Taking a look into the conference that celebrates lovers of the written word
The tenth jubilee literary conference Book Talk, which traditionally brings together the most famous regional writers, publishers and fans of the art, opened on September 27, in Novi Sad, in the Pavel Beljanski Memorial Collection.
The attendees were addressed by Dragan Traparić, assistant secretary in the Department for Public Information, Media and Analytics, Milana Kvas, director of the Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection, Tijana Palkovljević Bugarski, director of Matica Srpska Gallery, Robert Čoban as conference organizer and Maja Stojanac, spokeswoman for the Art Gallery.
Rajko Mamuzić gift-collection of art. On the first day of the conference, two panels and a 1-on-1 conversation were held, and the attendees also watched a short in memoriam video in honour of Book Talk participants who left us from 2015 to this year’s first anniversary.
According to Dragan Traparić, assistant secretary in the Department for Public Information, Media and Analytics, the book is what teaches us and must not be forgotten.
“I have to congratulate the organizer Robert, all managers of our provincial institutions for cooperating and recognizing the values of tradition, culture and customs in Serbia, the region and the world. Electronic communications prevailed due to the loss of the middle strain of society. I think the time will come again for the host, the gentleman, to read a newspaper or a book in his home or restaurant,” said Traparić.
“Continuity is due to intersectoral cooperation between cultural institutions, writers and the media. This year, instead of distributing books on buses, we distributed books in Novi Sad high schools. The enthusiasm of the young generation for that action shows us that there is hope for books”, said Robert Čoban, organizer and director of Color Media Communications at the beginning of the conference.
The director of the Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection, which is the host institution of this year’s Book Talk, invited the attendees to visit the valuable exhibitions of all three cultural points on Galerija Square during the conference.
“We have entered the second decade of this conference. You are welcome to all three establishments here on the Square, to look at our installations and enjoy the art”
Tijana Palkovljević Bugarski, director of Matica Srpska Gallery, also spoke about the inextricable connection between books and art in her opening address.
“The connection between books and art is so great that we could organize a special conference on that topic. I congratulate you on 10 years of dedicated work on the development of books and literature, because books will never go out of fashion, said the manager of GMS” the director of Matica Srpska Gallery added.
Maja Stojanac addressed the conference on behalf of the Rajko Mamuzić Gift-Collection Fine Art Gallery collective, who recalled how much Rajko Mamuzić himself loved books, given that he was a literature student.
“This jubilee conference is entirely in the spirit of our collector Rajko Mamuzić. From that time to the present, it is unchanging that writers are friends of the house and our dear guests”. Stojanac stated how much books connect us generationally, as well as the action of sharing books in high schools.
Boris Maksimović, Zoran Hamović, Nenad Šaponja and Peđa Kresojević spoke at the first Book Talk panel of regional book publishers. They presented their opinions and experiences on the impact of digital changes on literature and publishing, on the consumer habits of generations born after the year 2000, as well as on other topics that plague their industry.
Gordana Nonin and screenwriter, director and writer Goran Marković discussed the book “Zavod” during a 1-on-1 conversation. His novel tells about the intertwined relationships of the former director of “Politics” Vladislav Rybnikar, his wife at the time, and theater director Hugo Klein. The word “Institute” was chosen for the title of the novel, as an abbreviated name of “Institute for treatment with cold water, electricity, Swedish gymnastics and massage”, which existed in Belgrade between the two world wars, and which was also the meeting place of Hugo Klein and Stana Đurić Ribnikar. At the same time, Marković announced that he is writing a new book, which will be a fiction genre and whose premiere is yet to come.
The next panel discussed have we forgotten, the greatest Novi Sad writer of the 20th century? On the centenary of Tišma’s birth, what reminds us of him in Novi Sad and what Tišma would say to the people of Novi Sad today, a topic discussed by the participants of the second panel: Dragan Prole, Ruža Perunović, Vladimir Gvozden and Srđan Orsić.
On the last day of the “Book Talk 2024” conference, in the Rajko Mamuzić Fine Arts Gallery and the Matica Srpska Gallery, the audience had the opportunity to follow various panel discussions of prominent regional writers, publishers and lovers of the written word.
In the first panel entitled “It’s not colder, but it can be bloodier: Balkans vs Scandinavia”, Jurica Pavičić, Oto Oltvanji, Mirjana Đurđević, Mario Ligouri and Aleksandar Gajovi participated and discussed the differences in the approach to thrillers, from Scandinavia, the Balkans, and all the way to America, but also about their history, inspirations and chances to impose “Balkan Noir” in this genre.
After the first panel, the audience had the opportunity to have a 1-on-1 conversation with the writer Vladimir Pištalo, one of the most important contemporary Serbian writers. Among his most famous works are the poetic prose Picture Book, Manifestos, Teas of Mars / Nights, story collections End of the Century, Stained Glass in Memory, Stories from the Whole World, novels Millennium in Belgrade, Tesla, Portrait between Masks, Venice, The Sun of this Day: Letter to Andrić, and the book of essays The Meaning of the Joker.
The next and last panel, which was held in the Gallery of Fine Arts, Rajko Mamuzić’s gift collection, “Not only fathers-in-law and peasants: Vojvodina writers and Vojvodina as a literary topic in the 21st century”, dealt with the topic of contemporary Vojvodina writers and how they deal with topics which are important for the people of this region today. Among the panelists were Oto Oltvanji, Jelena Bačić Alimpić, Đorđe Randelj, Jelena Đorđević and Srđan Tešin.
In the Matica Srpska Gallery, the program continued with the panel “God, how this reminds me of something: Plagiarism in contemporary literature”, where the topic was the theft of intellectual property and their ubiquity in political discussions. Among the speakers were Miloš Živković, Muharem Bazdulj, Antonije Simić and Marko Srdanović, while Mirko Sebić was the moderator.
The next panel, entitled “Good evening Mr. Orwell: 40 years since 1984” was devoted to the famous literary work “1984” and the future of literature in the age of “artificial intelligence”. The participants were Svetlana Slapšak, Vladimir Pistalo, Ljiljana Habjanović Đurović, Zoran Simić, Nenad Novak Stefanović, Pavle Zelić and Dejan Voštić.
The final panel of the Book Talk conference was “The other city: What do Novi Sad and Split have in common – apart from the area code, postal code and picigin”, where the panelists talked about the common characteristics of these two cities and the various ties that connect them, but also about the possibility of becoming one given potentially to “brothers”. The participants were Jurica Pavičić, Marija Vasić, Ivana Radivojević. Siniša Milić, Tamara Gucunja, Gordan Drašinac, Ljiljana Crnčić, Slavenka Kačar and Dejana Pakledinac.
After the last panel, the guests had the opportunity to enjoy a cocktail in the Matica Srpska Gallery, after which the event was officially over.
