Before the war, Ekmečić was an academic painter whose subjects ranged from nudes to landscapes and panoramas. In 1992, in a time in which an artist was not allowed to keep silent, he became a war artist for the urge of documenting the destruction of his country
Skopje 2014 was the trademark project of former PM Gruevski, aimed at transforming the capital and celebrating nationalism. With the change of government, the art of colourful protest has risen to power and tries to de-aestheticise the old regime
A museum that seeks to project a transnational vision of European history. An ambitious project that has not escaped controversy and criticism. An interview with director Taja Vovk van Gaal
Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk confirmed that Hürriyet newspaper censored his interview in which he declared that he would vote “no” in constitutional amendment referendum
After evolving in parallel for centuries, thanks to UNESCO, the three Georgian alphabets became intangible cultural heritage of humanity. A living and charming heritage, but one to be protected
Director Rajko Grlić is the author, together with writer and columnist Ante Tomić, of a film that has become a smash in southeast Europe. Four characters and an exam on the Constitution. Interview
A few miles from Požarevac, in the archaeological site of Viminacium, an archaeologist known as the “Serbian Indiana Jones” has made some surprising discovers
Azerbaijan can hardly be considered a typical opera destination. But the country has a lot to offer opera lovers: performances of Western and Eastern European masterpieces, its own compositions, which are a unique mixture of musical traditions, and excellent singers
A documentary portrays the life of the Italian community in Istria through the eyes of children and teenagers. An interview with its director, Sabrina Benussi
Izolyatsia promotes artistic and cultural events. Its headquarters were in Donbass before war broke out, now they are in Kiev. However, their values have remained the same: to guarantee freedom of opinion
Azerbaijani writer Akram Aylisli was expected to take part to the “Incroci di civiltà” International literature festival today in Venice, but the Baku authorities blocked him at the airport. Our interview
Songs by poet and musician Mile Kekin, front man of the punk-rock band from Zagreb "Hladno pivo", should be included in textbooks. Not just in Croatia, in all of Europe
Pirate tapes of the most popular American movies circulated in Romania throughout the Eighties, challenging the communist regime. Now, a film tells this story. OBC interviewed the director
The ERMA master's degree in human rights and democracy, flagship programme of the Universities of Sarajevo and Bologna, is not receiving the funds made available by the EU and the Italian Government because of internal feuds in the Bosnian University
In the Strandzha mountains, on the border between Bulgaria and Turkey, proud, obstinate producers carry on making “kiselo mlyako” (sour milk), a thousand-year-old tradition
A group of youth coming from the four corners of the world is representing Armenia at the Vienna Eurovision Song Contest. Meet Vahe Tilbian, Armenian of Ethiopia
Edith Durham, an author, aid worker and Edwardian traveller in the Balkans, has left an enduring legacy in South East Europe, namely in Albania. A review of the latest Marcus Tanner book on the first British woman to become Vice President of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Berislav Blagojević (1979) is one of the most brilliant and versatile voices in the new literature from Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the author of Quieter than water [Tiši od vode, 2013]. Interview
His last piece of work was produced with the Forabandit, a musical ensemble that contaminates traditional Turkish music with the lyrical and musical experience of the Provençal troubadours and Persians rhythms. Interview
Belgrade's Astronomical Observatory, a jewel of modernist architecture, houses amazing instruments and magical stories, like that of a mysterious “comet seeker”. Today, the question is how to do justice to what once was a symbol of the city. An interview
A journey in Boeotia, the land of Pindar, Dionysus, Heracles, and the Muses. Few tourists frequent this plain, between Athens and Delphi. Yet, every two or three miles, you can spot the remains of a once powerful polis, a sacred temple, a legendary fortress
The Bosnian Herzegovinian Film Festival in New York City recently premiered a documentary movie on the White Armband Initiative, the event taking place in Prijedor each year on May 31st. Transitional justice experts Refik Hodžić and Eldar Sarajlić discussed the process of dealing with the past in the country
Many small stories make up a larger one which takes place between Turkey and Cambridge (UK), linking memories and exile. Interview with the Turkish writer Burhan Sönmez
