Despite the circumstances, thanks to the people

The eighth Wild Beauty Art Festival will be organized in Žabljak and Durmitor during July and August. Starting with a concert by the regionally famous ensemble “Ljubojna” on July 4th, to the final concert on August 15th, which will feature a performance by the world-renowned Bulgarian Grammy winner and also a UNESCO artist Teodosii Spasov, the audience can expect a dynamic and diverse artistic and ecological content. The program includes concerts of various genres, ecological content for the youngest, as well as the continuation of the visual program through extremely striking pictograms.

This year's edition of the Festival is being held in the specific circumstances of the absence of the patronage of the Ministry of Tourism, but thanks to the support of the general sponsor ONE, the Municipality of Žabljak, the Montenegrin Commercial Bank and program partners, the audience will have the opportunity to follow ten carefully designed programs. As in previous years, the program focus remains on ethno sound, not as an arbitrary choice, but as a response to the real needs of the local community and the Festival's effort to offer models of its preservation and contemporary reinterpretation through various international approaches to the interpretation of heritage.

"In the extraordinary circumstances in which the festival is taking place, it is important to maintain direction and continuity in what is essential. On Durmitor, we are enchanted by the beauty of authentic nature and we want to contribute to it with the beauty of authentic sound and image. Despite serious challenges, this mission will definitely be achieved this year, with the hope that the relevant ministries will recognize public interest and provide support for the further preservation and promotion of the combination of local and world heritage," said the artistic director of the WBA Bilja Krstić.

The Festival places special emphasis on ethnomusicological workshops led by Davor Sedlarević, which has been successfully implemented in Kolašin for more than a decade, from which the recognizable and authentic sound of the “Đude” ensemble emerged. Although there have been previous researches in the broader context of northern Montenegro, the musical heritage of Durmitor has still not been systematically processed, while the first significant steps in recording local melodies were made last year.

In this light, the performance of the world-famous kavalist Teodosij Spasov is particularly important., an artist with an exceptional career, who collaborated with artists such as Ennio Morricone, David Libman i Vlatka StefanovskiDescribed as a “revolutionary artist who invented a new genre” and multiple award-winning “artist of the year” in Bulgaria, Spasov will, in addition to performing his own repertoire, also support the interpretation of authentic Durmitor melos. It is this meeting of globally affirmed expression and locally underexplored heritage that will represent the culmination of this year's program.

The festival will be opened by the internationally renowned ensemble "Ljubojna" from North Macedonia, led by vocal soloist Vera Miloševska Josifovska, whose voice is often compared to the voices of legendary Macedonian singers and described as "the voice of a nightingale".

During July and August, in addition to the ethnomusicological camp and the opening and closing programs of the Festival, numerous performers from Montenegro will perform: the female singing group "Đude", the City Tamburzi Orchestra from Pljevlja, Stef Ujkic known as a performer of folk aerophone instruments, as well as guests from Austria, Germany and the USA who will perform world and jazz music. In parallel, children's ecological workshops will be organized, led by Sanda Ravlic.

The visual program this year is planned to be designed by prof. Miloš Vujanović both journalist and writer Vuko Martinović who, with their team, continue to develop the idea of ​​land art on Durmitor. Through pictograms inspired by local heritage - Durmitor legends and motifs of stećak tombstones, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2016, this segment further affirms contemporary ways of interpreting cultural heritage. After the significant attention these programs attracted last year, including the interest of the BBC, their further development represents an important step in positioning the festival as a platform that combines art, nature and heritage, attracting an audience interested in such content.

All programs are free and will take place at Macan Poljana.