Petar Pejaković on the occasion of this year's Kotor Festival of Theatre for Children

June 14, 2020 - “The Kotor Festival of Theatre for Children will be held for the 28th time in its traditional period from July 2nd to 10th. It is important that the Festival is held on those days, not only because of its long tradition, but also because during this global crisis it is a positive thing to start the entire "cultural summer" in Montenegro with a festival dedicated to children and children’s culture,” said Pejaković.

Youngsters deal best with big things, even when they, like coronavirus, seem like monsters from a fairy-tale. Even as its evil fire burned on all sides, and turned their world upside down, they were patient. And as one of the rewards for their courage, the Kotor Festival of Theatre for Children, as announced by the event’s Director, Petar Pejaković, will also be held this year, from 2nd to 10th July.

Although somewhat redacted, the 27 year-old festival will continue in its attempts to bring to the most sincere of audiences positive creativity for children and young people, both in the drama and in the literary and musical segments. Pejaković spoke further to Pobjeda about this year's programme.

How much, due to the consequences of coronavirus, has this year's concept for the Festival changes, and is it possible to hold it in the traditional period?

The Kotor Festival of Theatre for Children will be held for the 28th time in its traditional period from July 2nd to 10th. It is important that the Festival is held on those days, not only because of its long tradition, but also because during this global crisis it is a positive thing to start the entire "cultural summer" in Montenegro with a festival dedicated to children and children’s culture. Children are also the most impatient and deserve the most attention first, after an extraordinary period in which we were all deprived of many things. For that reason, the motto for this year's Festival is: "Everything has stopped, but the children are still growing". That is, everything can stop, but children cannot. This sounds like a just a phrase, but it's not really, it's already a basic, and if you will, harsh reality. We have an obligation to be aware of this, to respect it and to lend a hand.

Will the youngest audience be able to watch any performances from the region and abroad this year, and will it be possible to organize the competitive part of the programme? 

We are still in discussions on performances from the region that will be part of the Festival. We are waiting for the general situation in the region to return to normal in order to bring the best possible performances from neighbouring countries. What is certain is that there will be several professional performances at the Festival coming from outside Montenegro. We have decided that this year there will be no competition taking the format of professional awards conferred by an expert jury. This is not the right time for that, and without participation from international competitors there would be no true or worthy competition. The children's jury will still work this year and will award the "Dragan Radulović" award. Here, the symbolism of this award and the act itself are more important than the competition.

 Has the Festival programme already taken shape, that is, has it been agreed what will be performed at the Festival this year?

The programme of the 28th Festival has largely been agreed. There will be 10 performances on the main theatre programme. Most of the theatres in Montenegro, several theatres from the region and some of the best productions of the Kotor Festival of Theatre for Children will be taking part. The festival has striven, especially in the last ten years, towards quality internationalization, that is, towards the opportunity for our children to see and a broad range of quality theatre performances from all over the world. So far, the Kotor Festival of Theatre for Children has been attended by children's artists from 45 countries on five continents. This year, we are, in the artistic sense, in a kind of quarantine, and we rely on our own production and capabilities. We need to make the best of this difficult circumstance. This year we need to turn to ourselves, reflect, and honestly see where we are, what we are doing, and what and how to proceed. In the case of the Kotor Festival of Theatre for Children, it is a good opportunity to get a true picture of the Montenegrin youth and children’s theatre scene and to make the right decisions on how to improve it and quickly and in a quality way, and for sure a lot needs to be done.

Can we expect some local premieres at the Festival?

From 2nd to 7th July, the City Theatre of Podgorica will present two new premieres in Kotor:  “Maca papučarica” (The Slipper Kitten) and “Na ivici neba” (On the edge of the Sky). The Nikšić Theatre will perform “Kraljević i prosjak” (The Prince and the Pauper). The Royal Theatre Zetski Dom will premiere the play “Ljubavno doba” (The Age of Love), made in the Drama Studio and intended for young people. In addition to these local premiere performances and several other performances from the region, the Festival will also welcome performances that were previously produced or co-produced by the Festival and the Nikola Đurković Cultural Centre: “Ivo Visin – kapetan od snova” (Ivo Visin - Captain of Dreams), “Lagarije - predavanje o surogatu” (Make-Believe - A Lecture on Substitutes) “Kinez” (The Chinese Man), “Cvrčak i mrav” (The Cricket and Ant) and “Kako rastu veliki ljudi” (How Great People Grow).

How has this year's music and literature programme been designed?

 The other programmes will be quite comprehensive, considering this year's situation. A new book will be presented at the Festival for the first time from Ćuk Editions - “Ivo Visin – Kapetan od snova” (Ivo Višin - Captain of Dreams) by Jelena Lela Milošević with illustrations by Đorđe Kalezić. It is a continuation of the publishing endeavours by the Festival, aiming to fill the gap in domestic literary publishing for children. In addition, two more literary evenings are planned, three programmes of children's drama, five music and dance programmes, three exhibitions, animation programmes around the city, film screenings, and over twenty art installations in the Old Town, entitled “Stone Heritage".

How significant are the consequences of coronavirus on the event financially, and did you find support in organizing this year's edition?

The plan is for patrons from the Municipality of Kotor and the Ministry of Culture to set aside 40 percent of the previous sum used to support the Festival, which as part of KotorArt is one of the three festivals of national significance in Montenegro. It is difficult to know how many cuts there will be when it comes to other areas of life, but it would not be positive for culture and children to be most affected by the emergency situation. 

Theatre is Resilient

Although we are currently a country without active cases of the virus, and many measures have been relaxed, the situation in the region and the world is still uncertain. Do you have access to alternative solutions if things take a turn for the worse?

We planned alternative solutions two months ago, so we have several scenarios for holding an extraordinary edition of this year's Festival. These include moving it, holding the various programmes separately, and virtual or “guerrilla” editions and programmes for children and youth. Theatre is very resilient, it is used to difficult conditions, and it has high standards and requirements, so it will surely survive and be a guide in terms of other areas of life.

Source: Pobjeda - Svetlana VIŠNJIĆ

June 12, 2020 - One of the world's most relevant comics artists, the phenomenal Cian Tormey, is the new confirmed guest of this year's edition of the Herceg Novi Comics Festival- HSF, which will be held from September 4 to 9 at several locations in Herceg Novi.

The outstanding Dublin-based artist works for the world's two most prominent labels- US giants Marvel and DC. In addition to Batman and titles from the "Batman" universe such as Batgirl with screenwriter Cecil Castellucci and Catwoman with legendary Sean Gordon Murphy and Blake Northcott, Cian Torney is currently working on a new edition of Doctor Doom and Scarlet Witch for Marvel and the latest sequel to the excellent Injustice series for DC Comics.

Before a full transition to Ninth Art, Tormey was a multi-award winning art director in the world of marketing. In parallel with his regular job, he worked on the DC Anthologies comic book series with well-known screenwriters such as Kyle Higgins, Mariko Tamaki, and Paul Dini. His work did not go unnoticed even by competitors Marvel, and he was brought onboard for the Doom story within the critically highly rated saga War of the Realms, and on titles such as Valkyrie and Annihilation Scourge: Alpha.

"As the coronavirus pandemic subsides across Europe, so the number countries to which Montenegro opens its borders is increasing. The last updated list includes the Republic of Ireland, and this is the perfect reason to announce another one special guest of the fourteenth edition of the HSF, which comes from that very country. It is a great joy to have the honour of hosting this artist in Herceg Novi. Thus we further raise the reputation of our festival, which in art circles in Europe already stands as the main summer event dedicated to comics," say the organizers of HSF.

They remind us that the list of special guests announced so far includes the British PJ Holden, Slovenian Izar Lunaček, German Sedat Oezgen, Russian Artyom Trakhanov, and Italians Marco Mastraco and Mario Milano.

June 5, 2020 - The first Blue Flag in Montenegro this year will be raised on June 8, on the World Ocean and Sea Day, at the "Kalardovo" beach in Tivat. On that occasion, all the winners of the exclusive world eco-label in our country will be announced.

The international recognition "Blue Flag" is an exclusive ecological feature that is awarded annually to beaches and marinas whose users want to participate in this program and meet a total of 32 binding criteria. In Montenegro, this recognition has been awarded since 2003 thanks to the NGO "ECOM" from Kotor, became a member of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), and thus gained the right to be a National Operator with the financial and organizational support of the Public Company "Morsko Dobro."

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, an international Blue Flag jury met online on April 21 to evaluate the applications of over 4,500 candidates for the 2020 Northern Hemisphere. Extensive preparations by the International team ensured that the online format did not interfere with the quality and results of the meeting.

The International Jury of the Blue Flag in 2020 consisted of Peter Kristensen, European Environment Agency (EEA), David R. Green, Coastal & Marine Union (EUCC), Birguy Lamizana, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Sophie Lewis, World Cetacean Alliance (WCA), Bernard Combes (UNESCO), Jean-Michel Gaigné, International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA), Erik Bech, International Life Saving Federation (ILS), Dirk Glaesser, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) & Lourdes Diaz (FEE) ).

The April meeting was also an opportunity to select the winners of the first competition for the best environmental practices at Blue Flag sites in over 40 countries.

The international jury says that the global crisis of COVID-19 will affect the upcoming season of the Blue Flag in the northern hemisphere, and asks that all awarded locations apply local and national health guidelines above all other rules. In these uncertain times, it is essential to remember the important role that the Blue Flag plays in supporting local communities and tourists to identify safe and sustainable destinations. Thanks to the recognized excellence of the Blue Flag award, the public can be sure that it will be safe to visit the places where the blue flag is flying this summer as well.

Last year, 30 beaches waved the Blue Flag in Montenegro. Among the marinas, Marina Bar deserved this recognition, while there were 14 more beaches in the pilot phase for obtaining this ecological label.