2019 WDEC at the New Cemetery in Belgrade, Serbia, was
honored by series of preliminary and main events, held thorough May and the beginning
of June.
Pre-WDEC Events
The New Cemetery in Belgrade continues to
participate in the Week of Discovering European Cemeteries (WDEC), launched and
managed by the Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe. Traditionally each May, the New Cemetery in
Belgrade hosts two international pre-WDEC events.
Belgrade International Architecture Week
The New Cemetery in Belgrade is traditionally a part of guided walks through
the City of Belgrade, within the Belgrade International
Architecture Week (BINA). This year’s 14th Belgrade Architecture week was
held under the slogan „Positive and Active“. Following the initiative of the
organizers, the walk was dedicated to the Great War Cemeteries located within
the New Cemetery of Belgrade. This first specialized walk through the New
Cemetery devoted exclusively to the Memorials of the Great War, has aroused
significant interest among the citizens of Belgrade, so this year’s group was
filled in record time. The New Cemetery in Belgrade is one of the rare urban,
civilian cemeteries comprising five foreign military cemeteries from WWI and
WWII: Austro-Hungarian, French, Italian, British, Bulgarian and Russian. Among
the other attractions, the visitors were able to enter the crypt of the WWI
Serbian Ossuary of Belgrade Defenders and the Memorial Chapel at the
Austro-Hungarian Military Cemetery. At the Italian WWI Memorial Cemetery, our guests
heard the interesting and at times heart-breaking stories of the Italian WWI
volunteers, the symbolism of the massive iron gate around the cemetery and had
a chance to record their impressions into the Guestbook.
Museum Night
With the idea to provide an
authentic experience, the New Cemetery took part in the Museum Night for the
seventh time in a row, with the intriguing guided tours. This 16th Museum Night in
Belgrade was held on May 18, 2019 under the slogan „Freedom“, and was dedicated
to Surrealism, as an art and socially engaged movement. In the course this
unique journey through the night entitled “The
Night with Inexhaustible Sources”, the visitors heard the stories on
surrealists and other artists, who inspired by the freedom of taught and
expression, had devoted their lifework to breaking the boundaries of „Reality“. The guests enjoyed expressive stories
told by volunteer guides, i.e., Belgrade University Students who managed to
keep visitors’ interest with great success. Through their emotionally engaging
stories, at times on the edge of visual and dramatic performance, the guides introduced
the visitors to the unpredictable and shocking spheres of Surrealism and Dadaism,
as well as their battle for artistic and other forms of freedom. This year’s
Museum Night was unfortunately cut short due to heavy spring rains, however, it
didn’t stop our young guides to provide an unparalleled experience to the
citizens of Belgrade and our dear guests.
Main Event
This year’s BINA and Museum Night prompted us to listen
carefully to our visitors who suggested the theme for the main event marking
WDEC 2019 at the New Cemetery in Belgrade, and was therefore decided to mark
this occasion with one of the most popular thematic guided walks
through the New Cemetery in Belgrade - Embodied from Soul and Mind – The Story
of Extraordinary Ladies. Embodied from
Soul and Mind is a thematic stroll devoted to all those fascinating ladies, who
in spite of disturbing patriarchal social settings, managed to find the way to
- graciously and with a smile - move the world in direction of progress and
make it better place to live. In addition to sometimes grim reminders on the
difficult social position of the local women at the end of 19th and the
beginning of 20th century, the visitors were fascinated by the tales of these
heroines of spirit, their fatal loves, not to mention the women who were active
as in and around the front lines, controversial free thinkers, but also the
victims of malicious gossips and ruthless entrapment. The visitors were able
to see the last resting place of the
„Serbian Sarah Bernard”, talented local actress who was a cause of duels
between the Royal Ministers and to whom many emotional verses were written by
romantic poets, in addition to the first female librarian and journalist of the
„Politika " Daily News, who elegantly defied the strict believes of her
time and later became originator of the local modern dance movement, not to
mention the bright and highly disputed Serbian lady, who managed to acquire the
PhD title and become the first regular female professor of the Belgrade
University. This tour was filled with the inspiring life stories of the
educated, free-spirited women struggled to overcome the limitations imposed by
the society and the period they lived in.
