A great man is one who collects knowledge the way a bee collects honey and uses it to help people overcome the difficulties they endure - hunger, ignorance and disease!
- Nikola Tesla

Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.
- Franklin Roosevelt

While their territory has been devastated and their homes despoiled, the spirit of the Serbian people has not been broken.
- Woodrow Wilson

Na Jermi niče brana-umetničko delo

Čuveni skulptor iz Minesote, SAD-a, Zoran Mojsilov, inače poreklom iz sela Vlasi, počeo je sa izgradnjom brane na reci Jermi koja će biti možda i na svetu jedinstvena po tome što će predstavljati pravo umetničko delo.

Kako je Pirotskim vestima izjavio Mojsilov, na ovom mestu brana postoji poslednjih 150, možda i 200 godine, ali svakog proleća Jerma nadođe i bujica odnese branu.

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- Za ovaj poduhvat sakupio sam novac-donaciju naših iseljenika iz SAD-a, ali i mnogih Amerikanaca. Predstavio sam svoj projekat na sajtu “kickstarter”, koji finansira umetničke projekte i ljudi su mi uplaćivali ko je koliko mogao tako da sam sakupio oko 12.000 dolara kako bi napravio branu, koja će omogućiti i navodnjavanje polja nadomak sela. Brana je postojala poslednjih 150, možda i 200 godine, ali je reka često odnosila. Ovoga puta ćemo to permanentno da rešimo, a selo će rešiti i problem sa vodom jer seljaci više neće morati da koriste pijaću vodu za polivanje bašti-kaže Mojsilov, koji je jedinstven po tome što u svoja umetnička dela, koja su uglavnom masivna, ugrađuje autentične predmete sa ovog podneblja poput poljoprivrednih alakti i sličnih stvari od gvožđa i kamena, koja se vekovima koriste na ovim prostorima.

Mojsilov živi u Minesoti ali svakoga leta dolazi u svoju postojbinu svojih predaka, u prelepo selo Vlasi. Svoja umetnička dela Mojsilov pravi od kamena, drveta, gvožđa, a o njegovom umeću jedan indijanski vrač iz plemena Dakota, inače njegov prijatelj, kazao je da je Mojsilov čovek koji ima snagu da probudi kamen. Njegove skulpture nalaze se u čak dvadeset država SAD-a. Za svoj najnoviji umetnički poduhvat, branu na Jermi, Mojsilov je ponovo iskoristio jedan originalni “ukras”, deo šine sa pruge uskog koloseka kojom je nekada kanjonom Jerme “tutnjao” voz-ćira, koji je transportovao ugalj iz odavno ugašenog rudnika uglja “Jerma”.

Po njegovim rečima, on je do sada u više navrata pokušavao da napravi skulpturu koja bi krasila selo, ali su poslednju njegovu skulpturu nesavesni meštani sela uništili, drvo zapalili a gvožđe prodali u sekundarne sirovine.

Ovoga puta sam napravio kompromis sa meštanima jer su shvatili da je pravljenje brane u njihovu korist tako da mislim da nećemo imati sličnih problema-kaže Mojsilov.

Tekst i foto Aleksandar Ćirić, Pirotske vesti


SA

 

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Oksana Germain

Oksana Germain completed her Bachelor’s degree in May of 2018 at the Eastman School of Music in the studio of Nelita True. Currently, she is attending Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität in Linz, Austria as a graduate student in the studio of Oleg Marshev. Her childhood dream of playing piano with a symphony orchestra came true when she was chosen as one of the San Diego Symphony’s Young Artist “Hot Shots” Competition winners in 2010. She performed Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1, 1st movement with the San Diego Symphony at their 100 Year Anniversary Gala in December of that year. She was also invited to perform in the San Diego Symphony's Children's Concert Series “Bravo, Beethoven!” in May, 2010. Oksana also performed in the La Jolla Music Society's Discovery Series Prelude Concerts in 2012, and was a regularly featured performer for the Music 101 Radio broadcast on San Diego’s classical station 104.9 FM. In addition, she has been a featured soloist with the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra performing Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto and Beethoven’s Concerto No. 3.

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Sailors of the Sky

A conversation with Fr. Stamatis Skliris and Fr. Marko Rupnik on contemporary Christian art

In these timely conversations led by Fr. Radovan Bigovic, many issues are introduced that enable the contemporary reader to deepen and expand his or her understanding of the role of art in the life of the Church. Here we find answers to questions on the crisis of contemporary ecclesiastical art in West and East; the impact of Impressionism, Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism and Abstract painting on contemporary ecclesiastical painting; and a consideration of the main distrinction between iconography and secular painting. The dialogue, while resolving some doubts about the difference between iconography, religious painting, and painting in general, reconciles the requirement to obey inconographic canons with the freedom essential to artistic creativity, demonstrating that obedience to the canons is not a threat to the vitatlity of iconography. Both artists illumine the role of prayer and ascetisicm in the art of iconography. They also mention curcial differences between iconography in the Orthodox Church and in Roman Catholicism. How important thse distinctions are when exploring the relationship between contemporary theology and art! In a time when postmodern "metaphysics' revitalizes every concept, these masters still believe that, to some extent, Post-Modernism adds to the revitatiztion of Christian art, stimulating questions about "artistic inspiration" and the essential asethetic categories of Christian painting. Their exceptionally wide, yet nonetheless deep, expertise assists their not-so-everday connections between theology, ar, and modern issues concerning society: "society" taken in its broader meaning as "civilization." Finally, the entire artistic project of Stamatis and Rupnik has important ecumenical implications that aswer a genuine longing for unity in the Christian word.

The text of this 94-page soft-bound book has been translated from the Serbian by Ivana Jakovljevic, Fr. Gregory Edwards, and Andrijana Krstic. Published by Sebastian Press, Western American Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Contemporary Christian Thought Series, number 7, First Edition, ISBN: 978-0-9719505-8-0