Cultural chronicle

February 27, (MIA)

Archaeologists return at Vinica Kale - The idea, acquiring the support of the Government, is Vinica beside archaeological researches, to obtain a museum of terra-cotta icons, meaning all this precious findings presently located at Museum of Macedonia to return home, reads "Vecher" daily.

There are efforts of turning Vinica into a tourist attraction this year. Vinica Fortress excavation site that has provided famous terra-cotta icons, part of them being kept in Museum of Macedonia, received this year 10 million denars for archaeological researches and conservation of the ramparts. Archaeologists commence their work in March under the guidance of Cone Krstevski. Furthermore, Vinica is most probably going to acquire Museum of terra-cotta icons. As manager of Institute for Protection of Cultural Inheritance, Pasko Kuzman states, it would be insisted on returning of the icons from the Museum of Macedonia and bringing them home. Vinica terra-cotta icons, dating from the 6th and 7th century are made in a workshop included in the city complex of the Fortress, which has been confirmed with a thorough analysis of the clayey soils near by. More than 15 scenes and around 50 complete and hundred partial fragments of terra-cotta icons have been discovered so far.

Vinica Fortress, located South-West from city of Vinica, was continuously inhabited and dominated in one of most important crossroads from Roman and Byzantine times. As an excavation site has entered in Macedonian archaeology in 1953 for the first time, whereat systematic archaeological diggings have been initiated by Museum of Macedonia in 1985 with Dr Kosta Balabanov, art historian acting as project manger.

With tax alleviation to larger funds in culture - Several institution and festival managers are trying to find good solution to improve culture investing climate, reads "Dnevnik" daily newspaper. Working team made of institution and festival managers from the culture sphere along with the representatives of the Ministry of Culture, have taken an initiative for tax relieves for financing the culture. Main issues whereon initiative is grounded are increasing the interest of private companies and more active participation of the Government through its certain sectors. Document is soon expected to be completed, which would be submitted to Government consideration. Working team is made of Macedonian National Theatre manager, Sasho Milenkovski, Film Fund manager, Dejan Iliev and Skopje Jazz Festival manager, Oliver Belopeta.

- That won't be a separate bill of law for tax relieves, but changes in already existing Law on Games of Chances or in the Law on Excise. We are still far from a final document, but I hope that something would be done in that area and quality solution for culture stimulation would be found. The Law on Sponsorship was brought few years previously, but it did not provide great results. According to Milenkovski, solution should be relevant and equally qualitative for all fields of culture and should not provide advantages to any area. He made researches and compared the functioning of the Laws in other countries.

- In certain countries, like Britain for instance, there is a special section in the Law on Games of Chances according to which means are allocated to culture. There is also more centralized model, most often created by the Ministry. I am for the idea to apply the centralised model, while later the dispersion should follow. Since if we are to speak of games of chance, we should later consider for a commission from the alcohol and cigarettes, capital investments commission and other, which would all become commission for culture. It would be well if certain parallelism could be provided at the beginning, since not all is possible under one roof, said Milenkovski. According to Macedonian Film Fund manager, Dejan Iliev our cinematography is to benefit from the tax relieves as well.

- Changes in the Law on Film Fund could certainly help in attracting more investments in the film industry. Should be the case of larger relieves it would bring greater production. There has to be special provisions in the law, which would apply to financing of film co-productions - thinks Iliev. From the Ministry on the other hand hope that changes in certain laws would influence positively in attracting companies to invest in culture areas, which would help raising the culture spirit in the country.

Cafeteria in the middle of Heraklea - Bitola Institute and Museum is building actively a museum - cafeteria on the Eastern side of theatre building premises at archaeological site of Heraklea, reads daily newspaper. It is predicted to dislocate part of rich museum display on Heraklea. New exhibiting salon is integral part of project in attempts to enliven and popularise Bitola ancient town, which is realised with the financial support of 130 thousand Euros donated by the Italian Government. - Cafeteria is predicted to be finished by May ongoing year. It would include closed part of three floors, whereat the museum collection of Heraklea would be displayed, whereas the premises would be used for seminars and other workshops as well. Upper floor would have the exit leading to spacious terrace, where visitors could observe the whole locality - said Zoran Nikolovski, Bitola Institute and Museum manager. Heraklea is to receive new fence with the donated Italian funds. It is predicted to place security guards along with electronic security system, to mark the excavated objects and to illuminate all mosaics. Currently the location is being cleared of all unnecessary and old objects, along with the clearing and cutting of the old trees by 30 volunteers, said Nikolovski.

"Marat/Sade" by MNT is to be the thorn in everyone's eyes - Theatre come back of director Vasil Hristov, who has been working on filming in the past 12 years in Netherlands, is a provocative work by Peter Weis, which is worked in MNT on March 10th, published "Utrinski vesnik" daily.

This very important play for the political theatre, which opens some essential issues connected for the present, as much local as global political moment, though has abundant number of possibilities for political allusions regarding the contemporary Macedonian political context, Hristov will not treat it as means for political debate. "Theatre does not offer solutions for political problems. The essence of the theatre is to present problems, thus it is the most concrete provocation of political or business elite", says Vasil Hristov.

Nonetheless performance offers reflections on political and social problems in Macedonia.

"Marat/Sade" is an asylum and a theatre. It is a large metaphor for the condition of the world in the past and present, for the place of the individual and its soul. In a way, it is a political thriller, which presents special metaphor of the level of political thought in the time of the French revolution and nowadays.

"Historical significance of this text comes up from the fact, which represents mixture of Brecht and Arto - two juxtaposed sides of theatre languages. If Brecht is the absolute distance, then Arto is the absolute dedication. This play joins these two worlds in a whole, thanks to the story. This is a performance made in the Brecht manner. Patients in an asylum play the performance for the audience, but from a distant position. But, defining the illness, when entering the character, they crash the Brecht dimension and play the problem organically, which brings to explosion of feelings, says director Hristov.

Emotional story on Veles in front of Macedonian audience - Macedonian premiere of film "I Am from Titov Veles" by Teona Strugar Mitevska is scheduled on Wednesday at Skopje Army Hall at 20:00hrs, reads "Shpic" daily.

First film premiere was on Monday in Veles and according to producer and film actress Labina Mitevska, the audience reacted very emotional to the film.

- We are very excited since it is hardest to present to home audience. But the thing that thrills us, excites us and makes us happiest is that we have proved that when we have good film it finds its way to the audience, says Mitevska.

World hits "Emotional Intelligence" by authors Travis Bradbury and Jean Graves and "Modern Phobias by Tim Lioro are latest editions by "Kultura" publishing house, which are to be promoted at the bookstore in "Ristikeva palata" at 19:00 hrs, reads "Vest".

Emotional intelligence is subject of interest for three decades and main preoccupation of psychologists, sociologists and pedagogues throughout the world. Researches and results presented in this work show that emotional intelligence play important role in the placing of the individual in the public life, in the creating of the future and the achieving success in personal and professional live of the individual.