During the last year the British Council has supported various initiatives related to the promotion of creative industries in SEE cities. While the one-year project is - as of March 2006 - officially over, outlines and updates concerning the projects in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Plovdiv, Prishtina, Skopje, Split, Tirana, and Tuzla can be accessed at uksee.net

Non-Archived: Balkan Modernisms will be the theme of a panel to be organized as part of the Modernist Studies Association's conference in Oklahoma on October 19-22, 2006. "The area has reclaimed its modernist heritage only recently and the long neglect has taken its toll. [...] Conditioned by foreign and domestic cultural politics, the vanishing of the traces of Balkan modernisms often went hand in hand with the disappearance and change of political systems, which we would like to explore. [...] We are interested in documented and undocumented traces of Balkan modernisms—personal archives, legacies, journals, bans and declarations, as well as alternative artistic activities (café-culture, performances, and so forth), and their connections to the European, American, and global modernist movements." Deadline: April 25, 2006.

In recent days the possibility of the ceramics museum on central's Athens Monastiraki square being reinstated to its original function as mosque has been debated. The Church of Greece has also expressed support for the creation of a mosque in Athens - already promised for the Olympic Games in 2004 but never realized - and names the Monastiraki re-conversion as a possibility. Muslim organizations, however, have complained of not being consulted over this matter. [1],[2],[picture]

Applications are now sought by Europa Nostra for the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage. Outstanding heritage achievements will be awarded six monetary "Prizes" of EU 10,000 each, in addition to “Medals” and “Diplomas” in the following categories: 1. Conservation of: A) Architectural heritage B) Landscapes C) Works of art D) Archaeological sites; 2. Study in the field of cultural heritage conservation; 3. Dedicated Service to heritage conservation by individuals or groups. In our region, past awards were given to restoration projects for the Hill Church of Sighisoara (Romania), the Koundouriotis House at Hydra (Greece), the Cibali Tobacco Factory in Istanbul (Turkey), the Episcopal Palace of the Euphrasian Basilica in Porec and the St. John Orsini Chapel in Trogir (Croatia), the St. Tryphon's Cathedral in Kotor (Montenegro), as well as archaeological sites in Croatia (Monkodonja) and Greece (Naxos). The deadline for applications is September 1/15, 2006.

In the central Bosnian town of Jajce - where these days also a nomination for the UNESCO world heritage list is filed [1] - multilanguage signage with descriptions of historic monuments haven been put up within a British Council project entitled "Cultural Heritage - Royal Trail" [in the Bosnian translation alternatively "Path of Kings"]. The British Council has also funded the restoration of Krslakova kuca, a national monument which will be used as a workshop for the "first international school of old construction crafts" in Sarajevo, as well as a regional cultural heritage conference previously announced with the somewhat amusing title "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder". The program of this conference, which took place in Jajce last week, can be found here.

BIRN has recently run an article on the Montenegrin city of Herceg Novi, whose heart "beats for Serbia". "An influx of Serb refugees and pensioners has made this ancient resort town a bastion of pro-union feeling. [...] Local analysts say around 60 per cent of the population in Herceg Novi will vote for the continued joint state with Serbia. [But] Herceg Novi was not always the bastion of Serb feeling that it has become today. Generations back, the town, which lies only a few miles south of Dubrovnik, had a largely Catholic population and culture".