The renovation of the centre of Belgrade will involve moving the statue of Dimitrije Tucović, Serbian anti-war activist who died in 1914 and has recently disappeared from the public debate
Since the summer of 2011, the Tirana Ekspress has been the go-to place for young Albanians tired of mainstream musical hegemony in the bllok, the neighbourhood that once housed the communist nomenklatura
On November 9th, twenty years ago, the artillery of the Bosnian Croat army destroyed the Mostar Bridge, a treasure of Ottoman architecture and one of the symbols of Bosnia and Herzegovina. People reacted on instinct to the news
A tribute to Milan Konjović. The journey of the last of the fauves from Sombor to Paris and from Paris to Sombor, the splendor of the Gallery dedicated to him in his home town in Vojvodina
Is it possible to build a shared narrative of the Balkans, overcoming the conflicts between national historiographies? The travelling exhibition "Imagining the Balkans", these days in Belgrade, tries to do so
A promenade in Baku's museal system starts at the Haydar Aliyev Center and continues through concrete and futuristic designs. Building the new, however, does not imply maintaining the old
Though certainly more funky and jazzy in their arrangements than their great-grandparents, Fanfara Tirana have in fact revived brass tradition in Albania. And they made it out in the world thanks to a collaboration with Transglobal
Where Oedipus killed his father Laius, the roads from Thebes, Delphi and Daulis meet. At that abandoned crossroads, in a Greece overwhelmed by an economic crisis, today Europe may find its way again
Funded by a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, three students from the United States and Gibraltar are researching and recording traditional music in the South Caucasus to make it available online
In Belgrade, the building that housed one of the first Nazi concentration camps in Eastern Europe will be razed to the ground. Its place will be taken by a shopping centre. The protests of the citizens
At the end of the tunnel, starting from a tavern in the middle of nowhere, everyone is defeated. Var, Saša Stojanović novel, is a masterpiece about faith, hope and doubt. The translator's review
For the first time in 10 years, Bosnia and Herzegovina will take part to the Venice Biennale with its own national Pavilion. Mladen Miljanović is the artist who will represent the country
The legendary singer, first Turkish female artist to have written lyrics and music to her own songs, has also made herself known for her care for human rights
For ten years Alban Muja of Kosovo has been doing research into the names of towns, places and people; at the moment he has an exhibition in the centre of Tirana in a small gallery called “the fly”
The prestigious Venetian theatre has begun working with Emir Kusturica on the production of a theatrical version of Ivo Andrić's novel The Bridge on the Drina. The project is strongly contested by the associations of the victims in Višegrad, where the opera is due to go on stage June 28 2014
Erkin Koray is one of the greatest Turkish musicians. He has contributed not only to rock, but also to psychedelic, world music and prog. This has earned him the nickname of the Turkish Jimi Hendrix
Alisa Ganieva, a Dagestani writer, is the author of "Salam, Dalgat". Active in the Russian literary scene, Ganieva tries to overcome mutual stereotyping between Russians and people from the North Caucasus. In her new novel, she imagines what would happen if the Caucasus suddenly separated from Russia. An interview
It is a sub-genre of the more popular turbo folk - and certainly a more elaborate one. It is called folk-step. Two of its greatest representatives are Shazalakazoo, a Belgrade-based electronic music duo
Bosnia and Herzegovina's major cultural institutions, including the National Museum, the Art Gallery and the National Film Archive, are in a state of neglect. The State does not support them, because doing so would imply acknowledging the existence of a common cultural and historical heritage. Some, in the capital's artistic milieu, have suggested privatization
The long story of Azerbaijani cinema, from a documentary on oil gushes filmed in 1898 to Soviet-time musicals, and its bleak situation today. The government tries to help the local industry by banning foreign TV series and shows on local TVs, but hope comes from young directors
In Sarajevo, a new space dedicated to the memory of Srebrenica lives on Turkish funds, with little support from local institutions. Art, memory, and cooperation in an interview with Ivica Pandžić, spokesperson for the association that manages the memorial gallery
A few kilometres off the coast of Istanbul, in the Sea of Marmara, the Princes' Islands are the tourist destination for those who want to leave behind, at least for a few hours, the frenzy of the immense metropolis on the Bosporus. These islands have been for millennia a laboratory of cultural contamination, as testified by recipes, smells, tastes, and words – suspended between memory and oblivion
Sarajevo, 20 years after the siege. The famous Bosnian poet and writer talks about a city that for centuries has symbolized the encounter of faiths, nations, and cultures
For the second time, the Chechen writer Kanta Imbragimov has been included in the list of official nominees for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Ibragimov has won prizes in Russia and the local government loves him. According to our correspondent Majnat Kurbanova, however, he has no talent. A tasty literary controversy
Trebinje, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Along the banks of the Trebišnjica river, in the Petrovo and Popovo Polje plains, vines grow surrounded by stony and lunar mountains. These vines give life to žilavka and vranac, two wines that have made the history and success of enology in Eastern Herzegovina. An age-old and fragile treasure of tastes, now promoted and safeguarded by the local Slow Food convivium
There are not many parts of the world where a TV talk show can be produced without requiring dubbing or subtitles in order to be broadcast in 5 different countries. But in the Balkans this is possible. Vicinities is a first when it comes to talk shows with a regional approach. "But don't talk to me about Yugosphere" says Nenad Šebek, the show's host
Aleksey Gogua is one of the most notable Abkhaz-language writers of the twenty-first century. During the Soviet era, his novels were translated into Russian and hundreds of thousands of copies were printed. Literature in Abkhazia today, relations with Russia, the situation of the Abkhaz language. An interview
At home they speak Hamshen, a variety of western Armenian. At school, they study eastern Armenian, as spoken in Yerevan. According to Sukhumi authorities, they will need to speak Abkhaz within a few years. Most of them, though, prefer to just speak Russian. An interview with Suren Kerselian, former president of the Armenian community in Abkhazia
The oldest human remains found outside the African continent are in Dmanisi, Georgia, and date back to 1.8 million years ago. It is the homo georgicus, a hominid species which, by evolution, seems to be intermediate between the homo habilis and the homo erectus. The discovery was possible thanks to the steadfastness of the Georgian researchers, along with international archeologists, including Italian ones
