April 5^th, 2017

The Memorial Tournament Play for 16 has been organized by public broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) for the past 18 years and it is dedicated to the memory of 16 employees of RTS who were killed in the NATO bombing on April 23^rd, 1999.

The tournament has been organized in other Serbian cities besides Belgrade since 2013. This year 16 teams competed at the tournament held in Nis. Like last year the team “Market Ama” won. They will participate in the Tornament Super Finals that will be held in Belgrade this weekend.

On this occasion, the member of Nis City Council Branislav Kacar organized a reception for the team that would represent Nis in Belgrade in the tournament where the competition did not matter as much as the message that the tournament was conveying, i.e., the memory of the tragically killed young people whom should never be forgotten.

This is the first year that the City of Nis is actively helping the tournament organization in many ways. First of all, the city administration gives its sports facilities for free so that tournament can be held, helps to transport team to Belgrade Finals, and the City of Nis Administration team is participating in the tournament as well.
The City of Nis has recognized that it is important to remember the innocent victims but that it is the opportunity to promote sports, healthy living and mini-football as one of the most recognizable brands of Nis through socializing and competition.

At the reception held at Nis City Hall, the member of Nis City Council Branislav Kacar presented to the team captain the coin with the image of Emperor Constantine the Great as well as balls for mini-football and the City of Nis will provide sports uniforms for the tram and it will organizethe trip to Belgrade.

The whole Serbia, through the mini-football tournament, pays tribute to the tragically killed RTS employees but also to all victims of NATO aggression against our country, with a clear message – that they shall never be forgotten.

Nis City Council Member Jelena Mitrovski met with the team that has been working on the preparation of the documentary dedicated to the “Hippie Valley” in Nis. The producer of the film is Mr. Oliver Paunovic, General Manager of the Nis City Marketing Center and the film director is Mr. Bobi Rajkovic.

“I have no doubt that the city needs the film” memory “of this street. I heard from my friends who are older than me about this street and their stories were always interesting. I hope that while preparing this documentary we will meet many more people who “grew up” in this street and thus witnessed some more carefree times as some would say@, as Paunovic said at the reception at Nis City Hall.

Nis was the only city in the former Yugoslavia which had a unique place where the young used to hang out in the evenings, the famous Hippie Valley, which was known about from Vardar to Triglav. Back in the seventies Vladimir Nazor Street was for everyone Hippie Valley. The tourists who visited Nis at those times were confused by the number of young people strolling every night or just hanging out.

The script for the film was written by famous Nis actor and playwright Miriljub Riki Nedovic while the moderators in the film and the contemporaries of Hippie Valley are Bane Miljkovic, former most famous DJ in the city and Dragan Arandjelovic Ara, who launched the campaign that special Board would be placed in Vladmira Nazora Street as a reminder that once it was the Hippie Valley.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and Nis City Council Member Jelena Mitrovski met with the doyen of Serbian acting Mr.Tanasije Uzunovic and other members of the team that would be working on TV series History of Nis from prehistoric times to the present.

The series, sponsored by the City of Nis, will consist of 15 episodes, as well as two-hour specials that will be shown at Film Festival in 2018. The series is realized fully by team from Nis. The director is Boban Rajkovic, the screenwriter is historian Nebojsa Ozimic, the music was written by Borislav Mladenovic Caba, and the producers are Dragan Videnovic and Miodrag Stojadinovic. The narrator and promoter of the series is our famous actor, born in Nis, Tanasije Uzunovic. He will, with his voice and appearance, lead the story through the centuries of glorious history of Nis.

It is the master work that represent Nis and its rich history and tradition in the best light and thus contribute to further promotion of the city and show how abundant is the  cultural of our city, but so far under-exploited.

The reception was organized at Nis City Hall for the members of the Chinese ensemble” The Voice of Yuan”. The guests from China who will be performing in Nis were welcomed by Nis City Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur and the Member of Nis City Council Jelena Mitrovski. The Chinese Ensemble will be performing at Nis National Theatre. The concert, which is sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and the Association “Art of Giving” has a humanitarian character, because the money from the tickets is intended for NURDOR (National Association of Parents of Children with Cancer) to complete the second phase of the construction of the oncological children’s department in Nis.

Under the auspices of the City of Nis, the Student Cultural Center Nis, at the initiative of Mr. Ivan Redi, and with the blessing of the Episcopate of Nis, for the fifth year in a row, is organizing the Saint Sava’s Charity Ball on January 2^th at the New City Hotel. The slogan of this year’s ball is – “We are better together”. “In the spirit of charity, the people of Nis are given the opportunity to show personal and social responsibility in a unique ball atmosphere, while maintaining a beautiful tradition of the cultural life of the city through their willingness to help others in the local community,” as said Mr. Ivan Redi said.

At today’s press conference, held at the City Hall, Nis City Council Member Jelena Mitrovski said that the funds from this year’s ball will be dedicated to the Bubanj Special School for the purchase of a van for the transport of children to school. Dragana Petkovic, the acting director of the Student Cultural Center Nis said that the minimum donation was 2000 dinars and that it should be paid into the bank account of the school.

A traditional New Year’s Concert will be held in Nis on Sunday, which, this year, will be dedicated to Pavaroti. On this occasion the soloists from Italy and Mexico, Mark Frusoni, Alessandro Fantoni, Federica Leprea and Neivi Martinez, were welcomed by the Member of Nis City Council for Culture Jelena Mitrovski. Ms. Mitrovski talked with the artists about the significance of this event not only for the City of Nis but for the whole region. The concert is organized by the Nis Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Zoran Andrić as the conductor.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met today with Davorin Dinic, the author if the short film about Nis  “Nis Timelapse Video”, which would represent our city the following year at the the festival in Hollywood and at the festival in Tennessee. The Mayor greatly praised the work of our talented artist, the actor of the Nis Puppet Theater, who also was into composing, graphic design, photography, music and web administration. He emphasized that Nis was very proud that such young and talented people were creating in Nis, and their work was the best promotion of the city. The Mayor stressed that the City of Nis would support the work of our fellow citizen Davorin Dinic, but also the work of other talented people who may not be recognizable at this moment to the public in Nis.

The author of the film, Davorin Dinic, thanked the Mayor for the given opportunity to meet the Mayor and speak with him about his work. He emphasized that the City of Nis has always been the best inspiration for him and that the beauties of the city have always the source of ideas for his work. Dinic announced new projects he believed would be equally interesting to the Nis public.

December 1^st

The European Delegation in Serbia presented a valuable gift to the University Library “Nikola Tesla” of 50 books of professional literature dealing with legal and scientific developments related to the functioning of the European Union. The donation was handed over to the Director of the Library, Zoran Zivkovic, by Michael Devenport, the Head of the European delegation in Serbia. This library, based on its literary and scientific material, is an important place for science and education in Nis and throughout southeastern Serbia. Nis City Deputy Mayor Prof.dr Milos Bandjur, also attended the ceremony, and on this occasion he emphasized the importance of this kind of literature, which would easily find its way to professors and students interested in studying the policy of the European Union, but also to all those of our fellow citizens who wanted to be informed about the European Union. It is very important that the academic community in Nis continues to cooperate with the Delegation of the European Union in Serbia in order to realize the foreign policy priority of our country, which implies future membership in the European Union.

October 31^st

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic visited today the French Institute in Nis where he was introduced to the activities of the Institute, which were aimed at presenting contemporary French creativity and language promotion. This Institute in Nis was opened in 2003 and it is one of the three branches of the central Institute headquartered in Belgrade. The institute is a showcase of contemporary French creativity – it organizes various cultural events. Then, it strenghtens the position of the French language and offers French language courses for children and adults. The task of the Institute is to direct to the the French university and scientific circles, and in this sense each year donates about 40 scholarships to Serbian students.

October 27^th

42^nd Nis Music Festival started officially in front of the crowded hall of the Nis Symphony Orchestra. Nis Symphonic Orchestra presented themselves to Nis audience at the opening night, and as a soloist, the famous pianist Rita Kinka performed under the baton of the Dutch artist Josef Suilen performing Rachmaninoff 3^rd concert in D minor. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, who ceremonially opened 42^nd NIMUS, emphasized the importance of this festival for the City of Nis and said that cultural heritage was the largest wealth of the City that spoke of us. He praised the organization and the people who created art. The Mayor welcomed all the artists who would perform in Nis, both our domestic guests and guests from Slovenia, Greece, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Macedonia. “I am sure that your performances will be remarkable and that the Nis audience will be able to recognize it. I hope that tonight and next evenings the audience will be in this impressive number”, said Mayor Bulatovic. This year’s NIMUS will last until November 10^th. There will be a total of 9 concerts. The organizers of NIUMUS are the Nis Symphony Orchestra and the Nis Cultural Center supported by the City of Nis.