Dizdar: Three days of 'Slovo Gorčina' represent the Stolac it could be

(Patria) - The Slovo Gorčina cultural festival will be held in Stolac from July 25 to 27. This is the 54th edition of the festival.

For over half a century, the festival has developed into a multimedia platform that brings together poetry, music, visual arts, film, and new media, preserving the spirit of poetic language in the contemporary era.

Honorary President of the Festival's Steering Committee, Gorčin Dizdar, recalled that "Slovo Gorčina" was founded on the obligation to preserve the memory of Mak Dizdar – but also on the celebration of the best in culture.

"From the beginning, the festival has been open to various artistic formats, as well as to some progressive ideas. We have continued that tradition of attracting everything that is best in contemporary culture," Dizdar stated.

Dizdar noted that one of the most important elements of the festival is the Mak Dizdar Award for young poets: "It is awarded to poets in the region who do not yet have a published poetry book. Every year, we have approximately one hundred applications, and every year, the jury anonymously evaluates these applications. We manage to attract new names and truly high-quality poetry every year. They not only win the award, but their poetry book is also published the following year by Buybook."

When it comes to the audience, it wasn't easy to attract them, Dizdar said.

"A part of the audience comes from Stolac and has been following this festival since its inception. In recent years, audiences have also come from the rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region, who even plan their annual holidays around the festival. An important element we introduced is that all artists participating in the program are invited to stay there during those three days, so it is, in a way, an artistic or cultural colony," he explained.

The local level provides the least assistance, Dizdar stated.

"And the local level should actually carry this festival – assistance from the municipality and even the canton is non-existent or minimal. We rely on competitions at the federal and state levels, and there is also an increasing number of private companies that provide support each year," Dizdar said.

Dizdar concluded by saying that there is a special connection between Stolac and the Festival, that the Festival placed Stolac on the cultural map of the former Yugoslavia in the seventies – and that for him, the three days of the Festival represent the Stolac it could be.