Slovo Gorčina Culture Festival Begins in Stolac on Friday

MOSTAR, (Patria) - On the occasion of the start of the Slovo Gorčina culture festival, which is being held from July 27-29 this year in Stolac, a press conference was held at the Cultural Center in Mostar where Gorčin Dizdar, President of the Steering Board of the "Slovo Gorčina" Association, Edim Šator and Adnan Žetica, members of the Steering Board, and the festival's artistic advisor Nenad Rizvanović spoke.

Gorčin Dizdar reminded that the "Slovo Gorčina" culture festival has a very long tradition. The festival was founded in 1971 after the death of Mak Dizdar in his honor and has been held continuously since then, with the exception of the years 1992-1997. After last year's step forward, when the festival lasted a full seven days on the occasion of the centenary of Mak Dizdar's birth, this year the festival returns to a shorter three-day format, but it offers content at a high artistic level.

As key events of this festival, Dizdar highlighted the radio play "Orpheus Listens to the Radio" directed by Pavlica Bajsić Brazzaduro, produced by the Dubrovnik Theater Marin Držić and Multimedijalna koliba, the guest appearance of Ottó Tolnai, one of the most significant regional writers, a solo concert by Miroslav Tadić, and the exhibition "Slovo Grubača: Stećci in Contemporary Art," which will feature works by Ajša Beširević, Enis Čišić, Bor Dizdar, Edin Durmišević, Emir Durmišević, Adis Fejzić, Danis Fejzić, Taida Jašarević, and Armin Numanović.

As a festival novelty, Dizdar mentioned the new visual identity of the festival, designed by Bor Dizdar. For the first time since 1991, the festival program will be held within the Old Town of Vidoški in Stolac. He particularly emphasized that the Stolac Summer University will be held as part of the festival, with this year's theme being the poetry of Mak Dizdar, although the aim is to discuss much broader topics.

Edim Šator emphasized that the festival is an affirmation of everything that connects people and that it is desperately needed in Stolac, which is, unfortunately, most often mentioned as a city of misfortune.

The festival's artistic advisor, Nenad Rizvanović, listed several conceptual innovations that will be developed in the coming years, taking into account the festival's ideas that have existed since its inception. In this regard, efforts will be made towards a kind of experiment combining sound, text, theater, and music, following Mak Dizdar's poetic quest to merge tradition and avant-garde.

Rizvanović reminded that at this year's "Slovo Gorčina," three very important Bosnian-Herzegovinian writers - Faruk Šehić, Damir Ovčina, and Ahmed Burić - will promote their new books, and he mentioned the musical-stage performance of Krleža's "Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh" performed by Veno Mušinović and Mokre gljive as a special treat.

Adnan Žetica announced that 49 manuscripts from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, and Serbia were received for the traditional competition for the best unpublished poetry book. The jury, consisting of Šejla Šehabović, president, Naida Rebronja, and Adnan Žetica, selected the following three manuscripts as the most successful: "Kamene gore Spartohorija" by Srđan Sekulić, "Prostori" by Željana Vukanac, and "Posljednji mate sa Erazmom" by Vladana Perlić.

The first prize is 1,000 KM, and includes the awarding of the Gorčin statuette and the publication of the book, while the second and third prizes are 500 and 300 KM, respectively. The announcement of the first-prize manuscript is on July 27.