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For: Poetry, love, devotion and truth

Category: Video

Tags: #CULTURE

Miljana Dundjerin is recognized by the public for the work of the Private Cultural Center Aquarius, Nora Prekazi for her work in the Mitrovica Museum, but also for her poetry. Both are behind the second poetry festival "ZaNa". The festival is not named after a famous Yugoslav band, but by a mythical creature - a fairy from poetry. ZaNa was the occasion to talk to them in another podcast for www.kosovotrustbuilding.com.

"Poetry is underrated, especially underrated in this digital content we live in. Everything is digital. Everything is visual, but poetry, it's breath, it's blood, it's emotion. Let this be a chance for Mitrovica to be known for something other than for the bridge, the famous bridge we have" - said Prekazi.

"If you translate someone's poetry, you translate his soul," Dundjerin said.

One of the backbones of the festival is art therapy. Miljana Dundjerin, a painter also, sees art as "the answer to every kind of sickness":

"When people feel sad, when people don't feel so comfortable in this very strange world, they create art and then they feel better."

In the past, art often gathered people from Mitrovica.

"Mitrovica is a very specific city and we had glorious years of art that were not present in all other cities in Kosovo," Prekazi said.

"I lived in Pristina, studied in Tirana, and Mitrovica is seen as one sad, poor place, which is not true. We want all activities to be here, in the southern and northern part of the city," she added.

"Just speak through art. Art is very easy to understand," Dundjerin said, adding that ZaNa is "a combination of art and the public."

"It is important to have contact with each other, and the only way, which is very simple, to do it without any communication is art. You never meet someone, but if you read his poetry, you will meet him," she added.

They both share the same attitude - love is the driving force for any change in society.

"Of course love. And of course devotion, but also truth, because normal people live in the city, there are normal people who work hard, love their lives, and we don't have hundreds of lives. This is us and that's what we want to do here. Not in Pristina, not in Belgrade, not in Tirana, but in our city, in the city where our children will grow up, and it is very important that this is shown in the media, not only what politics tells us about the city, not what is sold about Mitrovica, but what is the soul of Mitrovica. So I think this should be a message that people should always know that there are people here who live their only life and give their best" - said Prekazi.