Laureates of this tradition of ours

The winds blow from the high mountains,

remove the ahlem from the Debar mosque...

The original group Sprečanski Biseri, The winds blow from the high mountain (Yugodisk, Belgrade, 1983.)

Veljo Stanišić - one of the two laureates of this year's Thirteenth of July Award - of the so-called artistic traditions, he recognizes only the poetic tradition and "ours", he says, "which developed after the Second World War" - which would refer to the tradition of our post-war visual arts - all other artistic traditions, the laureate Stanišić, will be, keeps aside.

Aside from the fact that the City RTV Podgorica removed from YouTube the show "Daily Pulse on Gradska" that was broadcast on July 7th - and which was enhanced by the presence and wise words of this year's Thirteenth of July Award laureates - gentlemen Vukovic, a poet, a representative of the poetic tradition, and the aforementioned Stanišić, a representative of “this our” tradition.

I don't know if the aforementioned show can be watched on television services (Telemach, Telekom Crna Gora) at this moment - I won't check - I will just state that it is not usual, even in our current conditions, for a show featuring two laureates of the highest annual state award to be removed from the largest platform for sharing video content - thus preventing future generations from drawing on the very source of "our" tradition - in the most general sense.

And when is Dragan Koprivica, last year's laureate of the Thirteenth of July Lifetime Achievement Award, began to list in the show "Načisto" broadcast on July 11 - In culture, says Koprivica, we have: literature, theater, film, ballet, painting, sculpture, etc. etc. - therefore, there is no architecture - Koprivica skipped architecture - architecture is under etc. etc. - and now we young architects are asking ourselves who should start...

And let the fact that Messrs. Stanišić and Koprivica have a stepmotherly attitude towards architecture - they do it too - fanfare please: Nenad Vujadinović (Neša Dekan) - who removed the objects Theory of architecture I i Theory of architecture II - the only two architecture subjects - from the list of mandatory subjects at the Faculty of Arts, University of Donja Gorica.

In light of the facts just presented, I am surprised, to say the least, that the world-renowned architect - Le Corbusier from Bijelo Polje - is on the list of contenders for one of this year's Thirteenth of July Awards. Prof. Dr. Rifat Alihodžić, B.A. in Architecture.

It's no joke - even the 9th extraordinary session of the Assembly of the Professional Chamber of Young Architects has been convened - many young, many cute - and equally young and equally cute young architects - on June XNUMXth of this year - in order to consider the initiative of, I quote, "the Islamic Community in Montenegro - the Majlis of the Islamic Community of Podgorica - for the proposal of the author's team that developed the project for the Hadrović Mosque in Durres, in Podgorica" - headed by none other than, fanfare please: Rifat Alihodžić - a world-renowned architect - the Le Corbusier of Bijelo Polje - "for the award of the Thirteenth of July Award in the field of architectural creativity".

The SKA assembly, if you didn't know, has 20 members - some young, some not so young - including Rifat Alihodžić and Igbalu Sabovic Kerovic, editor He looked, IKCG magazine - and the inevitable Milica Vujošević, which is an excellent master of the techniques of putting a foot in every door that can be put in - and it is unlikely that anyone from that cheerful team has ever publicly said or written a few lines about some new moment in this space of ours - so it is almost certain that the question of supporting Rifat and the Hadrović Mosque came down to: I like/I don't like it - and accordingly - I support/I don't support the initiative - there were hardly any (expert) analyses and explanations - let alone any (expert) dialogue...

If I had been asked, I would have said that the Hadrović Mosque, at first glance, possesses certain architectural qualities - decent results have been achieved in terms of the relationship of the new mosque (on the site of the old one) with the immediate surroundings - or with the context - as those who are more knowledgeable about the issue than me would say - especially if you approach the Hadrović Mosque from Kučka Street - from that side the view opens up well - Congratulations, master. - and I would add, as an expert on Rifat's work - that the Hadrović Mosque holds a special place in his work - and I would especially emphasize that this could be related to the fact that this time Rifat obviously did not have the opportunity to "relax his hand" - as tennis players would say - those typical Rifat exaggerations were absent - of a slightly deconstructivist nature, as a rule, if you will allow it.

I wasn't entirely sure, I have to admit, about the balance between the exterior and interior - but I was helped in that regard by an extraordinary series of photos of the Hadrović Mosque on Google Maps - behind which stands Dzemo Redžematović - who definitely has an eye - and it is clear that Redžematović has a deep affection for the Hadrović Mosque - and, for that reason, he made an effort to present it in the best possible light.

Plus for the Hadrović Mosque!

A big plus for Džemo Redžematović!

Another question is whether the team from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Montenegro had the opportunity to consider the initiative of the Islamic Community in Montenegro - the Majlis of the Islamic Community of Podgorica - it would be nice if it did - if we know that Rifat Alihodžić's contribution to the institutional education of young female architects - many young, many sweet - and equally young and equally sweet young male architects - is immeasurable and incalculable.

The question is why. Veljko Radulović, the grey eminence of the 6th Montenegrin Salon of Architecture, did not insist that the Hadrović Mosque be among the buildings crowned with awards from the 6th Salon - provided, of course, that the team behind the Hadrović Mosque had submitted the building to the Salon - I would not be surprised if it turned out that it had not - we are waiting, are we, for the catalogue of the 6th Salon in PDF format, so let's check that too...

And we still wonder whether, in the future, every initiative for the award of the Thirteenth of July Award for a top architectural achievement will be considered at an extraordinary session of the Assembly of the Professional Chamber of Young Architects - many young, many sweet - and equally young and equally sweet young architects - or whether the prerequisite will still be that the author of a top architectural achievement that undoubtedly deserves at least a candidacy for the Thirteenth of July Award - if not just the award, is also a member of the SKA Assembly...

There are more questions without a question mark at the end than answers...

Again, why should we rack our brains - when there are the laureates of the Thirteenth of July Award - Messrs. Bećir Vuković and Veljo Stanišić - and there is also Rifat Alihodžići, a candidate for the Thirteenth of July Award - the hope of this tradition of ours - we have, therefore, those three musketeers - who have been tasked with foreshadowing those better and happier times that are undoubtedly ahead of us...