Pro Art & Co

OHRID – LIVING HISTORY 21 – 28 May 2012

vesna — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:22:39 +0000

The Exhibition of Ohrid Region: natural and cultural history and resorts

Ohrid is one of the most beautiful towns in the Republic of Macedonia, settled by the Ohrid Lake. It boasts with rich cultural history and unique natural world. Inhabited in early times, the town once had 365 churches – one for each day in the year – a large number of them are still preserved. Within them, they protect an immeasurable treasure of frescoes, icons, woodcarving and other sacred objects. Every summer Ohrid hosts the internationally renowned Ohrid Summer Festival and other important cultural events. Many artists, from around the world, have chosen Ohrid as their open-air atelier and regard the town and its surroundings as an endless inspiration. It was also a place where St Clement, a student of the famous Byzantine brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius, revised their Glagolitic Alphabet and simplified letters thus created a new Cyrillic Alphabet, which most of the Eastern European Slavs use even today. Ohrid is the soul of Macedonia and the UNESCO’s World Heritage site.

Exhibition is organised by PRO ART & Co in Association with Mag Culture and Experience and The City of Ohrid

Old Chelsea Town Hall, Upper Floor Gallery
Kings Road, London SW3 5EE
Opening Hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 10am – 8 pm
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 10am – 5pm
Sunday 1-5 pm

The Mobile Balkan Project

vesna — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:34:22 +0000

The Mobile Cultural Balkan is an initiative to bring together individuals, organisations, institutions, local authorities, museums and libraries from Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, to contribute towards joint objectives to present and promote the unique traditional ethnic heritage and cultural inheritance of the Balkans.
We can identify many cultural organizations and centres across Europe related to the Balkans culture and art, but the difference with the Mobile Balkan is that it would be outreach service of the existing cultural centres, institutional cultural networks and service providers, funding bodies, local, national and EU authorities, ensuring mobility of these resources. The activities of the Mobile Balkan would be in combination with presentation of the chosen topics at the specific itineraries, e.g. natural reserves, urban and rural architecture, ethnic art and crafts, etc. through exhibitions, music, dance, photography etc. It will bring cultural heritage of the Balkans closer to other people of Europe but also to the Balkan’s cultural identity keepers in their countries and elsewhere, who are usually rooted to the certain places, so that their vision is changed towards mobility and the continuity of their work is assured.
The background concept is that people generally across Europe and from other countries do not know much about the specific and ancient historic settings in which the Balkan people developed, experienced and shared their destinies. It is only through individual country efforts that some of the intellectual and traditional activities find their way to wider audiences and receive prominent recognition. With a joint effort to promote the region’s unique heritage and its people, we would portray the key stages of the Balkan’s European history where the invisible power and participation in global affairs influenced historic and social outcomes which shaped the continent and divided it into an incomprehensible separation. The consequences of this partition are felt throughout the region and still exist to the present day. In order to reduce these cultural and historic differences and work on global cultural unity the best way to reach other people is through informal learning and presentation of intellectual and traditional inheritance.
The Mobile Cultural Balkan would present cultural events such as movies, theatre, exhibitions, music, dance, literature, story telling for children and adults, documentary presentations of the natural world and the Balkan’s biodiversity, art and crafts, heritage and lectures-seminars or conferences. It would be also a portable information centre, where at presentations of the cultural programme opportunities would be created for all the participating countries and organizations to reach out to a wider audiences and markets.

Opening the Exhibition The Serbian Medieval Cultural Heritage

vesna — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:43:47 +0000

HRH Princess Katarina Karađorđević opened the exhibition
HRH Princess Katarina Karađorđević officially opened The Serbian Medieval Cultural Heritage exhibition on Tuesday 3rd April 2012. Vesna Petković and Sava Peić, curators, described it as one of the most important events to be shown in Britain. Around 140 people attended opening, including Serbia’s Ambassador HE Dr Dejan Popović, Prota Milun Kostić from Sv Sava in London, Petar Janković, the President of the Serbian Council and Dr Ivan Mijatović, Chairman of the Serbian Society.
The exhibition focuses on little-known history of the medieval kings form the Nemanjić dynasty, a golden age in Serbian history. There were also three lectures and workshops on how to paint icons, to give more isight to these subjects.
The organisers expected 2,000 visitors, but the actual number of people visiting the exhibitions and additional events was much greater.
Pro Art & Co generously underwrote this fascinating project and we hope to tour Britain and abroad with the exhibition showing to the world these glorious days of Serbia’s Kingdom. Vesna Petković said that this is one of the most interesting and informative exhibitions on Serbia, which is easy to follow and understand how Serbia developed in cultural, intellectual and economic directions in Medieval time and how it became a rich and resourceful state, conscious to improve lives of its people and to support their spiritual growth.
Sava Peić reminded invitees that although many of the monuments are UNESCO World Heritage sites and under UN military protection, there is no guarantee they would be saved from fanatics and terrorism.
HRH Princess Katarina reflected on the continuation of kings and queens throughout the period and beyond and touched on our greatest achievement in recording language and alphabet: Miroslav’s Gospel, a copy of which was being exhibited on loan from Sv Sava in London. She also pointed out the second copy of the original Nomocanon which was written by St Sava. It was the first written Law for the Serbian people, both monastic and secular, and was completed in 1219 just four years after the Magna Carta.

EXHIBITION PROGRAMME

vesna — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:32:34 +0000

THE SERBIAN MEDIEVAL CULTURAL HERITAGE
A photographic exhibition

Royal Geographical Society
1 Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AR
Exhibition Road Entrance
1-15 April 2012

LECTURES AT ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY

4 April – 6.30-for 7 pm
Mrs Maria Andipa
Icons and spiritual dimension of church paintings

5 April – 6.30-for 7 pm
Dr Graham Speake
Monastic Communities at Mt Athos and Hilandar Monastery

7 April –1-2.30 pm
Workshops: Making the Icons, techniques and imaginary
Branka Acimovic Grcic and Igor Acimovic
Fee: £20 it includes your own painted icon on wood

11 April – 6.30 -for 7 pm
Vesna Petkovic
Byzantine cultural influence in Serbia

Entrance: £5; members of the Royal Geographical Society and Pro Art & Co £3

SERBIAN MEDIEVAL CULTURAL HERITAGE

vesna — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:28:50 +0000

EXHIBITION
The exhibition aims to present the formation of the Serbian Medieval Kingdom under the rule of Nemanjic’s Dynasty from early 12th c. until mid- 15th c. After the 15th c. Serbia came under the Ottoman’s rule and that brought Medieval Serbian Kingdom to an end. During the Nemanjic’s time Serbia was prosperous, even one of the richest countries in the region, and that was reflected through an original, extraordinary development of culture, art (frescos, icons) and especially architecture, when many monasteries were built by the kings and queens as their life endowments, also new skills developed at the monasteries: writing and illuminating manuscripts. The most important field of industry was mining (silver and gold mine at Novo Brdo near Gnjilane-Kosovo) which was the main source of wealth.

Serbia was on the cross roads between East and West and a passageway for the mighty Crusaders and medieval travelers. One of the main political tasks of the rulers was to balance the great powers emerging after the split of the former Roman Empire and that was achieved through convenient marriages, rich gifts and military help to the relevant sides.

The exhibition focuses on the Serbian cultural heritage and the state’s important international relations, also featuring historic and traditional inheritance, remembering particular events, personalities and Christian values.

The Royal Geographical Society is the most attractive venue for this event and a great support to our story of Serbia. The exhibition material and logistic are provided by Pro Art & Co (venue and production), Serbian Tourist Organization (contributing with some photographs/visual material), the Serbian Orthodox Church Sv Sava in London providing copies of the manuscripts. The curators are Vesna Petkovic and Sava Peic

Concert to Launch The Mobile Balkan Project

vesna — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:10:27 +0000

Pro Art & Co

in association with The Serbian Society

and

The Bulgarian Embassy in London

and

Bulgarian Cultural Institute London

present the first joint concert

to launch the MOBILE BALKAN project

Devorina Gamalova, violin

Bulgaria

Sanja Stefanović, piano

Serbia

at

The Bulgarian Embassy

186-188 Queens Gate

London SW7 5HL

Tuesday, 20 March 2012 at 7.30 pm

RSVP: info@proartandco.co.uk

Miki Stojiljkovic Tel: 01273 694117

Tickets: £15

Reception with canapes and drinks a er the concert

Payments: Please make cheques payable to Pro Art & Co, and send them to

Plaza, 319 535 Kings Road, London SW10 0SZ

or if you pay by Credit/Debit cards please use PayPal

www.proartandco.co.uk

The proceeds will be donated to selected Bulgarian and Serbian charities

Sanja Stefanović, Serbian pianist presents a

fascinating programme of late classical and

romantic piano music.

Devorina Gamalova

Devorina Gamalova graduated from the State Academy of Music in Sofia in 1988, where she was taught by a pupil of David Oistrach. Two years later she came to England to continue her studies at the Royal College of Music in London, and gained her Master’s degree from there in 2002. Among many other activities she has been a regular recitalist for Yehudi Menuhin’s Live Music Now ! organisation, and is constantly in demand as a soloist and also as a teacher.

Sanja Stefanović

Sanja Stefanovic was born in Belgrade and studied music there until 1987, when she moved to Odessa studying at the State Conservatory and gained her Master’s degree from there in 1992. In addition to performing widely, mainly in Germany, she has launched two important programmes for teaching music to children under 6 years of age, and between 7 and 16 years. In recent years her mentor has been Peter Feuchtwanger and she teaches his special piano exercises.

—————-

The Mobile Balkan is an initiative to bring together individuals,

organisations, institutions and the media from Balkan countries, contributing

towards a joint objective of presenting and promoting the unique

traditional ethnic heritage and cultural legacy of the Balkans.

PROGRAMME

Johannes Brahms: Variations op.9

Franz Schubert: Valses Nobles

Kornelije Stankovic: Srpska narodna igra

Marin Goleminov – Ballad and

Tongue-Twister for Violin Solo

César Franck: Sonata in A

Click HERE to download details.

THE MOBILE BALKAN

vesna — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:00:43 +0000

The Mobile Cultural Balkan is an initiative to bring together individuals, organisations, institutions, local authorities UK, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Macedonia, Albania and Serbia to contribute towards a joint objective to present and promote the unique traditional ethnic heritage and cultural inheritance of the Balkans.

The background concept is that people generally across Europe and from other countries do not know much about the specific and ancient historic settings in which the Balkan people developed, experienced and shared their destinies. It is only through individual country efforts that some of the intellectual and traditional activities find their way to wider audiences and receive prominent recognition. With a joint effort to promote the region’s unique heritage and its people, we would portray the key stages in this part of European history where the invisible power and participation in global affairs influenced historic and social outcomes which shaped the continent and divided it into an incomprehensible separation. The consequences of this partition are felt throughout the region and still exist to the present day. In order to reduce these cultural and historic differences and work on global unity the best way to reach other people is through informal learning and presentation of intellectual and traditional inheritance.

The Mobile Cultural Balkan would present cultural events such as movies, theatre, exhibitions, music, dance, literature, story telling for children and adults, documentary presentations of the natural world and the Balkan’s biodiversity, art and crafts, heritage and lectures-seminars or conferences. It would be also a portable information centre, where at presentations of the cultural programme would be an opportunity for all the participating countries and organizations to reach out to a wider audiences and markets. In order to achieve originality we should brand the project and make it fully accessible, operational and sustained. It would be available on line and in practice.

PRO ART CLUB

vesna — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:37:29 +0000

INVITATION

WE INVITE ALL OUR FRIENDS AND OTHER INTERESTED PEOPLE TO APPLY FOR PARTICIPATION IN OUR PROJECTS AND WORKSHOPS

These projects involve visits to museums, art galleries, heritage sites and buildings of historic importance, concerts and theatres, travel opportunities to European countries with the aim to learn about the traditions of people from around the world. Our workshops help your personal development, and are designed to improve communication between people and to develop skills, including basic IT/Internet, languages, art, international cooking, crafts and photography. Who can participate? Anyone over 18, and they can be professional, curious, educated, working and business people, older, pensioners, employed, unemployed, those who left education early, refugees, ethnic minorities, lonely people and those who think that these kinds of projects could fulfil their life expectations. Our activities are mainly related to the Culture, Heritage and History of London, Britain and other countries.

We organise basic courses in foreign languages and support international communication directly with other people with similar interests in life. We also organise many cultural and social events, such as visits to music and literary events, lectures, exhibitions, theatres, festivals, dances and dinners or we could invite you for a nice cup of tea in traditional English style. And, you can choose the event in which you would like to participate.

To participate in these events, according to your interest and availability, you should become a member of Pro Art Club, and try what’s on offer and suit your interests the best. The annual membership is £10 for a single person or £15 for a couple. The contributing cost for some of the events would be minimal and a majority of the activities, including travel abroad, would be subsidised greatly by Pro Art & Co.

Tel: 020 7351 7555       info@proartandco.co.uk         www.proartandco.co.uk

Byzantium – Gateway between East and West

vesna — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:09:51 +0000

The Scotland- Russia Forum

http://www.scotlandrussiaforum.org

Byzantium – Gateway between East and West

Exhibition

Sat 4 February to Sat 17 March 2012

This exhibition presents 1000 years of the Byzantine Empire’s history, from its establishment in 330 AD by the Emperor Constantine to its fall in 1435. It shows the creation of the first Slavonic and East European nation states, their organisation under the influence of the domineering Byzantine Empire and their eventual acceptance of Christianity and late Roman civilization as a model for the formation of their own states. Byzantium integrated the best of the Classical Hellenic and Roman civilisations but also adopted Oriental mysticism. It stretched far beyond the Old World borders into Asia, Arabia, Persia, North Africa and North Europe. The aim of the exhibition is to look at the influence on European culture of Byzantium’s multicultural heritage.

Curated by Vesna Petkovic, Pro Art & Co

We are also grateful for the support of MESP (the Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace)

Associated events: see Events and Other Events

3 February: Byzantium: Splendour perfected. A short talk on the history of Byzantium, the role of women in society and the role of the court by Vesna Petkovic

18 February: Early Church Music. A course at Edinburgh University OLL

24 February: Icons in Early Christian and Byzantine world. A talk by Maria Andipa

3 March: An introduction to Russian church music. Glasgow

Click HERE for more info on Byzantine influence on neighbouring countries

EU TRESURE HUNT PROJECT

vesna — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:29:00 +0000

The EU Treasure Hunt project includes partner organizations from 6 European countries: Slovenia (Coordinator), UK, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Austria.

Its purpose is to motivate and encourage the openness of European borders and to increase opportunities for active participation in trans national mobility within the specific target group of young adults. It targets at young adults mostly aged 15 to 25 years, from minority ethnic groups, with mild learning and physical disabilities, who experience social exclusion and/or have been disadvantaged in some other way.

The working methods will be diverse and active, assuring the satisfaction of various needs of the learners and partner organizations involved, such as: workshops, learning-by-doing, small group discussions, field work, project research, photo material, audio-video presentation, etc.

The main aim of the project is mobilization and motivation of young adults to overcome their own educational or personal limitations in the field of trans national and multicultural cooperation. Young adults from different EU countries will, according to their interests, needs and abilities, take an active role in the common multicultural planning, preparation, execution, promotion and evaluation of activities related to EU Cultural treasures.

Pro Art & Co

OHRID – LIVING HISTORY 21 – 28 May 2012

The Mobile Balkan Project

Opening the Exhibition The Serbian Medieval Cultural Heritage

EXHIBITION PROGRAMME

SERBIAN MEDIEVAL CULTURAL HERITAGE

Concert to Launch The Mobile Balkan Project

THE MOBILE BALKAN

PRO ART CLUB

INVITATION

Byzantium – Gateway between East and West

The Scotland- Russia Forum

http://www.scotlandrussiaforum.org

Byzantium – Gateway between East and West

Sat 4 February to Sat 17 March 2012

3 February: Byzantium: Splendour perfected. A short talk on the history of Byzantium, the role of women in society and the role of the court by Vesna Petkovic

18 February: Early Church Music. A course at Edinburgh University OLL

24 February: Icons in Early Christian and Byzantine world. A talk by Maria Andipa

EU TRESURE HUNT PROJECT