By Alba à‡ela
This has been an important year for cultural exchanges between Albania and Serbia. The famous ballet orchestrated by one of Albania’s most famous choreographers, Angjelin Prelocaj was welcomed with much acclaim in Belgrade. After 60 years of absence a team of Albanian artists played for the National theater in Belgrade. A long miss that was broken by very warm applause.
In another historic performance this week, Albanian world renowned soprano Inva Mula performed ‘La Boheme’. Another star had been before her at the Opera House in Belgrade, Tefta Tashko Koco, albeit in 1945. Soprano Mula was paid all due respect in Serbia by being present in all national media. She was also received by Prime Minister Vucic himself.
Both events generated positive media coverage and the impressions of perfuming artists did much to shatter prejudices and myths still existing in the collective mentalities of both countries. Ballet dancers were surprised at the warm reception in Serbia. So was soprano Mula by the respect she had been shown there. It is time for intensifying these events so that the artists are not surprised anymore but they expect this reaction just as in all other places where they visit and perform.
It is this very premise of knowing and respecting and valuing each other that stands behind the Joitn Centre for Albania-Serbia relations launched last year by the Albanian Institute for International Studies and the Forum for International relations of the European Movement Serbia. The Centre is currently seeking to establish a wide specter of joint cultural activities in order to strengthen collaboration and communication through books, exhibitions, movies and artist exchanges.
In the preliminary surveys that we have carried out last year, the percentage of citizens in both our countries who have read each other’s literature and watched each other’s films is rather low. At the same time the popular support for starting to mend our relations from culture and through organizing joint artistic events is rather strong. Therefore it is important to keep this positive momentum going and intensify al efforts from various stakeholders to redesign our relations. Such events need to reach wider audiences, in as many cities as it is possible and certainly go beyond the respective capital cities. Targeted activities for youth and for various artistic groups can be also coordinated in joint events in both countries as well as in common international platforms such as film festivals, biennales, etc.
In an interview related to her opera performance in Belgrade Inva Mula rightly said that culture and art can accomplish things like knowing and respecting each other in a relatively shorter period compared to all initiatives of political nature. The bridges built by cultural connection take the shortest time to build and yet are enduring in the face of hardship. It seems the right time for us to start building.
