The multimedia literature pavilion ‘Migration of Souls’, unique for this part of Europe, starts on Thursday, 3 March, at the Novi Sad Fair, and will present various influences of migration on culture through literature, performance, and visual arts over the next ten days.
The ‘Migration of Souls’ programme will be opened on 3 March by the Japanese singer-songwriter, producer, and guitarist famous for his specific playing style, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Miyavi, who is arriving in Novi Sad with the support of the EU Japan Fest and the Japan Committee. The Barcelona Gipsy balKan Orchestra will perform their rendering of the famous Roma song ‘Gelem, gelem’, which has more than 10 million views on YouTube, on 6 March.
Bogdan Ranković and the Novi Sad ensemble ‘Ethnoforia’, accompanied by the famous Japanese dancer and choreographer Kaori Ito, who is also arriving with the support of the EU Japan Fest and the Japan Committee, will perform on 8 March, and Bilja Krstić & Bistrik Orchestra will take the stage on 10 March. Two members of the famous band Gotan Project, Christoph H. Müller and Eduardo Makaroff, pioneers in the art of combining traditional tango and modern pop with electronic music, will present their new project – Antropoceno! on 12 March, and their show will be introduced by a performance from Romanian dance school ‘Tango Timisoara’. Antropoceno! music project connects music and science, with an emphasis on climate change.
Original Enigma Voices, laureates of more than 100 platinum records around the world, will be arriving for the first time in Novi Sad, where they will take the stage as part of the ‘The Migration of Souls’ programme arch on 13 March, with the city orchestra Camerata Novi Sad. All concerts start at 8 p.m. in Hall 1 of the Novi Sad Fair.
The play ‘Fugitives’ directed by Dušan Mamula, will be performed in Hall 1 of the Novi Sad Fair on 5 March at 8 p.m., and the play ‘We All Came from Somewhere, and a Some a Little Earlier’ will be performed by the association ‘Šmiranti’ and the art team from the Italian partner organization ‘Policardia Teatro’, led by director Andrea Moretti, in Hall 1 of the Novi Sad Fair on 7 March at 8 p.m.
The most popular contemporary writers in the region will be arriving in Novi Sad on this occasion, including Rumena Bužarovska, who will open literary talks on 3 March at 6 p.m., and Milica Vučković, who will make an appearance on 5 March. Dejan Tiago Stanković will come to the literary pavilion on 4 March, and Miljenko Jergović will present himself to the audience on 6 March, Damir Karakaš on 7 March, and fans of the written word will have the opportunity to listen to Kristian Novak and Darko Cvijetić on 9 March.
The key event of the ‘Migration of Souls’ programme is the exhibition of the same name with the subtitle ‘Migration of Souls – Novi Sad in Books’, organised by the Novi Sad City Library, associated with the traditional Novi Sad Book Fair, and on display in the Aula of the Novi Sad Fair from 3 to 13 March. On that occasion, three expert-guided tours will be organized on 4, 8, and 12 March between 2 and 3 p.m.
As part of the Carnival of Ritual Processions, the audience will listen to a lecture titled ‘Masks and People Behind Masks’ on 3 March at 4 p.m., and the guests will be an anthropologist and ethnologist Prof. Vesna Marjanović, PhD. The Children’s masquerade will be organized on 10 March at 11 a.m., followed by a concert of guest troupes from the country and abroad on 11 March at 6 p.m. Tickets are on sale at Gigstix ticket offices and online via gigstix.com, as well as at the Novi Sad Fair ticket office on the day of the concert.
The promotion of the Novi Sad writer Laszlo Vegel’s essay ‘In the Promised Land’ will be held in the Master Hall of the Novi Sad Fair on 4 March at 6 p.m., while the audience will have the chance to get acquainted with the project ‘Following Roma Paths’ by the Roma Association ‘Karlovačke zore’, which will include a digital catalogue of Roma folk costumes in Vojvodina, a fashion show, and a presentation of Roma folk dances and songs in the Master Hall of the Novi Sad Fair on 6 March at 7 p.m.
The audience will be treated to a staged reading of Michael Martens’ book ‘In the Fire of Worlds: Ivo Andrić – A European Life’, signed by Muharem Bazdulj, in the Master Hall of the Novi Sad Fair on 8 March at 4 p.m. The Moroccan band Chalaban will perform in Hall 1 of the Novi Sad Fair on 9 March at 8 p.m.
Tickets for all concerts and the play ‘Fugitives’ can be purchased at the Gigstix ticket offices and online via the gigstix.com website, as well as at the Novi Sad Fair entrance one hour before the event. The organizers ask all visitors to wear masks and keep the prescribed distance. Green Covid-19 certificates are not required, and masks will be issued at the entrance.
Novi Sad Fair is the partner of the ‘Migration of Souls’ programme, and the companies Globos osiguranje and Dijamant DOO also provided support. The ‘Migration’ programme arch is one of the eight programme arches that make up the programme concept of the European Capital of Culture 2022. A detailed programme, programme book, and all information related to the events in the year of the European Capital of Culture title can be found on our website.
Photo: Promo, Marko Pudić, Dušan Todorović