25 February 2019 - On March 9, Igalo Sports Hall will become the dance centre of the region, since it will gather some of the best regional dancers and choreographers. The organisers of the dance festival, Dance Association “5678” announce quality artistic content throughout the day, as well as a large number of participants of the event itself.

“We organise the Dance Festival in Herceg Novi for the first time, but we want the event to become a tradition. This event is intended for all dance lovers who want to enjoy our art,” said the representatives of the dance association.

The organisers believe that a large number of their colleagues will gather at the festival and that Herceg Novi will get another wonderful event worthy of attention. “Of course, this dance event, which takes place during the holiday of Mimosa, is a must-visit,” announced the PR Service of Dance Association 5678.

Dance Association 5678 is an organisation which emerged with the idea of a new approach to dance. The founders of the association wanted to bring together dancers around the world and experts in that field. Festival 5678 is aimed at young and older dancers, those who have yet to create their careers, people who have influenced and still influence the creation of dance talents, those who find talented people, the enthusiasts who accompanied and cheered the talents, and those who want to be part of the dance world.

According to the organisers, the goal of the festival is to raise the art of dance to a higher level, so they tried to make the festival a must-see manifestation for all dancers who want to be part of the world dance scene.

“We want to contribute to the youth movement in our country, but also throughout the region, to educate, inspire and guide young talented people. We encourage peace and tolerance through dance, competitive spirit and friendly relationships between teams and countries,” highlights the 5678 Association.

The event will take place on Saturday, March 9, from 10 am to 10 pm, at the Igalo Sports Hall (II Dalmatinske Brigade bb).

26 February 2019 - The fifth edition of the contemporary piano music festival Forte piano - Homage to Classics, organised by the Art School of Music and Ballet "Vasa Pavić” and Cultural and Information Centre “Budo Tomović", will be held on 26 and 27 February 2019 in Podgorica. The festival is supported by the French Institute in Montenegro. This year's festival honours music classics, whose heritage is inspired by the generations of contemporary composers. Hence the thematic title "Homage to Classics".

The festival will open on Tuesday, February 26 at 1 pm, at the concert hall of the Vasa Pavić Music School, with the performance of students of the secondary music school who got their first composition experience in the class of composer Milivoje Pićurić. At a concert entitled "Stylistic Composing Exercises," students will present works written in the style of their favourite composers.

On the same day, on the big stage of CIC "Budo Tomović" at 7 pm, a concert titled "The Contemporary and Classics" will be held, where contemporary music performances by various authors will be performed, from Žarko Mirković and Slobodanka Bobana Dabović from Montenegro, Vasilije Mokranjac and Dejan Despić from Serbia, Marija Gracio from Croatia to world famous composers Helmut Lachenmann from Germany and Alfred Schnittke from Russia. Montenegrin pianists of the younger generation Milena Kovač, Vesna Damjanović, Nataša Popović, Tamara Jasović, Milena Nikočević as well as Aljoša Lečić from Croatia will also take part in the concert performance.

On the second day of the festival, on Wednesday, February 27, in the concert hall of the Music School "Vasa Pavić", the festival "Modern Contemporary Piano" will be presented at 1 pm, which is organised by the Frederik Chopin Conservatory (Conservatoire Frédéric Chopin) in Paris under the auspices of the Municipality of Paris. The festival will feature pianist Armin Varvarian, festival coordinator.

The festival continues on the big stage of the CIC "Budo Tomović" in several program units: at 5 pm a concert "French devoted to classics" featuring works by French composers: Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Henri Dutilleux, Arthur Honegger, Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc, Gérard Gasparian, Nobuhiro Okada. Students of the music school "Vasa Pavić" will perform at this concert and for the first time they will be accompanied by students from other Montenegrin secondary music schools: "Andre Navara" from Podgorica and "Dara Čokorilo" from Nikšić as well as from the Conservatory "Frederik Chopin" from Paris. The continuation of the festival will include a concert entitled "In the style of Prokofiev", which represents a collection of compositions titled "The Ten Grimaces" by a contemporary French composer Bernard Col, written in the style of the great Russian classic of the 20th century.

For the end of the festival, the promotion of piano music by Aleksandar Perunović, Montenegrin composer and docent at the Music Academy in Cetinje, will be held at the DODEST Hall at 7 pm, followed by a full-time concert by pianist Bojan Martinović at 8 pm.

The program of the festival will include several pieces that will be performed for the first time in Montenegro, as well as the world premiere of the compositions by Nobuhiro Okada and Aleksandar Perunović.

There is plenty of knowledge about the archaeological site of Red Rock in the village of Petrovici, near Niksic, yet there is much more which is still undefined.

Part of the material has been discovered, but the experts say that they are still at the beginning and that there is work for another 50 years.

But when we speak about the Red rock, the names of professor Jovan Ivovic and the teacher Dusan Vasiljevic are rarely mentioned. They are to be thanked that the Red Rock was "discovered" for both the scientific and the general public.

"My father often took me with him when he bought some antiques for the museum. That day with him and Branko Pejovic, who worked at Elektroprivreda, we went to Bacovic in Petrovici, to buy a medieval mace. On his return, the father said that we would visit the teacher and poet Dusan Vasiljevic who was involved in collecting antiques and who called my father saying he had many things for the museum. When we arrived, Dusan put on his big table firelock, various antiques, as well as the remains of ceramics. As soon as he saw the ceramics, my father asked him where he found it. 'Students bring me those from under the Red rock, there's plenty of it,' the teacher replied. Father got interested in the Red rock and began the story of research," says Jovan's son Vladimir Bato Ivovic.

And there is much to say about Jovan Ivovic, a man who was in charge of science and culture, he was quiet, unobtrusive and modest, and had everything to show off  - the first curator with a degree in Montenegro, the founder and director of the Regional Museum in Niksic, the founder of the valuable numismatic collection of old Roman money.

"While the excavation took place, more often to visit were Djuro Basler, the director of the Museum in Sarajevo, later President of the Academy of Sciences in BiH, the Slovenians Brodar and Alojz Benac, president of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences. My father often invited them to our home," Bato Ivović recalls, admitting that he never visited one of the most famous archaeological sites in Europe, although his father, in 1954, "began the story of the Red Rock, which continues to this day."

From war prisoner to director of the museum

Ivovići came to Niksic at the end of the 19th century from Ubala in Krivosije, while Jovan's father Savo, an officer at Skadar and the manager of the saw-mill at Vidrovan, the first industrial plant in Nikšić, bought a house in Vardarska street in 1900, where his descendants live even today, the only Ivovic family in the city of Trebjesa. "Jovan graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, and he got his first job in Trebinje, where he worked as a professor from 1928 to 1933. Then he moved to the Nikšić Gymnasium where he taught history and French until the beginning of the war. As soon as the war began, the Italians captured him as a communist activist and sent him to the camp in Albania," says Bato Ivović, a seventy-three-year-old retired banker.

His wife adds that many talked about the behavior of Jovan in the camp and about the speeches he "fed" the prisoners with.

"He did not carry food with him, but a book. He held lectures to the prisoners and raised the moral. He read “Primjere čojstva i junaštva” to them, he encouraged them not to give up," says Borislavka.

With the capitulation of Italy, Jovan gained freedom, but only temporary, because he was immediately arrested by the Germans as he served him in the exchange of hostages as a respected intellectual.

With the liberation of Niksic, he was released as well.

"Immediately after liberation, he became chief of the Nikšić region in the field of culture and education. He stayed there a little bit, then became the director of the gymnasium in Berane, and then the director of the museum in Cetinje, until 1948. Then he spent two years on the island Goli Otok. When he left the island, he was out of work, and then worked as a professor at the Gymnasium in Kotor. He got instructions to open a museum in Niksic. He was the manager, Radovan Miljanic, a lawyer and there was also the professor biologist Mihailo Vucinic. The three of them were practically the founders of the museum, and the collections were then gathered. For the Museum he made an extraordinary collection of old Roman money collected on the territory of Nikšić region and documented it all. "

During his service at Cetinje, Ivovic dealt with writing scientific papers, especially those related to the demography of Niksic, and he was also a member of the editorial board of "Historical Records".

"He spent his vacations in the archives of Dubrovnik, Sarajevo, where he received pneumonia and died in 1967 at the age of 64. Posthumously, the year after it was established, he received the highest award in Niksic, the '18th September 'prize, on the proposal of the academics Basler and Benc, says Borislavka.

The name of Jovan Ivovic is well known to older citizens of Niksic. The youth almost do not even know about him. And the Museum, Red Rock and Vardar Street, they could tell so much about him. Just to find those who are willing to listen.

Stamps – the History Keepers

Bato inherited the love for history from his father.

As his father dealt with numismatics, his only son turned to philately.

"You begin to engage with philately while you are a child, removing stamps from letters. Over time, it passes into a passion. Before people wrote, today nobody sends letters, and philately expires. Everything is written down on the stamps and we can learn a lot from them. I know the history well, but often, by going through the stamps, I remember some of the events in the past, such as the story of the English Channel. There was a discussion on whether to build a bridge over the Channel or a tunnel beneath it. The British Post had already issued two stamps with a bridge image, and later a tunnel was built. This would have been forgotten if there was no stamp".

The rock hides 200,000 years of prehistory

Archaeological researches in the Red Rock, one of the most important habitats of the Paleolithic man in the world and a site that, after El Castile in Spain, is the deepest one in Europe, began in 1954 in co-operation with the National Museum in Sarajevo. During a ten-year research, a cultural deposit of 20-30 meters thick was discovered and 31 different cultural layers were separated. Revised archaeological research, at the site where 200 thousand years of prehistory can be observed, continued in 2004 in cooperation with the Center for Archaeological Research from Podgorica, the Museum of Niksic and the University of Michigan, within the project the "Paleolithic Man in the Ecological Context of the Red rock". Since 2012, it is being explored in the framework of the project "Roads of Continuity", which is carried out by the National Museum of Montenegro.

Text by Svetlana Mandic, on February 24th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

This, in essence, quintet, led by the impeccable vocalist Aleksandra Bijelic Aleksijevic, premiered in the expanded, seven-member band on Zimska scena of “Ljetopis”: Ivan Aleksijevic (piano), Milan Pavkovic (bass), Milos Grbatinic (drums), Marko Djordjevic trumpet), Kristijan Mlacak (saxophone) and famous Dragoslav Freddie Stanisavljevic (trumpet).

The music by the orchestra "Alex and the Fergusons" is characterized by incredible ease and spontaneity. If you look closely at each of the musicians on the scene, you will notice that behind everything there is proper training and significant experience of these jazz seniors. According to Aleksandra Bijelic Aleksijevic, whom the audience in Bar had the opportunity to meet during last year's edition of Zimska scena, this band was gathered by the love towards the same music.

"We enjoy playing, and I love it while we make music. We perform mainly in Belgrade, and also, we often receive invitations from Vienna and Ljubljana. We are happy to be guests in Montenegro, where we usually perform on the coast. Dragoslav Fredi Stanisavljevic has gathered us for this occasion, and we are here tonight, for the first time, in an extended composition," she said.

Through her fruitful career, Bijelic Aleksijevic performed with prestigious musicians, and cooperation with RTS Big band is just one of many. She is active in the field of pedagogy, and since 2013 she has been leading the Pančevo children's choir "Čuperak", and the youngest are familiar with her work through animated and cartoon films, where she lends her voice to many heroes but also through songs that accompany films for the youngest. During the concert at the Culture Hall, the audience had the opportunity to hear, among other things, a composition from the cult film "Tom & Jerry", while Bijelic Aleksijevic emphasized that classical jazz music is of great importance for the youngest and that they have a lot of influence on further development of musical taste.

We grew up on Disney Cartoons, and through them all, a very high quality, jazz or classical music was introduced. It is really important that this kind of music is listened to in that earliest period. I started to like jazz from my parents. In our house, we listened to it very often, and my first encounter was with Aretha Franklin, then Nina Simon, after whom I also listened to the more popular Diane Krol, Michael Bubble and others," she added.

The jazz audience was eagerly expecting this performance also due to Dragoslav Stanisavljevic Fredi, one of the missionaries of Serbian jazz in the world. This trumpeter studied at the Jazz Department of the Academy of Music in Graz, and the citizens of Bar already know him as lead trumpeter and music editor of the Big Band RTS. However, besides those present at the Bar Cultural Center, the pleasure of meeting the famous Freddy and the musicians was also attended by the students of ŠOMO "Petar II Petrović Njegoš". Entirely spontaneously, by hearing the sound of the trumpet, the members of the band decided to visit them at the general surprise of the professors and pupils and to give some advice on making music to the younger generations. According to Stanisavljevic, many talented jazz musicians come from Montenegro, but the development of the jazz scene has yet to take place.

"Even from your legendary Šule Jovovic and his pupils, jazz in Montenegro is becoming more prominent, but the most important thing is that all people who have an influence struggle to open a jazz section. After that we will all be able to contribute because it represents a real springboard for further education and a prerequisite for someone to become a professional," he said.

Stanisavljevic was optimistic about the perspective of the jazz scene in the region. Although the language of music is universal, and certainly jazz has the world's largest audience, he thinks that our region has a scene and education that is not negligible.

"Maybe there are no such investments in jazz like there are in the society, but I would not say that we are without perspective. There is a school system and numerous radio orchestras, although perhaps this is not a time of prosperity, I would say that this is a good stagnation, if something like that exists. Still, positive things are happening, and many musicians are returning from abroad. We have Milos (drum) who is a young boy, and he plays at a professional level, even more than that, so I think that good days are coming. Values are coming back, and the fact is that one society cannot be formed in a cultural sense without classical and jazz music. It should be part of the educational, television and radio systems and programs, and therefore the jazz scene will exist in every country in the region," Stanisavljevic concluded.

Behind the composition "Alex & the Fergusons" is a successful CD release called "A Basementsession", and as the famous trumpeter has discovered, new projects are already planned for which they have prepared musical arrangements.

On the last Thursday in February, Zimska scena of "Ljetopis" is reserved for a literary program within which a new book by Aleksandar Djuricic "The Guardian - Widows of Writers" will be promoted. The author will speak about the book and his work with the moderator Vesna Cadjenovic, in King Nikola's Palace.

Text by CdM, on February 22nd, 2019, read more at CdM

The manifestation “Fish Dinner”, within the 50th Mimosa Festival, was held last night at the Institute of Igalo. Guests were entertained by Petar Grašo who said that "The holiday of the Mimosa is a period in which he likes to come to Herceg Novi because there are celebrations everywhere, and everything is nice".

The popular Croatian singer has been to Herceg Novi many times and his last appearance was two years ago. For the audience at the “Fish Dinner”, he prepared a cross-section of all the biggest hits from his 23-year-long career. Guests of the “Fish Dinner” were mostly citizens from Herceg Novi, but also people from all over Montenegro and traditional agency guests of the Institute.

"People from Herceg Novi like to come to the Institute, we always try to prepare something new, to present a new performer, to respect the tradition and the Mediterranean touch, along with our classic fish dinner," said the executive director of the Institute Dr Simo Milosevic, Dr Gordana Rajovic.

750 varied dishes were served, which was prepared for hours by more than 20 people, said the master chef Zoran Mrvaljevic. On the menu were salted sardines, fish pâté, codfish salad, black and white risotto and sea bream with Dalmatian vegetables, and as a dessert Montenegrin baklava was served.

In the introductory part of the evening performed the violinist Verica Culjkovic, and beside Petar Graso, the audience also danced along the band Castel Nuovo from Herceg Novi.

Text by Slavica Kosic, on February 24th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

This year's cruising season, formally the fourth in a row at the Port of Bar, started earlier than ever - on February 20^th, with the mini cruiser "La Belle Del' Adriatique".

This vessel of the French company "CroisiEurope" brought 134 passengers and 48 crew members to the Jetty V sub-unit of AD "Barska plovidba".

"This is the first of the nine sets of La Belle Del'Adriatic in 2019 and the next one will be no later than June. In addition to this, we have an announcement for another mini cruiser that came to the port of Bar earlier. This is the “Callisto” which we expect in May and September of the current year," said the Director of the Department for the transportation of passengers and goods, agency affairs and freight forwarding at AD "Barska plovidba" Sanja Tomasevic.

The largest cruisers will have their berths at AD "Port of Adria" (PoA), where last year all 16 cruisers with 22,500 tourists were anchored till November 18th. At the closing of the cruise season in 2018, the PoA indicated that the comparative data from 2016 and 2017 indicate a significant increase in both the number of ships and the number of tourists.

"For 2019 we have an announcement for 25 cruisers who will bring about 26,000 tourists. The companies that send their cruisers to Bar are satisfied primarily with safety and security in the port, port facilities, infrastructure and service, but also as a tourist destination, which offers the possibility of various excursion trips," said Tanja Novovic, the coordinator of cruising activities in PoA.

In berthing of the cruises with tourists, harbor operators and agents had excellent cooperation with the local administration, Tourism Organization Bar, Tourism and Creative Industry, High school of Economics and Catering and Maritime faculty in Kotor. Cruising guests were welcomed by folklore, “priganice” (traditional pastry) and promotional material about Bar and Montenegro, which did not lack even this week.

Text by Radomir Petric, on February 23rd, 2019, read more at Vijesti

The fair of souvenirs and eco-food, which gathered 54 exhibitors from Montenegro and all former YU republics, was opened today at the hotel Vojvodina as part of the Mimosa Festival. 

"This is the promotion of entrepreneurship, but also an opportunity to connect businessmen from Montenegro with those from the region," said Suzana Memarovic, the secretary for tourism and entrepreneurship, emphasizing that the event is organized within the jubilee 50th Mimosa Festival.

The guests from Macedonia exhibited handcrafts with patch-work execution, and a participant from Kikinda presented interesting decorations from corn leaves, Miladin Pivljanin from Budva, showed ethno souvenirs and national costume of Montenegro.

For the next two days, visitors will have the opportunity to find out more about old crafts and domestic production of food, decorations, jewelry, clothing and household items.

Students from the elementary school "Daso Pavicic" organized a workshop for the youngest, while the students of SMS "Ivan Goran Kovacic" from the entrepreneurial club "Art and Craft" will donate all the money from the sale of their products to humanitarian purposes.

The organizer of the Fair, which will be open until Sunday at 7 pm, is the Public Cultural Institution "Herceg Fest", in cooperation with the Secretariat for Utility Activities and Ecology of the Municipality Herceg Novi.

Text by Slavica Kosic, on February 22th 2019, read more at Vijesti

February 23, 2019 - Regent Porto Montenegro is taking part in a gourmet festival Goût de France - Good France which is held across the globe to celebrate French gastronomy. Among thousands of dinners “à la française” on the five continents and nation-wide gourmet initiatives, Regent’s Murano Restaurant will organize a themed dinner on 21 March dedicated to the promotion of French gastronomy. This year’s festival focus is on socially and environmentally responsible cuisine.

The government has not given up on the construction of the Verige bridge that will connect the two sides of the Bay of Kotor, stated the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs. As CdM learns, serious international investors are interested in this project, among them are Azerbaijanis and Chinese. It is estimated that the project is worth about 150 million euros.

As CdM was told by the Traffic and Maritime Affairs, in 2017 a Preliminary Design was prepared for the bridge, 65 meters high, with access roads and bypass Tivat. The designer was Tempusprojekt from Zagreb.

With the aforementioned changes in bridge design solutions, the proposals, suggestions and recommendations from the Study of the Visual Impact of Verige Bridge in the Bay of Kotor would be fully respected. A feasibility study for the construction of the Verige bridge across the Boka Bay with access roads was also done, carried out by Omega consult - project management Ljubljana and CEED - Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Podgorica. The Environmental Protection Study of the passage through the Boka Bay was also done.

As explained in Osman Nurkovic's department, the provisions of the Spatial Plan for the Special Purpose of the Coastal Area define the obligation to create special so-called HIA studies for all major facilities, and so for the bridge over the Boka Bay. The commitment to make the Preliminary Solution and the HIA study completed before the realization of the project was defined and the same to be presented to UNESCO.

Also, the provisions of the Spatial Plan of the Special Purpose of the Coastal Area and the workshops that were held in connection with the preparation of the HIA study of that plan determined to re-examine the new location of the transit through Boka Bay with the given variant solutions, and after the realization of these obligations, further consideration of the optimal conditions of understanding this capital project will be implemented.

"In 1999, the Government, or the then Directorate for the Construction of Highways in Montenegro, announced an International Competition for the Selection of the Location and the Ideal Solution for crossing over the Boka Bay, where the first place was awarded to POINTING Engineering Bureau in Maribor. Later, the design of the Main Project and the Technical Project was entrusted to GRADIS NG, whose work was completed in 2003, also from Maribor. During 2009, the Visual Impact Study of Verige Bridge was completed at the UNESCO Natural and Cultural-Historical Region of Kotor, aimed at visualizing and evaluating from the independent position the Verige bridge and connecting traffic facilities, which are planned at approx. 2.5 km from the protected natural and cultural region of Kotor," the Ministry claims.

Preliminary design

They further clarify that the Study was prepared following the instruction from the Ministry of Spatial Planning and Environmental Protection, based on the 2008 UNESCO Mission Report, stating that the proposed bridge "is not a threat to the UNESCO World Heritage Site", with a proposal for drawing up the Study on the visual impact of the current proposal of the bridge, taking into account the "exceptional universal value" of this property and its landscape within the entire territory of Boka Bay, including the World Heritage Site and its surroundings.

"The study was done by the Institute for Urban Planning and Regional Planning from the University of Aachen-Germany, in cooperation with the Ministry of Spatial Planning and Environmental Protection and GTZ," the Ministry said.

As they add, Monteput assumed certain obligations under the recommendations from the mentioned Study, which refer to additional technical checks of the project, reconsidering the tunnel variant of the passage, checking the possible correction of the height of the bridge, moving the toll station and possible revision of the route by tunnel solutions in the area of Bijela and Opatovo.

"For the verification of a possible tunnel solution for the crossing of the bay, the technical parameters have been issued by the competent Ministry on the basis of which the Design Task was prepared, which envisages the elaboration of the Preliminary Design of the tunnel passage and the previous Feasibility Study for the construction in order to verify the general concept of the tunnel crossing of the bay as well as verification of the traffic- technical and economic conditions of justification in accordance with EU norms and technical standards for design and construction of tunnels for the speed of the high speed road. The preliminary solution of the tunnel passage and the previous Study of the justification of construction proved that the variant of the crossing of the Bay with a tunnel is more unfavorable from the spatial-urban, technical, economic, traffic-technical, ecological, functional and security aspects, "the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs said to CdM.

Text by Miraš Dušević, on February 22nd, 2019, read more at CdM

February 22, 2019 - Citizens of Herceg Novi and their guests enjoyed the specialities of the Vojvodina cuisine and the sounds of drummers during the gastro evenings in the City Café, which was held within the Days of Novi Sad at the 50th Mimosa Festival.