Minister

My friend is complaining that he has not been able to find his car mechanic for three days. He doesn't answer his phone, he's not in the service... "Isn't he a candidate for the minister of culture, or maybe science?", he wondered sincerely worried. And at least in Montenegro, no matter how bizarre it sounds, such an explanation is quite credible. Even possible.

In many ways, one can see the attitude of a political elite towards culture. One of the ways is the selection of people who will hold important (political) roles in culture.

Of course, here the word "elite" should be seen as part of the phrase "political elite" (there was no mention of elites in the more ancient sense), i.e. it means a group of politicians (and the associated bashibozuk) who are united by the fact that together they throw a crucial piece of power . Whatever they think of each other, they have to be together. And they have to put up with each other.

Experience teaches us that such political and politicking games always end at the expense of culture. She is always there, somehow at hand, so that they can "break up" in one way or another.

I don't know anything about the politician who was proposed as the new minister of culture. (Nobody from the world of culture knows: she doesn't exist in that world. Well, that's a bit unusual, isn't it?) In the end, she hasn't even started working yet, so she can't be commented on. But her choice is something that deserves comment and analysis. For now, she made only one public move: she accepted what was offered to her. I'm afraid that says enough.

Is it really possible that in the atmosphere of the party that received that part of the "spoils" there are no publicly recognizable personalities from the cultural zone? Or it just doesn't matter to them.

Time of King Nikola it was the time of "domestic" (read: courtly) culture. So, a worthy start to the matrix that continues to this day.

The department of culture under the old communists was a kind of waiting room or bench for reserves. From there, you could either take an advisory position until retirement, continue your political ascent (for people from culture, the next ideal was "internal affairs") or turn to serious diplomacy. They were not even interested in culture, but they were very interested in arranging things in all areas, including culture. Such decades-long degradation of the cultural scene must have left lasting consequences.

And then came those, the AB revolutionaries, who, at first, were extremely suspicious of any culture, especially Montenegrin culture. Then they were close to the one Goebbels - As soon as culture is mentioned, I brandish my gun... It was the same with them and their boss from Belgrade at the time: from disputes in culture in just a few years there was war and killing.

There were some interesting hints at the very end of the last century and the beginning of this century. The dissolution of the old narrative favored the creation of a dynamic and fragmented cultural scene. Politicians obviously had other and bigger concerns in that period, so culture was left to itself. Unfortunately, not for long.

After the restoration of independence, culture became a victim of the "wrong turn" genre trap. Again the commissars and again the dictates of the "major force". The production of enemies, the dubious ideal of unanimity and monolithicity. Again, the idea of ​​loyalty and suitability was the decisive measure of everything in culture.

In short - throughout the history of organized political life in Montenegro, culture has been treated in almost the same way: like last year's snow, or something similar, unnecessary and meaningless. Suitability is always favored over courage, empty rhetoric over curiosity. It is obviously still the case today, despite the changes that, by all accounts, are not.

Probably Montenegrin culture needs medicinal treatment, but I doubt that physiatry therapy, no matter how professional, is really sufficient for any improvement.