Participants in a South-Eastern Europe heads of state summit in Mostar adopted, on June 3, a declaration confirming their resolution to respect and promote intercultural and interreligious dialogue and tolerance as a valuable asset ensuring the permanence of cultural heritage. The Cervantes Institute in Belgrade is hosting, from June 5 to 7, a week dedicated to Spanish poet Jose Hierro, marking the 90th anniversary of his birth and the 10th anniversary of his death. More in the Cultural Chronicle, prepared by Dušica Maticki.
The Declaration of Mostars is dedicated to religious and cultural heritage as a basis of intensive cooperation among countries in the region, which was the topic of the tenth UNESCO summit, attended by director general Irina Bokova. It was announced that regional cooperation would be improved through the exchange of knowledge of cultural heritage and various frameworks of cooperation among cultural, educational and other relevant institutions and participants in the region, along with support to joint regional programmes and projects.
The participants in the Summit also had bilateral meetings, so Serbian Culture Minister Predrag Marković met with UNESCO director general Irina Bokova. As announced by the Serbian Ministry of Culture, Bokova confirmed that UNESCO adhered to their confirmed principles and international documents, including UN SC Resolution 1244 on Kosmet and the protection of Serbian monuments included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Addressing the participants in the Summit, Marković expressed hope that the UNESCO World Heritage List, in addition to Stari Ras and the Sopocani monastery, the Studenica monastery and the Gamzigrad-Felix Romuliana archaeological site, would include other Serbian monuments as well, currently on the UNESCO tentative list, such as the Manasija monastery, Caričin grad (the Empress’s Town), the historical site of Bač and the Smederevo fortress. Marković also confirmed that Serbia was ready to work on the regional nomination of Đurđevdan (St George’s Day) to UNESCO’s representative list of intangible cultural heritage in cooperation with countries of the region. History and our everyday life, too, teach us that it is impossible to envisage the culture of a nation without considering the indiviual cultures of all other nations in the vicinity and the influence of world civilizations forming a varied cultural landscape, said Marković. He expressed satisfaction with the fact that the Summit had been hosted by Mostar, a historic town in Herzegovina with the Old Bridge as its most famous landmark, a town that, according to him, has been and should be a symbol of intercultural dialogue and reconciliation in the region.
The summit in Mostar gathered the delegations of several countries in the region. The previous summit of heads of state was hosted by Serbia, in early September 2011, and was held in the archaeological site of Viminacium. That was the first time that the UNESCO general director attended the summit.
The Cervantes Institute in Belgrade is hosting, from June 5 to 7, a week dedicated to famous Spanish poet Jose Hierro, marking the 90th anniversary of his birth and the 10th anniversary of his death. It is after this poet that the Cervantes Institute in Belgrade’s library was named. On that occasion, the Institute will be hosting distinguished guests from Spain, poets and literary critics. Hierro was the winner of numerous prestigious literary awards, such as the Cervantes Prize (1998), the Prince of Asturias Award (1981), The National Prize for Literature (1990) and Queen Sofia’s Ibero-American Poetry Prize (1995).