is the lack of cultural content. For this reason, the decentralization of culture, i.e. allowing access to cultural content in all areas, is of great importance for the Government of the Republic of Serbia. For these reasons, we are trying to bring the culture closer to everyone, and that is why we support projects like Dance Caravan. Brnabic added that culture and the creative industry had huge potential for economic development, employment and promotions around the world, and that the Government and the line ministry had several important cultural projects of national importance. “One of the priorities of the Government of Serbia is, opening of the Museum of Contemporary Art, in October, finally, after 10 years of waiting and the opening of the National Museum in the spring of next year. Their rich treasuries will again be available to the public, and young artists will eventually get space to exhibit their work. It is also important that the Museum of Contemporary Art will have its own space for children. For Serbia, it is also important that the City of Novi Sad is chosen to be the Capital of Youth in 2019 and the Capital of Culture in 2021. This will greatly help in the promotion of the culture of our country, “the Prime Minister said. She added that the Government would continue to support cultural projects because culture was an important segment of our society and perhaps we did not pay enough attention to it.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said that this was a good opportunity for Nis to run  for a new, future capital of culture: “I thank the Prime Minister who is supporting all significant projects for Nis and South Serbia. I want this project to be successful and I promise that as a local self-government we will support projects in the field of culture within the limits of our possibilities and give a contribution to our country progressing in a cultural sense. The Prime Minister, accompanied by the Mayor and Swiss Ambassador to Serbia, Philip Ge, visited the exhibition of photographs and thus opened officially the Dance Caravan. Nis will be the first city in Serbia, to have free ballet and modern dance classes for children, performances, lectures, as well as the film program. The caravan then moves to Pirot and Vranje.

September 1^st

The 52^nd Art Colony was officially opened in Sicevo. With its entire existence for more than half a century Art Colony followed and in a certain way encouraged the development of contemporary art in this region continuing the tradition of Nadezda Petrovic.
According to the proposal of the Artistic Council of the Art Colony Sicevo, whose president is Miodrag Daja Anđelković, Master of Graphic, this year 11 participants from Serbia (Belgrade, Nis, Pančevo), Sweden, Hungary, Macedonia and Montenegro were invited to take part in the colony.The participants of this year’s colony are Miomir Vemic, Toni Catleski, Martin Due, Milan Djuric, Dusan Mitic, Snezana Manasic, Slobodan Milosavljevic Gane, Sinisa Zikic, Aleksandar Milanovic, Mirjana Andjelkovic and Aleksandar Devic.

August 25^th

52^nd Nis Film Festival – The Actors’ Guild Award was officially opened at Nis Fortress Summer Stage with more than 50 actors who bowed to the Nis audience who greeted them with a thunderous applause. At the opening of the festival the award for the life achievement “Pavle Vujisic” was presented to the actress Svetlana Bojkovic. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic presented the keys of the city to the president of the jury, Jelica Sretenović, so Niš would be symbolically a city of actors until August 30^th. Before the opening of the Festival Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic hosted a reception for the actors and guests of the festival.

The Film Festival in Nis is a unique event which presents the achievements of Serbian actors. The festival started in 1966, on the initiative of Serbian actors guild with film screenings on the Nis Fortress summer stage which can accommodate nearly 4,000 spectators and it is the most attended festival of its kind in Serbia. The task of the festival is to present and promote film and acting achievements throughout the region. It is the only Festival that gathers in the same place all national acting elite, as well as all leading local film producers, directors, critics, journalists and other important people from film industry.

August 5^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and the Member of Nis City Council for Culture Jelena Mitrovski met today with the actors of the Academic Theatre of the Nis Student Cultural Center who won the first place ward at the International Festival of Student Theatre KESTENBURG in Banja Luka. The purpose of the festival is to gather talented students from the whole world, in order to create an environment for experience exchange and cooperation between local and international art students and theatre enthusiasts. It will give a chance to everybody who enjoys theatre to experience different performances and meet foreign students.