The EXODUS

1. The issue of the refugees / refuge is one of the so called eternal issues which literally and absolutely communicate with all civilization codes of existence. Essential existential and moral, philosophical, sociological... and all other aspects / consequences of human destiny are directly traversed / united through it / in it. But the refuge issue is also far from any possible rational comprehension; it is an extremely stressful, emotional topic and no one can face it with a previously prepared defense mechanism of indifference or with a “cool head”. It is because, basically, refuge / exile ... is experienced and lived through the prism of collective tragedies and exoduses, through pictures of convoys of devastated, miserable and exhausted old people, women and children ... pictures that leave no room for indifference! On the other hand, can we “relate” the entire (known) history of humankind to the refugee syndrome, can we treat the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden as an act of (indirect) refuge? Since, refuge is, after all, a reaction which is often preceded by an action - exile - so that this is directly biblical topic, as well, additionally supporting its “eternity”. What’s more, the First Book, along with the “Eden Story”, is full of other “colorful” and convincing elaboration of this crucial topic and other even more drastic examples - the exile of the Jews from Egypt, the exile / refuge of the Christians from Israel, etc., - which tells us that the history of humankind is, actually, a history of refuge! But, the much more “exciting” real world, reflected in certain events of the distant or nearer past is full of far more cruel examples of action and reaction, of exile and refuge: the Edict of Fontainebleau by Luis XIV of 1685 (1), the Soviet Revolution of 1917 (2), the so called, Armenian genocide of 1915-1917 (3), the horrors and the holocaust of the Second World War, the constitution of the state of Israel in 1948 and the Israel-Arab wars (4), etc. And despite the shocking historical experiences, the situation with the refugees is not much better today. According to the information issued by UNCHR, at the beginning of 2006 there were 8,4 million refugees in the world! And: about 80% of the refugees are always women and children! The reasons for this awfully painful and, as a rule, always strikingly bloody events are different: religious, territorial, ideological, racial...! That is, the reasons always seem to be inexplicably different, and the methods and the results are always - the same! The definite outcome appears to be as copied on a matrix: blood and tears, dead and displaced, separated families and reshaped destinies, personal and collective dramas, thousands of “dislocated” lives...

2. The refuge topic has not spared the Macedonian historical experience. It affected different aspects - both the country / nationality, directly subjected to a refuge genocide, and the territory through / in which a sequence of refuge crisis “happened”. Yet, the Macedonian experiences are, more or less, unknown to the world historical memory because in all of the searches / readings of the possible refuge crisis points in the world history, Macedonia is literally not mentioned at all! Or, it is, yet very rarely, which makes no difference! This especially refers to the topic of this artistic project - the tragic Macedonian refuge exodus in the time of the civil war in Greece, that is, its end (1948-49). In the popular and easy accessible sources (Internet) of today it is either not mentioned or reduced to euphemisms like: “deportation”, “relocation”, “transportation” of families or children, without stating their ethnical origin. However, there are many sources that alter the truth by naming them (especially the children) “Greek children transformed into fanatic Macedonians.” (5) Although the numbers vary amazingly - some reach up to 700,000 refugees (6), especially pointing out the 28,296 children (7) - it is more than clear that it was a tragic exodus, unseen in the Balkan region in the 20th century. On the other hand, although such an elaboration would not be appropriate at this point, it is still questionable how much have we ourselves contributed / worked upon a more complete and more thorough clarification of those events!

3. The reference to the beginning of this text - to the emphasized emotional reliving of this issue, that is, exactly because of that - can lead to the conclusion that this issue (on a global level or as a particular, actual event) would be viable for possible artistic transposition. Probably yes, but the practice, particularly the Macedonian artistic practice, proves the opposite. It appears that the refuge issue, regardless of the “rich” Macedonian historical experience, has not been frequently used as an artistic topic. We could even say that it has been outstandingly ignored. It particularly refers to the topic of this project - the Macedonian exodus in the time of the civil war in Greece - the serious artistic projects (in the visual artistic media) can be counted on the fingers of one hand! Of course, first in line is the feature film “Black Seed” by Kiril Cenevski, then several documentaries (like “Tulgesh” by Kole Manev) and TV shows (“The Signors of Greek Diplomacy” by Nikola Kalajdziski) and the latest cinematographic achievement “The Children of 1948” by the young Suzana Dinevska. In the fine arts the examples are even fewer: some of the artworks of Kole Manev (mostly reflecting a mood, a reference and things like that), some artworks in the field of sculpture and the graphic prints of Naso Bekarovski, and that’s all. (8)

4. In order to understand more thoroughly the commitment of Slavica Janešlieva to such a topic it is necessary to get to know rather well her former achievements. In that sense: “...two things are to be underlined in the artistic idiom Slavica Janešlieva has uttered so far. The first would be her impressive narration delightfulness, her effortlessly pulling out the moments / stories from memory and, like the best post-modern tellers, ‘mixing’ the contexts, the times, the order, the situations..., not insisting on her own version but leaving it to the spectators to contrive their own story. The second aspect refers to her amazing sense of visualization of the narration where the memory / story is turned into a representation, object, color - a materialized substance - which powerfully synthesize history / tradition and everyday, the great ideas and the small things, emotions and reflections, metaphors and meanings”. (9) “Actually, the entire former artistic idiom of Janešlieva - her graphic art, the installations, objects, etc. is mostly defined through the modalities of the so called ‘art in first person’ or, even better, through the domain of the ‘inter-subjectivity’ and the (self)reflexiveness. It means that her projects, almost a continuity of a quite personal ‘story’, are contained in a kind of self-referential system composed of segmented stories with an intimate - family background. In that context the intimate / family aspect might remind of a replacement of the general / social aspect, an ‘escape’ from this and such social reality, yet in its very core still deeply related to a string of burning (traditional, moral...) dilemmas, actual for the global environment”. (10) Therefore, this project of Janešlieva is, actually, just another in the series of her current commitments, her personal views and “comments” on eternal topics, always bitterly provocative and, as a rule, covering a “wide spectrum”. This, on the other hand, might sound like a boring moralization which, eventually, has nothing to do with the art per se. Of course, it is not the case, especially when it comes to an artist of the Janešlieva type. Since, Slavica does not teach lectures, she doesn’t send messages, She leaves it to the less inventive ones. She “carries” in herself the topic / pain, she develops / “ripens” it to a solid concept with a clear thought and outlined visage. And in that concept there is no room for cheap moralizations or banal coaxing! In the context of the Macedonian refuge issue Janešlieva’s motif / challenge might, at first sight, seem unclear (if the artistic creation requires a motif at all). What is the reason and the origin of the interest for this particular not sufficiently researched and, openly speaking, today still complex, outstandingly unknown and “problematic story”? Actually, there are no secrets since the challenge lies in the complexity of the topic, in its (as yet) “seclusion”, in its catastrophic dimensions, in the incredible destinies of the participants, in... ! We can state tens of reasons and some of the most important among them, certainly, the need for loudness, publicness, soundness... the need to dimension it appropriately, both historically and artistically, the requirement that both the world and we ourselves face the cruel reality, for countless more times. Of course, the key question is: how come and why is it that the history and the world know everything about all the other exoduses, and almost nothing about this one? Therefore, as Benjamin noted “the true picture of the past silently passes by us, the past can be understood as a picture that sparkles intensely at the moment of realization and then irrecoverably vanishes... since in every present the picture of the past can irrecoverably vanish, a picture where the present could not recognize itself”, Janešlieva seems to tend to “retain” some pictures, to “freeze” them for a moment, save them, temporarily, from vanishing - at least until we don’t understand them better or pay them the due respect. The concept of the project “Grafting” is multi-farious / multi-layered. The light-motif is absolutely the refuge issue - the exodus of the Macedonian families during the civil war in Greece 1946 - 49, but Janešlieva “weaves” around it several crucial points. Hence, the organization of the visual part follows the following logic: The first point is, certainly, the distressing, endless, tragic... eternal refugee convoy that in continuo, as a perpetuum mobile, moves through the human history. In this case, it is the Macedonian part of the Hell, the Aegean exodus, the convoy of Macedonian refugees escaping the purging of the military horde. “...They were taking the children, and they made them count the stars to stop them from falling asleep. And they made wishes and counted the stars. While their only wish was to be left to fall asleep... Children held to their mother’s skirts and counted the stars.” (11) It is an insert from the Aegean exile, yet it could’ve been any other refugee convoy: from Palestine and Sudan, from Afghanistan and Iraq, from Myanmar...! The essence is the same, only the “set” and the “costumes” are different. It consists of convoys of silent destinies that painfully hike through roadless areas, leaving everything behind and looking to nothing ahead! It is the beginning, the introduction to a huge future emptiness, to new resettlements and accustoming to new regions, new people...! If the first “story” was (at least) general and global, “anonymous” and collective, the second point is (partially) personalized, presenting it with identity! Here the convoy is already identified, it gradually becomes recognizable through its direct participants - the former refugee children and their stories, with the figures personified - they acquire faces, voices, names and forenames. However, Janešlieva’s point was not to completely involve us, that is, “inform” us on the characters in this story, since that would turn it into fiction of cinema. In this case she looks for something else, she look for (and finds!) a different visual poetics. The characters and their stories are an echo through which Janešlieva follows some other “traces”. More precisely, by setting this segment of the “story” in several separate video and/or photographic stories/inserts. Janešlieva rather focuses her (and our) attention to the particular parts of their bodies than to the tellers themselves, that is, to several important details as elements that might incite “new stories”! For example, the hands (in regards to the fact that the age of the refugee children was deteremined by the bones of their hands), then the hair (as a rule, cut, as a preventive measure when the refugees arrived to their destination points), etc.! The third segment of the project, the third “story” is, actually, the end or - the expected new beginning! More precisely: although horribly forcefully unrooted from their birth places (often from their parents and their close relatives, as well), the refugee children, same as the older ones, were expected to simply go on with their lives - somewhere “there”, in an alien environment, as if nothing had happened!

Janešlieva actually “tests” this thesis by comparing the refuge story to grafting of young trees, that is, she links the artificial “implantation” of children from one environment to another to an equivalent artificial grafting, a “transplantation” of one plant to another! And this “good old” grafting technique, as a rule, functions in practice. The young plants, same as the young children, as a rule, “accept” the graft, they grow and develop, at least, according to the grafter’s plan (?). Since, human kind, same as the trees, is a tough kind! The question is only what remains inside - what marks, what traces are left in the rings, in the souls, in the memories!

5. Referring us back to these not so distant events under the “dark sky of the Aegean region” (12), Janešlieva “pays” (symbolically) our debt to the Aegean trail. She does not leave the “moment of enlightenment” only as a flash and the past only as a futile flow, she precisely and emotionally renders her angle of perception. The timing is probably not perfect because we are now facing the reopening of the complex of questions on human / cultural and other rights of the Macedonians in the region. The Aegean exodus - an event unseen not even in Biblical terms (13) - is an important part of that complex.

Notes:

(1) This Edict outlawed the Protestantism and, actually, caused a forceful displacement of some 500,000 Protestants (Huguenots) from France to other European countries.

(2) It ended up in a refugee wave of some 1,500,000 people to the countries of Europe.

(3) It caused a forceful displacement of one million Armenians from Turkey.

(4) According to some assessments, in that period some two million people were displaced (Palestinians, Jews and others).

(5) Irene Lagani, The Removal of the Greek Children and Greek-Yugoslav Relations, 1949-1953--A Critical Approach, Athens: I. Sideris, 1996.

(6) Greece Civil War, Library of Congress Country Studies.

(7) The Black Book Of Communism. by Stéphane Courtois, Nicholas Werth, Jean-Louis Panné, Andrzej Paczkowski, Karel Bartosek, and Jean-Louis Margolin, H.U.P., Cambridge, MA. 1999. (8) In this context, although not directly related to the particular “Macedonian” variation of this topic, but seen somewhat wider, we mention the exhibition “Artists and Refugees” (curator Melentie Pandilovski) at the Museum of the City of Skopje, 1999.

(9) Zlatko Teodosievski, Janešlieva, (catalogue), National Gallery of Macedonia, 2005.

(10) Ibid.

(11) Petre M. Andreevski, Nebeska Timjanova, Dnevnik / Tabernakul, Skopje, 2007, p. 152. (12) Ivan Čapovski, Crnoto nebo nad Egejot (The Dark Sky Above the Aegean Region), Dnevnik, 20th of September 2007, p. 11.

(13) Ibid.

The EARLY DAYS OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN MACEDONIA

In Macedonia photography is still insufficiently studied. To this day not enough facts are known about its arrival, its early days in this region, its development, the people who worked in this field, their ambitions, plans and desires. Unlike film and the emergence of the Manaki brothers (of whom we are proud as the pioneers of cinematography in the Balkans) photography, although older and preceding film by decades, is undeservedly treated as not as sophisticated a medium within culture and the arts.1
In this context, the year 2005 was marked as an important anniversary for Macedonian culture: 150 years of the beginning of photography in Macedonia. In fact this anniversary stems from the fact that in 1855 a Macedonian fresco-painter, Hadži Koste (Kostadin) Krstev, signed his fresco on the wall of the monastery church of St Demetrius in Veles as a “fresco-painter and photographer.”2 It appears that relatively soon after the revolutionary discovery of photography there were people in Macedonia who not only knew about the new invention and practised it, but also drew attention to it in their signatures as their profession, side by side with their basic line of work as fresco-painters. Future research will no doubt prove whether this is the date that can be taken as the beginning of Macedonian photography. Until we know otherwise, we can accept the year 1855 as the first registered piece of information referring to photography in Macedonia.
On the other hand, the emergence and development of photography globally is studied in more detail. Generally everybody agrees that the beginning of photography in the proper sense of the word (disregarding the numerous experiments with the camera obscura) is connected with the name of Nicéphore Niepce and his heliography dating from 1826.3 Since then photography has gone through many technical and technological transformations — up to the present-day full digitalization — and has spread at lightning speed throughout the world as a hobby, profession and art.

Historical Circumstances in Macedonia in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

The geopolitical history of Macedonia of this period is well-known. As a territory Macedonia was still part of the Ottoman Empire, even though the military and administrative weakening of the empire aroused the interest of the Great Powers in the Balkan Peninsula to open what became known as the Eastern Question. Macedonia had a special place and significance in this sensitive region, principally because of its central situation in the Balkans, strategic communications and its economic and raw material base. In addition to the Great Powers and their conflicting interests in Macedonia, the newly-established Balkan bourgeois monarchies were soon to join in the “game.”
“In 19th-century Macedonia, the revival and revolutionary national liberation movements developed side by side. The liberal European ideas of the French Revolution (1789) and the Commune of Paris (1871) spread throughout Macedonia and took root among the ideologists and leaders of the national liberation movement as well as the founders of the socialist movement.”4 These ideas, particularly following the Treaty of San Stefano and its revision by the Congress of Berlin (1878), were to be vehemently and vigorously welcomed, as seen in the several unsuccessful uprisings against Ottoman authority, culminating in the Ilinden Uprising (August 1903) under the “inspiring motto of the French Revolution, ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité.’”5 Unfortunately, the Kruševo Republic proclaimed by the Ilinden insurgents lasted only fourteen days.
Following the bloody suppression of the Ilinden Uprising and the massive reprisals, the Young Turk Revolution (1908) brought some hope for a broad national and cultural autonomy. But “the fever of conquest of Macedonia” that overwhelmed the neighbouring monarchies (Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro) resulted first in the creation of a Balkan military alliance between these states, and sometime later in the First and Second Balkan Wars (1912-1913) fought by the same countries against Turkey. The conflict ended by Macedonia’s partition under the Treaty of Bucharest (1913), which was later verified by the Versailles Peace Conference. In fact, “what the three subsequent wars (1912-1918) had left behind was a striking apocalyptic landscape with delineated borders throughout the Macedonian land.”6
In this period Macedonia was predominantly “a land of peasants, craftsmen and small merchants. At the turn of the century, the first forerunners of the capitalist economy began to appear, albeit at a very moderate pace. A process of town expansion and growth into economic centres was also apparent.”7 At the same time, the towns were becoming the hub of educational and cultural life.
For example Bitola was an administrative and trade centre at the time and the seat of the Bitola Vilayet in 1883/84. It appears that “according to Turkish statistical data there were about ten active mektebs (primary schools), at least ten medreses (secondary schools), two Turkish lower grammar schools, a secondary military school, a military academy, a teachers’ training college and several vocational schools, etc.8 At the same time, as a result of the reinforced propaganda of the neighbouring countries, there were numerous Serbian, Greek and Bulgarian schools, educational societies and similar institutions active in Bitola.
After 1851, following the establishment of the diplomatic mission of Austria, diplomatic missions of several other European countries opened in Bitola: those of Great Britain (1851), France (1854), Russia (1860), Italy (1895), Greece, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, etc.9 “The presence of foreign diplomatic missions in Bitola was undoubtedly seen as the presence of Europe in Bitola, particularly in the everyday life and activities of the richer strata of the population. European influences were visible in architecture, music, fashion and in culture in general.”10
As far as Skopje was concerned, the first public Slavonic school was opened as early as 1836-1837. The school network towards the end of the century consisted of “nine Turkish primary schools and one secondary school with 1,400 pupils, four Exarchate schools with 1,166 pupils, two Serbian primary schools with 246 pupils, as well as one Albanian, one Romanian, one Greek and one Jewish school. Skopje also had a secondary girls’ college and a teachers’ training college.11 In this context, in view of the fact that Hadži Koste Krstev originally came from Veles, we should mention that this town was regarded as one of the more developed Macedonian centres not only of trade but also of culture. The rich Veles merchants dealt in hides and other products with Vienna, Leipzig, Pest and other European cities and sent their children to be educated in Salonica, Athens or Constantinople (now Istanbul). Veles was also known for the numerous book lovers or subscribers to various editions printed in Buda, Pest, Salonica and other cities.12

The Beginnings of Photography in Macedonia

The life and work of Hadži Koste (Kostadin) Krstev, the first known photographer in Macedonia to date, are not sufficiently studied; however, his activity as a fresco-painter is better known than his photography. From the available data we know that he was the son of a notable Veles fresco-painter, Krste Pop Trajanovik and that he learnt his trade from his father. He took over some elements from his father’s approach in the painting of figures, although other contemporary influences from the first half of the 19th century are also noticeable.

There is no data about the year of Krstev’s birth, although according to the testimony of Gorgi Zografski (another prominent fresco-painter from Veles) 1894 is usually taken as the year of his death.
From what we know he worked as a painter (icon- and fresco-painting) from 1847 to 1885 in the regions of Veles, Kumanovo and Sveti Nikole. He is also known to have been active in Serbia (Devič and Prokuplje). Together with Gorgi Zografski he worked in the company of Andon Kitanov (1829-1914), a painter, woodcarver and architect.
Regrettably, the only piece of information referring to his activity as a photographer is his signature on the wall of the church of St Demetrius in Veles.13
As far as the early years of photography in the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century in Macedonia are concerned, some facts are established. For example in Veles we know of the photographic activity of Dime Gočev-Bickin and also that the photographic studio of Damaskin Manušev was opened in 1894.14
Bitola, the city of the Manaki brothers, is believed to have “had a number of photographers with their own studios... in the last decades of the 19th century, such as Atanas [should be Anastas, author’s note] Lozančev, Lazar (Risto) Kermele, Tegu and others. The number of photographers grew particularly in the early 20th century with the opening of the studios of the Manaki brothers, Sotir Pinza, Linara, Papakoč, Topla [should be Tonka, author’s note] Nacka, D. Šožu, Gorgi Moreno, and many others.”15 The photo studio of the brothers Janaki and Milton Manaki (who began working as photographers in Ioannina as early as 1898) opened in Bitola in 1905. We should also mention the imposing body of the brothers’ photographic work, which is still insufficiently known to the public although it includes 18,513 negatives and 17,854 prints!
There is no doubt that the photographic activity of the Manaki brothers — in both quantity and quality — contributed to the swift development and increased interest in photography not only in Bitola but also in the whole of Macedonia. Furthermore, their contribution to the development of photography in the region was by no means negligible, since their work was also connected with, among others, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia.
From the 1920s onwards photography was no longer a “miracle” in Macedonia but an everyday occurrence and also a medium for artistic expression.16

Bearing in mind all these facts, we can safely assume that in spite of the extremely complex historical and economic situation of the region, the emergence and development of photography in Macedonia did not lag behind other neighbouring countries. There is no doubt that the first people to photograph the Balkans were travel photographers, who came from different European countries (France, Italy, Austria, Germany...). Some of the distinguished names included Josif Kapilieri, Elias Armin, Guillaume Lejean, Bauer and Gelch.
In the territory of the countries of the former Yugoslavia photography appeared for the first time in Zagreb in 1840 with the activity of the photographer Novaković. Soon afterwards, Anastas Jovanović, a painter and printer, introduced photography in Belgrade. Photography in Ljubljana is connected with the work of Janez Puhar (1847). The first photo-club, one of the oldest in this part of Europe, was founded in Zagreb in 1892.
The first known photograph in Bulgaria was made by a travel photographer in 1851. Indigenous Bulgarian photographers appeared sometime later, including Georgi Dančov, Toma Hitrov, Nikola Hitrov, Petar Todorov Fakirov and Ivan Zografov.17
Filippos Margaritis18 opened the first photographic studio in Athens, Greece, in 1849. Photography became especially popular in the early 20th century and some of the more important names from this period included Eli Seraidari (better known as Neli), Stemos Kasimatis, Spiros Melitis and Voula Papaioannou.

In conclusion, special attention should be paid to the fact that we owe this photographic heritage almost entirely to the efforts, enthusiasm and archives of the Macedonian Centre of Photography and to Robert Jankulovski personally as its founder and manager.

[Notes]

1. This is so in spite of the fact that the Manaki brothers were in effect photographers.
2. The full inscription on the church’s southern wall reads as follows: “Sej obitel obnovisja vo 1855 izobrazi H. Koste zugraf i fotograf” [according to Dimitar Kornakov in Makedonski manastiri (Macedonian Monasteries), Matica Makedonska, Skopje, 1995, p. 207].
3. When dealing with the subject of the appearance of photography in the world, the year 1839 and the achievements of Daguerre and Herschel in this field are most often quoted in the Macedonian literature. Around the world, however, the prevalent view is that Niepce and his 1826 heliography takes precedence (a landscape shot through a window of his home) as the first genuine and permanent photograph.
4. Vera Veskovik-Vangeli, Ph.D., “Fotozapisot na Avgust Leon za Makedonija vo 1913 godina (The Photo Record of Auguste Léon of Macedonia in 1913),” in: Makedonija vo 1913 (Macedonia in 1913) (catalogue), Museum of the City of Skopje, 2001, p. 21.
5. Ibid., p. 22.
6. Ibid., p. 25.
7. Ibid., p. 19.
8. Ivan Jolevski and Marija Kokalevska-Taleva, “Razvojot na prosvetata vo Bitola (The Development of Education in Bitola),” Tvoreštvoto na brakata Manaki (The Work of the Manaki Brothers), Archives of Macedonia and Matica Makedonska, Skopje, 1996, p. 352.
9. See Jovan D. Kočankovski, M.Sc., “Stranski diplomatski pretstavništva vo Bitola (Foreign Diplomatic Missions in Bitola),” Tvoreštvoto na brakata Manaki, Archives of Macedonia and Matica Makedonska, Skopje, 1996, pp. 167-182.
10. Ibid., p. 182.
11. Makedonija vo 1913 (catalogue), Museum of the City of Skopje, Skopje, 2001, p. 39.
12. See Nikifor Smilevski, Hadži Koste, zograf i fotograf (Hadži Koste, Fresco-painter and Photographer), Kinopis, No. 6, Year IV, 1992, Skopje, p. 84.
13. For more on Hadži Koste Krstev see: Hadži Koste, zograf i fotograf, Kinopis, No. 6, Year IV, 1992, Skopje, p. 84-86; Antonie Nikolovski, “Umetnosta na XIX vek vo Makedonija (The Art of the 19th Century in Macedonia)”, Kulturno nasledstvo na SR Makedonija (The Cultural Heritage of SR Macedonia), Republic’s Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Skopje, 1984; Antonie Nikolovski, Makedonskite zografi od krajot na XIX i početokot na XX vek (Macedonian Fresco-painters from the End of the 19th and the Beginning of the 20th Century), Republic’s Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Skopje, 1984.
14. Makedonija vo 1913 (catalogue), p. 86.
15. Aleksandar Krstevski-Koška, “Fotografskata dejnost na brakata Manaki (The Photographic Work of the Manaki Brothers)”, Tvoreštvoto na brakata Manaki, Archives of Macedonia and Matica Makedonska, Skopje, 1996, p. 68.
16. We should mention in this context Sonja Abadžieva’s view that “we owe the first one-man show of photographs (on the basis of facts available to date) to Cvetko Ivanov (1908-1984),” but she does not quote the source or document for making this assumption; so it will have to be taken with a reserve. See Ekstenzija na kadarot (The Extension of the Frame) (catalogue), Bitola Art Gallery, 1998.
17. For more on this subject see: Petar Boev, Fotografsko izkustvo v B’lgarija (1856-1944) [Photographic Art in Bulgaria (1856-1944)] , Septemvri Državno Izdatelstvo, Sofia, 1983.
18. Filippos Margaritis (1810-1892) was born in Smyrna (now Izmir). In 1821 he spent some time in Rome, where he studied painting. He worked as a teacher in an Art School in Athens.

ART vs RELIGION

1.
Several years ago, right at the beginning of the new Millennium, the so-called Millennium Cross was installed on the top of Vodno - the hill nearest to the city of Skopje – "to be seen from all over Macedonia", as some used to say! Politically it looked as an act of reconciliation between the state and the church - although it was not! For some people it looked like God finally came to Macedonia - which was also false believe. For the people from other then Christian religions it was an open act of intolerance and xenophobia, of religious violence and symbolic declaration of our negligence for the others!

Several years after the installation of the Millennium Cross another most intriguing religious-oriented public debate took place in Macedonia. Its topic was the dilemma whether to introduce classes of religious education in primary schools or not. Or, if you want - whether to introduce the religion into our lives or not! And once again the "religious question" was mercilessly politicized and brought directly into the Parliament for politicians to decide upon.
And for months this "problem" was in the public focus, but not as an educational or even more cultural matter but as a political one! Which, maybe, is not too strange, since we on the Balkans can make politics out of everything. Although the proposal was related to voluntary religious education, it was considered negative by a surprisingly great percentage of the high-educated population and intellectuals. Like it was the end of the (free) world, like we were going to lose something special, or our beloved and not forgotten old system would finally and irretrievably collapse.
On the one hand, having in mind that for more then fifty years we lived under an atheist regime where religion was not welcomed even in the churches, it is understandable that the politicians - especially older ones - were really shocked by the idea of having religious education in schools. But, on the other hand, it was also shocking to see and listen to young people, intellectuals, even eminent people from the educational and cultural field, talking nonsense in the old fashioned socialistic way. Some of them still find the religion "opium for the masses"!
Of course, the question of religious education - like many other things - has never been a topic for serious discussion among scholars in the Macedonian recent past. If it was then it was in a strictly ideological terms and purposes. That is why we do not really know to separate religion from religious education, church from religious education etc. The principle of secularity and the division between the state and the church has separated the things that much that we have forgotten that religion is one of the fundamental pillars of the civilization. We still consider religious matters as political matters! So when we say that education and culture have long been considered of secondary importance, it is not just a mere statement – it is a fact. We still think in the old one-track-minded way allowing the ideology frames to decide about crucial educational and cultural questions!

2.
One recent Dutch contemporary art exhibition* in the National Gallery of Macedonia was only a motive for this text. Otherwise, there are too many examples how unprepared, how "illiterate" and ignorant we are when it comes to religious matters. As a matter of fact each day we find ourselves in a world of significant messages that we do not understand. So let's for a moment consider art as our guide to the world that is still for us to explore!
Nearly half of the artworks presented on the previous mentioned Dutch exhibition were - in one way or another, explicit or a little bit hidden - connected with the religious themes and meanings. And it was really embarrassing to see that most of the public simply did not understand what it is about, what the works represented or what was the artist's point of view. People looked curiously but a little bit confused, they asked questions trying to understand certain point ... they knew there was "something" beyond the mere artworks, but ... So, in a broader context, a great exhibition became a hermetic one, almost incomprehensible for most of the audience! Simply because we forgot about the educational / cultural gap between Europe and Macedonia when it comes to religious matters.
For example: it takes serious religious knowledge to make the distinction between the Calvinism in the North and Catholicism in the South of Netherlands and how it reflects on the moral frontiers and on certain art thinking; or what the real difference between the Protestants and Catholics is; or what the idea of Life as Punishment means and how "to read" it in an art work (Gijs Assman); or what story lies behind the two simple words Ecce homo (Benoit Hermans) ... etc! Or how to recognize in an artwork (Famke van Wijk) the meaning of the "Christian symbol of water in which in all innocence you wash your hands and blood that was shed to absolve you of your sins"[1]?
And it is not only with this exhibition that we have a "communication" problem! As a matter of fact nearly the same problem of incomprehensiveness or even serious misunderstanding occurs with some sophisticated religious-oriented, or religious focused works of Macedonian or international artists. We simply do not know what to think of it - how to "read" the work, how to deal with its "story"! Actually, every day we are literary bombed with images and words that we do not understand. But we look without knowing what we are looking at, we read but we don't know what we are reading about! And the same issue goes on and on.

3.
But it is not the problem only with the contemporary art. As a matter of fact, contemporary art is only the top of the hill. The problem starts far in the foothill!
For example: when we stand in front of an artwork showing the Crucifixion, what do we see - just a man on cross? When we look at Grunewald's (1480-1530) The Crucifixion from the XVI century, do we understand the meaning of the work, do we comply with the artist's deep feelings about that scene? This work is genuinely religious in many respects, and so is the artist. But, it is everything but a realistic view of the crucifixion! Do we know who are the people around the cross, why the proportion of their figures is as it is, what is the meaning of the objects aside the cross? Can we really understand that the scene "points to the ultimate mystery of that death in which death itself was swallowed up in victory"[2]!
And if we move a little bit closer to our days we may come across El Greco (1541-1614) and his religious art. And if we do not know that he worked "in the era of the Counter-Reformation in Spain, with its desperate battle against the inroads of Protestantism and the Secularism of the High Renaissance"[3], then how do we expect to understand his paintings? It is also important to know that most of his paintings are vertical - a quality that comes from his utmost mystic desire to be unified with God, to be closer to him as much as he can.
Almost everybody will tell you that Rembrandt (1606-1669) unquestionably is one of the greatest painters in the world but very few know that he was also a great believer, very religious man. His art has deep religious insight and his profound studies of the Bible showed noticeable change in his style. The "Biblical humanism" that characterizes his mature work is especially evident in the painting Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph, painted in 1656. It is "strikingly simple" but extraordinary painting, calm but deeply moving - one of the many masterpieces where the religious feelings are so subtle, so humanly balanced. But, on the other hand, if we do not know who Jacob and Joseph were and what actually is happening on the painting, then Rembrandts "Biblical humanism" and the significance of his religious message simply miss the point.

4.
So, we all know that art often tends to confront the viewer with some unsuspected things (or qualities) in themselves, some things they never supposed they possessed. Especially religious art confronts the viewer with simple but meaningful stories, stories with sharp human and moral point or sometimes hidden between the lines; religious art often speaks in ciphers and codes, it offers unusual situations and sometimes phantasmagorical solutions; religious art likes "to play" with strange objects and things with double or even triple meaning! It is a whole new world to explore, but only if we have the key to open it. Otherwise we become "lost in translation"!
And this time we talk only about Christian religion. But what if, for example, we find ourselves in front of a Tibetan mandala, or some Islamic iconography?
If we do not know that the arabesque, an aspect of Islamic art usually found decorating the walls of mosques, is based upon the Islamic view of the world, then what do we see? Just forms - floral or ornamental - put together? But to Muslims these forms, taken together, constitute an infinite pattern that extends beyond the visible material world. To many in the Islamic world, they in fact symbolize the infinite, and therefore uncentralized nature of the creation of the one God (Allah). Islamic art is centered usually on Allah, and since Allah cannot be represented by imagery ("All you believe him to be, he is not"), geometric patterns are used.
On the other hand, instead of recalling something related to the reality of the spoken word, calligraphy for the Muslims is a visible expression of the highest art of all, the art of the spiritual world. Calligraphy has arguably become the most venerated form of Islamic art because it provides a link between the languages of the Muslims with the religion of Islam.
But, if we do not know all this things, what are we going to do facing this kind of art - simply turn our head away?

5.
So, since we are talking about Europe, religion and religious art are part of the enduring heritage of the West. And when we think about nowadays process of European integration - about education, culture and art as important parts of this integration - we should also consider religious matters with the same seriousness as the political, economic and other integration. Because religion / religious matters are subtle incorporated in the very essence of every day's life of European people. Especially in art! And if we undermine or don't understand that, then we do not understand the European way of life. And then we have a communication problem and communication problems often lead to all other problems!

So, sometimes, the so-called "clash of civilizations" can come not necessarily from outside but from within! We, of course, have to deal with it. The process of European integration will change for better – and it is changing – but it will take time, knowledge and efforts. And still there are no guaranties that things will come in the right place. It is because the key reforms of the system – especially the reforms in the field of culture and education – are being "prepared" by marginal and often semi literal people and self-called experts! People who think only in political terms and ideological frames, having in mind only narrow party or personal interest. What we need is a complete, thorough, systematic reconstruction of the fundamental values through the educational process and art and culture. And the first thing to begin with is the religious education! Because it will not only improve and deepen our knowledge and understanding but it will hopefully re-arise certain moral values and give new meaning to our way of life.

Notes
* Songs of Innocence and Aggression, 2007, (curated by Thom Puckey)
[1] Alex DE VRIES, Songs of Innocence and Aggression: don't look away (text in catalogue)

[2] Marvin HALVERSON, Cristianity and art,

[3] Ibid

ART AND SOCIETY: TRANSITIONAL / POLITICAL CHANGES:
Macedonian Art in the Period of Transition 1992-2007

1.
On the occasion of the exhibition “Dialogues: the Macedonian Art Today”, curated by the author of this text and presented in Paris in 2003 by the National Gallery of Macedonia, Philippe Davet - the art critic of the renowned “Le Monde” - featured the Macedonian art as “… a furious echo of the historical turbulences”, including “… artworks unexpectedly furious for that region”. Davet was even more specific when he wrote that “the Macedonian artists … show artworks that are chiefly furious, some of which are gloomy humorous, making your blood freeze”, pointing that “the youngest ones, those born in the 1960s, are the ones who hit the hardest”.[1]
And it is true: since 1945[2] the contemporary Macedonian art has never been that openly direct, that society-based and reality / "political" oriented ... like in the past fifteen years. Having in mind that these were the years of especially difficult period of transition - of dissolving of Yugoslavia and establishing (once again) the independence and sovereignty, of economic decline and people loosing their jobs, of ridiculous problems with the neighboring countries (questioning the name of the country, the language, the national identity) ... - then somebody might say that it was a fertile soil for reality-based art to flourish!

Put like this, somebody might find that I promote the idea of the dominating "outer" influence on art, influences that primarily come from the "outside world" (the society, history, life itself etc.). Like "empty stomach makes better art" or art needs an external push to really “hit hard”! But it is not true. Art, of course, and it is beyond any doubt, has its "inner" drivers, autonomous logic and way of development.[3] But here, when I speak about the Macedonian art in the past fifteen years, it appears that the reality itself - the happenings in the "real world", the everyday problems etc. - were the initial trigger for the artists to re-think, to re-consider the emerging society and its fundamental appearances: the historic, social, economic, political ... angles of the present. And to re-think, to re-consider their own position in the society as well!

The questions that immediately arise in this context are: did (or did not) Macedonian artists have such "inspiring" reality (meaning: political, economic, social etc.) challenges in the past; was the Macedonian so called socialist society that good and without problems of any kind; or were the Macedonian artists that self-censored and careful not to fall into trouble with the regime? Is it really all questions of democracy and self-consciousness?
Yes, absolutely! Of course there were problems - really big ones - in the so-called socialist society: economic and social problems, cultural and educational problems, human rights and all other problems you can think off. There had been bold situations and sensitive times; there had been public conflicts and radical measures - but very few artistic responses. The so-called dissidents were more a myth than a reality. There were rebellious intellectuals and of course artists among them, but very few whom you can really call dissidents. And their voices were always outspoken by the choir. There were, of course, people / artists living on the margins of the society but not because of their rebellious art but because of their bad art![4]
Maybe somebody will object that the presence of Abstract art and Informal art in the socialist / communist countries was also a kind of rebellious art and act of disobedience against the regime and its rules in culture and art. But the problem is that the regime did not see it / understand it like that! At least not at the very begining. After that - it was too late.[5]

Since the essence of this text is focused on the period of the past fifteen years – which also imposes a kind of strict ideological / political discourse - I have to stress once again that the society changes in Macedonia (and in the region) after the fall of the Berlin Wall had an essential influence on everything else, art as well. Macedonian art seemed to need such a radical historical upheaval in order to be awakened from the fairly comfortable and, without a doubt, the hibernating sleep known as social reality. Freedom from the ideological clamps and from the high-level self-censorship meant unlocking the feelings and the memory, openness for communication with the past, the present and the future. As there was no longer a single Dominant Truth, all individual truths were now genuine!
It is also true, at least as far as it refers to the mainstream of Macedonian art in the period of transition, that the advocate of this changes - the ones who "hit the hardest” - was the younger generation of Macedonian artists. Especially in the past ten years the younger generation of Macedonian artists dominate on the Macedonian art scene with their particular interest in dialogue, comment, statement, thinking... about the segments of reality that we usually call everyday life, or current events. This art, which is based on the committed role of artists and their art in society, can also be described as art of positioning. To be more precise, these artists are ready to take individual responsibility and publicly declare their own views on a number of crucial issues of local and global significance. And this is a relatively new situation in Macedonian art: artists take independent, active positions and quite openly and clearly, often harshly or ironically speak out about current situations in society. Showing great interest in current problems, and being ardently committed, their artistic statements deal with some of the most pressing issues in Macedonia’s reality (and, indeed, beyond Macedonia’s borders): war/survival, identity/globalization, and democracy/totalitarianism. What is also interesting is the fact that some of these artists often reach back to the past, to history and “tradition”... revisiting and bringing up to date various topics in their contemporary contexts.
What is also interesting is that even though most of this young (or younger) generation artists are perhaps typical postmodernist artists, the lethargy of postmodernism clearly does not suit their temperament। Or more precisely, they are not happy with the benevolent ideas that describe art as something else. Because art is (also) a position, and the artist must state his or her position in public, especially during times and processes of great ideological / political turbulences. Does this mean that the artist will make a mistake if, by stating his/her position, he/she takes a side? But, can it be any different?
Their position is clear and uncompromising. It is based on fully analyzed, elaborated and synthesized ideas about the major processes of today. Their position for or against something is not in the least incidental or guided by accidental emotions. It is rather a position built on a solid foundation of basic human categories about which there can simply be no doubt.

2.
In this respect we can safely assume that post-1990 Macedonian art has two main currents:
- Markedly committed: these works of art are characteristic for their provocatively open and direct views of or answers to current situations;
- Subtly referential: these works of art place an emphasis on personal, intimate and even poetic narration, but with clear and recognizable general allusions and situations.
Here are some examples.

The photo-installation entitled Twelve Silver Soldiers by Robert Jankulovski can also be named Historia est magistra vitae, since his work looks at Macedonia’s history in the 20th century, projecting it onto the events - the ethnic conflict in 2001 - in the same territory at the beginning of the new millennium. Have we really not learnt anything from history, or the fact that it repeats itself is beyond our powers, inevitable, or predestined? The matter-of-fact quality of Jankulovski’s work is too strong and leaves no room for doubt. His historical “multinational platoon” marches on today like an apocalyptic formation of destruction, like “a living recognizable image of death” (Baudrillard).

The earlier projects of Slavica Janešlieva were mainly concentrated on the general modalities of “inter-subjectivity” and the autoreflexive, but at the same time were deeply tied to a number of pressing (traditional, moral, etc.) dilemmas of consequence for local environments. But her project-installation A Cry (2002) prompted by the current ecological disaster of Lake Dojran, once again established a connection between the personal (pain caused by the extinction of the lake’s aquatic world) and the general (current situations in Macedonian society). The two (hospital) beds are in fact Procrustean beds. The first is the “Bed of Macedonian National Consciousness”, with a spread Macedonian flag and a pillow with an embroidered quotation from the account of a 1906 journey by H.N. Brailsford. Second is the “Wailing Bed”, covered by dead shells taken from the shores of Lake Dojran. The entire “scene” is an explicit scream — pain materialized, a striking metaphor of the traumatic temptations of Macedonia’s everyday reality. In such context are also the works: Fragility of Life (2003), The Game (2005), Jars with Wishes for Things to Disappear (2005) etc.

The philosophical, aesthetic and ethical interests and the inherently committed multimedia “handwriting” of Žaneta Vangeli have for more than a decade been directed towards deciphering the continuity of (non) accidental global and local synchronicities. Sometimes minimalist and “stingy” in their statement but, as a rule, visually and aesthetically impressive and effective, Vangeli’s works, although often apparently hermetic, insist on mobilizing the complete human apparatus of perception and comprehension. Her project FYROM Experiment, whose title speaks enough for itself, belongs to her series of concise, committed visual memoranda on current topics: globalism, integrations, new world order, etc. Vangeli ironically combines the past and present, concrete historical references (Macedonia’s 17th-century coat of arms acquires a “new name” - FYROM) and associations to biblical themes (The Last Supper, the Treacherous Kiss) with the modern “icons” of neo-colonialism (Coca Cola). In similar context are also her great works: the project Integralism (prepared for the Venice Biennial 2003), the experimental film The Judge etc.

The works of Aleksandar Stankovski — his paintings, video projects, installations or films in an equal sense — are always metaphors, allegories and demystifications of concrete global processes and events. He is an unorthodox nomad wandering through times both historical and contemporary, a tireless globetrotter along the meridians of current events and processes that he connects and combines with a Merlin-like charm, with comments and often ironic remarks. Of course, his stance allows him to expound on his “favorite” subjects, situations and figures, which he magically and passionately pastes together as collages into virtual and phantasmagoric interactions. Always attentive, he never fails to record a global or local outburst of mundane human stupidity or unacceptable aggression — the constant variants of totalitarian consciousness and of tyrannical manifestations. These go always together with his favourite figures, the modern ideological “heroes,” mystifiers and mythomaniacs — Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Tito or Osama bin Laden — in unexpected but, for the spectator, always intriguing and complex combinations and situations. As a rule, Stankovski combines this sarcastic collage and virtual vision of the global “we” with hermetic sections, symbols and details — indications of his “I”.

And, of course, these are only few examples that do not exhaust the list.

In that respect the names of Dijana Tomic, Atanas Botev, Ismet Ramicevic, Gordana Apostolovska etc,

should be mentioned.

On the other hand and not far aside from these two main currents, Macedonian artists were getting involved in different aspects of social life. Their works showed their viewpoint, their attitude towards questions of wider public interest that usually had nothing to do with the artistic world or were not necessary connected with the artistic community. In this respect several lines can be recognised:
- Artworks that refer as a critic of the cultural / artistic institutional system;
- Artworks that deal with cultural relations;
- Artworks that explore the relation artist / community, etc[6]

Still, it would be unjust not to mention that along with this “main streamlines” in the Macedonian contemporary art scene numerous artists coexist yet taking their creative interests to utterly different directions.

Finally, in the context of the Macedonian art in the period of transition 1992-2007 the great Josef Beuys comes to mind with his statement that in human nature there are three beings: natural, social and free. And, paraphrasing the legendary artist, I would say that in the period 1945-1992 the Macedonian art lived its social being. Since 1992 the stage has been opened for the free artistic being!

[1] Philippe Davet, L'art macedonien, ou l'echo violentdes soubresauts historiques, Le Monde, 04.04.2003.
[2] For the first time in 1945 Macedonia gained independence within the Yugoslavian Federation.
[3] On the other hand, we can always argue whether there really is "out" and "in", what is outside and what inside world ... or, after all, it all is One!? But it is something to be discussed on some other occasion.
[4] This question is still in the public focus and has not yet been completely explained in the ex-socialist / ex-communist countries.
[5] This, of course, is a complex question that needs much more space to be explained!
[6] More about this see in: Nebojsa Vilic, The Artist in Conversation; Who is the Macedonian Artist Talking to?, The National Gallery of Macedonia, Skopje, 2002