International photography exhibition „Balkan Tale“ will present cultural and historical heritage of the Ottoman era, from 19th June to 19th August in Belgrade
The international photography exhibition „Balkan Tale“, a project organized by Remont – Independent Artistic Association and Goethe Institut, will be opened on June 19th in the Residence of Princess Ljubica in Belgrade.
The project “Balkan Tale” examines and presents to the public cultural and historical heritage of Balkan region dating from the period of Ottoman Empire. Today, memories of the period of the Ottoman rule remain hidden in buildings that have changed purpose over time, or have completely faded due to general abuse and destruction.
Still, whatever shape they are in today, completely devastated or preserved, buildings from the period of Ottoman Empire, private or public, Christian, Muslim or Jewish, remain documents of a shared history – the history that peoples in the Balkans shared for entire six centuries.
The exhibition is opened till August 19th and the visitors will have opportunity to see the photographs of rich cultural heritage of the Ottoman era in the Balkans, the heritage that is severely threatened and the project was initiated in order to open the public discourse on the history of the region and the preservation of its cultural heritage.
Several countries of Balkan region took part in the realization of the project and the main focus of the project is on the photography exhibition that offers a new perspective on the past as well on Balkan’s cultural monuments. A contemporary perspective was given by artists/photographers who, although unfamiliar to one another, tried to attain a coherent series of photographs by re-examining the importance of this mutual history in present times for all of us.
Ivan Petrović, Kamilo Nollas, Jutta Benzenberg, Ivan Blažev and Samir Karahoda have photographed the most important churches, mosques, hammams, aqueducts, residential buildings, and bridges in each of the participant countries, with emphases on their unique historical traits and their present conditions.
After Athens and Thessaloniki the exhibition is coming to Belgrade and later on it will be opened in Munich, Prizren, Skopje and Tirana.