The culture of Montenegro does not have time for another experiment such as Aleksandar Bogdanović, Vesna Bratić and Maša Vlaović, who were the last in the leading positions of that department, film director and civic activist Mladen Ivanović told Vijest, commenting on the election of Tamara Vujović as Minister of Culture in 44 To the Government of Montenegro.
On the same occasion, 23 professional organizations yesterday announced a protest that will be held on Tuesday, October 31, in front of the Parliament of Montenegro, against the election of a doctor of physiatry from Democratic Montenegro to the head of the Ministry of Culture and Media.
"We invite all citizens to join us at the 'Culture is not booty' protest, to together resist unculture, partitocracy and nepotism," say the signatories of the "Culture is not booty" response.
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"We consider the proposal extremely problematic because the choice of the future minister is not based on her achievements in the field of culture, but, as usual, the conditions of her choice are party commitment and suitability, despite her efforts to raise her former position of advisor for culture and social activities to the level of reference ", they write in the announcement.
They previously sent a statement opposing the appointment of Vujović, asking her to show responsibility and not accept a position in Milojko Spajić's announced government. On that occasion, the future minister told Vijesta that she will not withdraw from the race for the promised position.
"If I didn't think I could contribute, I wouldn't have accepted that position," she said and added that she doubts the motives of the gathered cultural workers, which her party also questioned, and to which the signatories of the statement responded yesterday.
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"As we could have expected, to the request of professional organizations to withdraw the candidacy of Ms. Tamara Vujović, both the candidate and the party recommending her responded with accusations, not arguments," they write.
When asked by Vijesta what is his motive, Mladen Ivanovic says that it is the common good and public interest.
"My personal motives are the same as the motives I had when I started to engage in activism, which was a few years before the founding of Democratic Montenegro. Those motives are always related to the common good and public interest. This is how I reacted when it came to the outgoing Minister of Culture, Maša Vlaović, when I stood up against her pressure, violence in culture and the threats she made because of her opposition to the establishment of the Museum of Contemporary Art. I continuously fight for the common good", says Ivanovic, who is one of the signatories of the reaction.
He reveals that in less than a day, 23 professional organizations gathered, but also that the support of a large number of individuals from the fields of culture and art, and other spheres of society, has arrived, and that their number is continuously growing.
"Everyone stood by us because our culture was stolen from us. However, it is not a spoil to be shared between the parties. We are happy and grateful that with this gesture, for the first time in Montenegro, all individual differences between guilds, ideologies and determinations were ignored and we united in the fight for culture. Our goal is to create a platform that will respond to every kind of cultural problem in the future, fight for cultural rights and stop all cultural abuses. We act in unison for the general benefits of all of us," says Ivanovic.
The subject of problematization of the future minister is her competences and profession, considering that it is medicine. Vujović, on the other hand, told Vijest that she was also an advisor for culture and social activities to the President of the Municipality of Herceg Novi and that the public should judge someone's actions, which takes time. Democrats are convinced of her expertise and "exceptional organizational and management abilities."
"With all due respect to the professional associations, we must understand that the Minister of Culture is not just a curator, but a leader and manager", they told "Vijesta" from that party and added that along with Vujović in the Ministry of Culture and Media, there will be a team of experts who will bring the necessary expertise knowledge.
"Democrats state that expert processes will be managed by experts in the positions of state secretaries. So what does a minister like this do if someone manages the processes on his/her behalf? How will a political appointee value those processes? According to the party line? Where is the public interest?", ask the signatories of the response.
Vujović explained that "just as we had a minority, expert government, so this Government is political, which means that it stems from the will of the citizens that politicians as managers lead some departments".
In their response, they say that this "recognizes the way in which she was elected, as well as the fact that we should all accept this type of election, regardless of education, knowledge and references".
"The answer of the proposed Minister of Culture confirms all the arguments presented in our previous reaction. In addition to the relativization of the attitude expressed by numerous organizations, behind which there are a large number of cultural workers with reference professional accomplishments. In addition, she also invites the Montenegrin society to an experiment: to give her the opportunity and time to prove herself in the position of minister without the necessary professional references and attached results that prove managerial capacities in culture or in any other field", according to yesterday's announcement. .
Ivanović told Vijest that the head of the department for culture must be a person with serious references in the field of culture and professional achievements, and not someone who (yet) needs to prove himself.
"Culture must not be another experiment. We must not allow someone without references, that is, with very poor references, to sit in a chair and on the backs of all of us who, through hard work in bad conditions, achieve excellent results and represent the culture of Montenegro in a professional and high-quality manner and build it. We don't have time for another experiment like the previous ministers: Aleksandar Bogdanović, Vesna Bratić and Maša Vlaović. This continuity of party employment, partitocracy in Montenegro has exceeded any measure and limit of tolerance," says Ivanović.
In the first statement, the signatories stated that for many years the Montenegrin cultural community has not had the opportunity to have its interests represented by a person with the necessary qualifications from the position of Minister of Culture. Ivanovic says that this must be stopped.
"A lot of people from the world of culture and beyond are outraged by this kind of behavior and treatment of culture, starting with the DPS (Democratic Party of Socialists) and their regime, which is the originator not only of party delegation and employment in the field of culture, but also of such a matrix in the state in general for which they are the biggest culprits, and over all the other parties that also divided the culture by party, until the present moment, which is the last straw. They united us in the fight to put an end to that practice. All together for a greater goal," says Ivanovic.
Fine artist and civic activist Tanja Markuš, in an interview with "Vijesti" previously recalled the current situation in culture.
"While the majority of artists are fighting for a bare existence, the Ministry of Culture cancels the competition for professional creators and provides support to amateurs, finances the performances of performers of questionable aesthetic and ideological values, pushes Montenegro onto the UNESCO red list with its negligence, uses the Ministry's resources for the promotion of individuals abroad under unexplained circumstances... All this I'm writing about is just a fraction of the failures of the last few months. If we started listing the 'merit' over the years, it would be a long and dark list", she says and adds what kind of profile of person should lead that department.
"We need someone with a clear vision of decontamination and transformation of cultural policy, who will responsibly and efficiently implement it in practice. A person with a backbone and an attitude, who does not act from a position of power but from a position of professional authority and who does not put personal interests ahead of social interests," said Markuš.
This was confirmed by the signatories of the reaction "Culture is not prey" and pointed out that Vujović is not a person who can contribute to this.
"Culture really needs, in addition to artists and curators, a manager, which the one in question is not, but it is necessary for him to be a person with professionally developed aesthetic and ethical criteria, who is familiar with the dynamics of the cultural scene of Montenegro and has achieved results in this area, as well as the vision of improving the cultural policy of our country", they stated.
The response to the future Prime Minister Spajić, the President of Montenegro Jakov Milatović (who has not been advertised so far), the President of Democratic Montenegro Aleksa Bečić, the media and the interested public, is directed jointly by the Association of Fine Artists of Montenegro, the Free Union of Culture of Montenegro, the Association of Film Producers and director of Montenegro, Institute for Contemporary Art, Coryfej Theater, NGO "Center for the Study and Protection of Cultural Heritage of Montenegro", International Documentary Film Festival Underhill Fest, Association for Cultural Development "Bauo", NGO "Progressivni Film", "CUT UP" production, Articulation film, ABA film, ABHO film, NGO "Montenegro film forum", "Galileo" production doo, Meander film, Adriatic Western, 35mm, NGO TNT.
Ceca closed the Mimosa Festival while Vujović was a cultural adviser
Although Tamara Vujović emphasizes that from 2017 to 2020 she was an adviser for culture and social activities to the President of the Municipality of Herceg Novi, the signatories of the reaction also question that appointment.
"The question is, on the basis of which references Tamara Vujović was selected for the position of cultural adviser of the Municipality of Herceg Novi, which she cites as the only reference of her competence in this area, and whether the selection was preceded by a public competition for the given position?", they say in the announcement.
It is also problematic for them that in Herceg Novi, while Vujović was a consultant for culture, a turbo-folk singer close to the criminal milieu, Svetlana Ceca Ražnatović, gave a concert.
"A reference to the candidate's cultural reach is the fact that it was during her mandate as a councilor that the 50th anniversary Mimosa Festival, one of the symbols of Herceg Novi, was closed with a concert by Svetlana Ceca Ražnatović, despite the opposition of a number of citizens," say the signatories of the response.
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