There are many pearls among the decisions of the commissions that evaluated the projects of this year's competitions Ministry of Culture, getting better and better.
Again, Sterija's theater did not receive even a dinar, although this has happened to him before, so perhaps that is why the news was received without surprise.
But it was surprising that the Ministry of Culture did not give Bitef a single dinar, especially since Spasoje Ž. Milovanović, president of the Board and selector, and Jelena Medaković, secretary for culture in Belgrade, said that the festival's budget had been increased. Perhaps this is a sign that Bitef will not be held this year.
However, the pearl of pearls is the decision to Serbian Literary Cooperative, an institution of special importance, rejected all six books with which she applied. That has never happened before.
We didn't even count which one of the 26 contests announced stands out the most, which one has the most such pearls, because each one deserves each place.
Competition for capital works
Because of the Serbian Literary Cooperative, let's take for example the competition where she was rejected, Competition for capital works.
129 works were submitted to the competition. The commission consisting of Žaklina Nikolić, president, and Tatjana Vulić and Nebojša Lapčević, selected 48 projects. The total budget was RSD 27.370.000,00.
Matica srpska received the most money, two million dinars, for the 17th round of the Anthology of the Ten Centuries of Serbian Literature edition, which is justified.
"Orthodox word" received the same amount for three projects: Dositej Obradović, Bora Stanković, and Jovan Sterija Popović. 1.750.000 dinars belong to "Prometheus" also for three projects (Anton Korošec: Slovenian statesman of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia; 18th round of the edition Serbia 1914-19128; Writings of the Congregation for the Propaganda of Faith in Rome about the Serbs 1622-1644).
Cicero print received 1.500.000 dinars for the printing of the phototype edition of the Memorial of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the liberation of South Serbia and so on.
From the rejection list
All six Academic Book projects from Novi Sad were rejected, one of them being "Paja Jovanović, Memoirs of the Painter - Part Two".
Bora Babić, director of "Academic Book", tells "Vreme" that "the publication of the first book of Paja Jovanović's autobiographical novel Memoirs of a painter last year was a big event for our culture. This year we had planned to publish a second book, which is much more demanding for the editors because the manuscript is written in three languages, but unfortunately the project was rejected."
"The same fate was experienced by the other registered projects: the book of the great Turkish and world historian Halil Inaldzik, Ottoman Empire. Sultan, society and empire (social history of the Ottoman Empire), as well as books by Tihomir Brajović When the muses are not silent: studies on Serbian literature of the modern and contemporary era (1–2), as well as Professor Radivoj Radić's book It happened, take note. Tales from ancient times. I am especially sorry that the poignant book on the Holocaust by Tal Bruttmann, Stefan Herderler and Christoph Kreusimler was rejected. A photographic representation of the crime. Album from Auschwitz and an outstanding historical book on migration in the Mediterranean by the French historians Guillaume Claffe and Mathieu Gren Mediterraneans. History of the movement of people (1492–1750). "
Bora Babić does not know "why all the projects of the Academic Book were rejected. Probably, based on the assessment and opinion of the Commission, the mentioned projects have no significance for our culture. It is especially sad to hear that the Commission refused to support the preparation and publication of the manuscript legacy of one of the greatest Serbian painters, Paja Jovanović, which remained unpublished for more than 70 years. I can conclude that the work of Paja Jovanović means nothing to the experts who evaluated the projects."
She would not comment on the projects that are supported, she says, because she has no insight into their content.
"Probably, any Academic Book project would have been rejected if evaluated by the current Commission."
Bora Babić believes that "a large number of publishers are outside the focus of the Ministry of Culture, they do not receive any support, even though they have outstanding publishing programs. This is not good. Many of us barely manage to meet our daily business obligations. Serbian publishers have continued the bright tradition of Yugoslav publishing, publish great books, some are among the best European publishers. It would be a great shame if that part of the culture collapses."
“Vukotić Media”
"Vukotić Media" expresses "great disappointment" in the decision that none of their projects will receive support from the Ministry of Culture, especially after "seeing the list of projects that will be financed. And richly," says Manojlo Vukotić, founder and director of "Vukotić Media".
They submitted two books to the competition - Serbian primer i Serbs, a strange people "works that deal with the Serbian language, history, identity and cultural heritage. We believe that books like this are an example of capital publications that contribute to the preservation of national culture and represent value for the entire society," says Manojlo Vukotić.
"The decision not to support any of these projects can hardly be understood as the result of professional consideration. Therefore, the impression remains that in the decision-making process, the decisive role was not played by the quality and cultural significance of the published publications, but rather by the relationship towards the publisher and its public activity."
He emphasizes: "We are not asking for privileges or special treatment. We are only asking that all publishers be evaluated according to the same, clearly defined criteria and that the cultural policy be freed from any suspicion that financial support is awarded according to political suitability."
"We believe that the Ministry of Culture owes publishers, authors and the public complete transparency in explaining its decisions. Vukotić Media will, regardless of this decision, continue to publish books that nurture Serbian culture, history and identity, because we believe that this is our obligation to readers and future generations, regardless of the fact that this is obviously not a priority for the Ministry," says Manojlo Vukotić.
It is quite certain that others from the rejected list join him in this intention.
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