[spectre] about the Balkans and Globalization Conference

[Misko]

Hi everyone, it's a bit early for reporting from the Conference,
as the last participants just left yesterday, but I think that I should
write a few words at least now, as I will be traveling to Thessaloniki
and Kyiv, and my report will be done by the end of month, I guess.=20

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As organizers, we are more than content from the presentations,
discussions and in general, from the level of communication between the
participants from several Balkan countries, accomplished during the
Conference =93The Balkans and Globalization.=20

The project =93Understanding Balkans=94 actually should be considered as a =
long term project,
which incorporates in itself annual conferences, publishing activity
(books, catalogues, web sites databases) and continuous socializing and
dialog among the participants.=20

I think that the extracurricular activities such as the participation at
the ritual of "Zikir", in the "Ruafai Tekke" in Skopje (compliments to
everyone on the endurance of the coldness in the tekke but also for not
fainting. Thanks to Stefan Saskov for organizing this marvelous visit),
then the basketball game between the participants of the Conference
(compliments to the skills of Zoran Naskovski, Slobodan Mijuskovic,
Vesna Pavlovic, Kristijan Panev, Branislav Sarkanjac, Vencislav Zankov,
Aleksandar Kiossev, Walter Van der Cruijsen, Nikola Pisarev, and the
others...) and the hanging out, singing, etc. contributed a lot to the
dialog.=20

I can also say that some of the participants from the Balkan countries
rather sincerely stated that in their environments this kind of
discourse and dialog would not be possible, so we can be proud that in
these few years we have built bridges that will be of use not only to us,
but also to the others.

This conference, as continuation of the lest-year conference
=93Understanding the Balkans=94, which took place in Ohrid, opens opportuni=
ties for=20
further activities on this plan. The conference also enabled direct
agreements between the participants for some future projects to be
implemented in our country, but in their countries as well. This
situation pleases me a lot because it signalizes that in these two years of=
 activity in the
framework of the UNDERSTANDING THE BALKANS project, we have built a
platform that is of open type and that enables Skopje to be placed as a
center, which builds up on direct communication.=20

We surely plan further conferences in Macedonia and in the neighboring
countries in the framework of this project. As a matter of facts, there
are several already planned conferences in the region for the following
two years, which will have the topic of =93globalization and the local=94.

Currently, the Contemporary Arts Center prepares the book in which the
presentations from last-year conference =93Understanding the Balkans=94 wil=
l
be available. For the above conference there has been an interest in the
country and in the region as well, but also in the European and the
overseas countries.

So much from me at the moment. I hope that Ventsi, Zoran, Vesna, Sally,
Walter, and the others can also send some impressions from Skopje.

Best regards,

Melentie




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Melentie Pandilovski
Director
Contemporary Arts Center  - Skopje
Orce Nikolov 109, 1000 Skopje
Republic of Macedonia
Tel/Fax: +389.2.133.541
Tel/Fax: +389.2.214.495
Mobile: +389.70.217.075
http://www.scca.org.mk
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