Arts and culture

Novi Pazar, the bazaar without lipstick

20/10/2011 -  Marjola Rukaj Novi Pazar

It is very similar to the Ottoman-style quarter in Sarajevo, though many consider it more genuine, the čaršija from which Novi Pazar in south-eastern Serbia gets its name. Our feature

Slow food. On grass and transhumance in Western Macedonia

16/09/2011 -  Francesco Martino Mavrovo

Mavrovo, Western Macedonia. On these mountains, the Balkans’ continental and Mediterranean climates meet, giving birth to incredibly rich and unique pastures. This is why, throughout the centuries, this region has specialised in transhumance sheep breeding and cheese production. A slow food presidium that will make its first international appearance today at the Cheese fair in Bra, Cuneo, Italy.

Skopje, the bastard city

09/09/2011 -  Marjola Rukaj

Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, is a divided city but it retains a 'bastard' soul. Katharina Urbanek and Milan Mijalkovic have dedicated a book to it, looking into the meaning of the deep transformations - spatial and symbolic - that the city is currently undergoing with the controversial "Skopje 2014" plan. Our interview

Focus on Turkey

26/09/2011 -  Fazıla Mat

Fatih Pınar is a photographer and an experimenter. He tells stories about daily life, transformation and urbanization in his country, Turkey. His work consists of meticulous photographic reportage with short embedded videos, never forgetting the duty of the news reporter: reporting the truth. An interview

A language in danger, or, what is the Chechen word for “table”?

18/07/2011 -  Majnat Kurbanova

Chechnya recently openly celebrated Chechen Language Day, but Russian is still the country's official language and fewer and fewer Chechens are fluent in their own mother-tongue

The secret languages of the Bazaars

07/06/2011 -  Marjola Rukaj Tirana

They were multilingual places where secret languages were spoken. What has remained in the Balkan Bazaars of these codes, invented in order to understand each other and yet not be understood by outsiders? Our analysis

Belgrade and Pristina off the beaten tracks

06/06/2011 -  Marjola Rukaj Belgrade

Belgrade goes to Pristina and Pristina goes to Belgrade free of cold diplomatic formalities and extenuating negotiations. No political misunderstandings, no definitions: here is how two young photographers from the two cities achieved this goal

Romania: spooky tourism

31/05/2011 -  Mihaela Iordache

Inspired, not by the nightmare investigator Dylan Dog, though it could seem so, but by schemes already running in cities like Paris and London, the administrators of the Romanian capital Bucharest have decided to look to their cemeteries to revive tourism in the city

Dubioza about Europe

13/05/2011 -  Luka Zanoni

They won't be there, at Eurovision 2011. But their piece, called 'Euro Song', is already on everybody's lips. They are the Dubioza Kolektiv who want to to talk about Europe. And their efforts have been rewarded.

Bazaar Rhythms

08/04/2011 -  Marjola Rukaj

Cultural and ethnic crossroads and meeting place par excellence, the çarshija is also the place for finding some of the deepest roots of the Balkan musical heritage. Our inquiry

Gjakova/Đakovica: the çarshija streetlights

18/03/2011 -  Marjola Rukaj

Destroyed during the war, the old commercial heart of the town Gjakova/Đakovica, in western Kosovo, was rebuilt in 2001, thanks to international financial contributions. But, suffocated by its traffic, it's struggling to get back to being a “market on a human scale”, typical of the Ottoman period

Peja/Peć, the čaršija and the war

01/03/2011 -  Marjola Rukaj Peja/Peć

In Peja/Peć, a small town in Western Kosovo, little or nothing is left of the traditional bazaar, mainly because of the 1999 conflict. Although the authorities have faith in its development for tourism, it seems unlikely this will happen

Gjirokastër, the bazaar built of stone

16/02/2011 -  Marjola Rukaj Tirana

Kadaré defined it “the steepest town in the world” – Gjirokastër, in Southern Albania, on the border with Greece. Its çarshija also stretches upwards on sloping streets. Its architecture, although preserved over the centuries, has been slow in developing a new commercial life

Bitola, the cosmopolitan čaršija

10/02/2011 -  Marjola Rukaj

A perfect example of how to reconcile past and present. The Bitola čaršija has been neither abandoned nor a victim of unregulated building, nor even transformed into a shop window for tourists. Nevertheless it risks turning into a mundane modern market. A contribution to our dossier on Ottoman Bazaars in the Balkans

Korça, Bazaar of the Serenades

31/01/2011 -  Marjola Rukaj Tirana

Korça is an Albanian town on the borders of Albania, Greece and Macedonia. It is known for its bazaar which unfortunately is now in a semi-abandonned state. This article continues our in-depth analysis of markets with Ottoman origins in the Balkans

Skopje, the čaršija of the Albanians

12/01/2011 -  Marjola Rukaj Skopje

A real social and cultural barometer in the heart of Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, this is an ancient Ottoman market which, in the last 20 years, has changed from being a disreputable quarter to a trendy one. Another article in our dossier on Ottoman markets in the Balkans

Kruja, the Bazaar saved by the regime

23/12/2010 -  Marjola Rukaj Kruja, Albania

Having survived for thousands of years, nearly disappeared at the beginning of the 20th Century and been brought back to life during the regime, the Bazaar of Derexhik in Kruja, Albania, is today a boutique for tourists. Despite the loss of traditions, unregulated urban growth and rampant globalisation, it continues to survive in its true spirit

Čaršijas/çarshijas, ancient markets at the heart of the Balkans

23/11/2010 -  Marjola Rukaj

Traditional meeting points – commercial and trade neighbourhoods of Ottoman origin – have remained much as they were throughout history in many Balkan towns. Now, they represent an authentic barometer for gauging recent social changes and for understanding the Balkans' place in an enlarged Europe

A Levantine in Turkey. A glance over the Bosphorus

25/10/2010 -  Alberto Tetta Istanbul

Giovanni Scognamillo, of Italian descent, is an expert in the history of cinema. He talks about his life in Turkey, inextricably intertwined with the life of his city Istanbul, through the eyes of a "forced cosmopolitan". Our interview

Macedonian pottery surviving for centuries

22/10/2010 -  Risto Karajkov Skopje

Some driven by the need to survive in the face of transition, others realising that consumer taste may change. Many economic activities in Macedonia and in the rest of the Balkans linked to the tradition of pottery

Unesco's heritage: where in the Western Balkans?

01/10/2010 -  Risto Karajkov Skopje

There are 911 Unesco heritage sites in the world. 18 of these in the Western Balkans. From the open plains on the island of Hvar to the Mostar Bridge, archaelogical sites in Albania and the Durmitor glaciers in Montenegro: a review

Mother Courage in Grozny

31/05/2010 -  Majnat Kurbanova

Lula is an actress to the bone, “flirtatious, fond of cosmetics, she pays attention to her gait and the tone of her voice”. A true life story from Chechnya, told by Mainat Kourbanova for the readers of Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso

Divided Cities: Life at the frontier

17/05/2010 -  Tatjana Lazarević Mostar

Mostar, Berlin, Kosovska Mitrovica, Beirut. Four cities marked by a common fate: divided, ghettos for their own citizens and frontiers between worlds in conflict. The “Festival of Art in Divided Cities”, held in Mostar in April, sought to demystify stereotypes and to create new connections

Bulgarian cinema: Mission London

12/05/2010 -  Tanya Mangalakova Sofia

For the Western viewer, a well-acted comedy; for the Bulgarian audience, crazy laughs as well as disillusionment for the broken dreams of transition and an elite that turned out to be dishonest and useless. Now in cinemas, Mission London, from Alek Popov's best-seller

Novi Val

19/04/2010 -  Francesca Rolandi Belgrade

The New Wave in the former Yugoslavia: the social, cultural, and political coordinates of an underground phenomenon transcending the former republics.An interview with Dragica Vukadinović, curator of the exhibition "New Wave at the Skc (Student Cultural Centre) 1977-1989". The Belgrade Scene

Frantic development in Yerevan

09/04/2010 -  Onnik Krikorian Yerevan

Urban development concerns over church territory restoration in Yerevan. After the destruction of city parks and controversial projects such as Northern Avenue, the reaction of residents against the planned demolition of historical Cinema Moscow Open-Air Hall

Yugoslav vintage

14/04/2010 -  Luciano Panella

A new compilation of songs from the Yugoslav sixties and seventies has emerged, with the songs reinterpreted in a contemporary way. The producers of the three-disc trilogy are DJs Bakto, Woo-d, and Borka, three Slovenian deejays long active in the electro, hip-hop, and drum and bass fields

Turkish humor

08/04/2010 -  Fazıla Mat

Political and religious satire in Turkey. The old humour tradition, popularity among the masses, legal controversies. Our interview with Metin Üstündağ, cofounder of the humour and satire magazine "Penguen"

Jergović, the Stateless

25/03/2010 -  Azra Nuhefendić

A meeting with Miljenko Jergović in Italy, related to the promotion of his latest book, Freelander. The theory and reality of a stateless writer, between Sarajevo and Zagreb. The search for answers as a strategy for survival, and the sentiment of the past

European by nature

10/03/2010 -  Alberto Tetta Istanbul

Istanbul is the 2010 European Capital of Culture. The calendar of events, the debate between artists and urban planners on the choices by the Istanbul 2010 Agency. The Turkish identity, the European identity