"We often hear that women are the best part of our society, yet they are not part of our textbooks. This was a wonderful opportunity for these women to see the light of day, to 'pull' them out of the past, for them from the past to send a message to women in the present, women who unfortunately suffer even violence, to strengthen these women who, I sincerely hope, will be future famous women of Montenegro, because they have all the potential to be so," said Danka Vuletić, a teacher at the Nikšić Elementary School "Mileva Lajović Lalatović", author of the multimedia project "Famous Women of Montenegro".
The project was based on the monograph "Women of Montenegro" by Olivera and Tijana Todorović, but, as she admits, she also "peeked" into Božidar Šekularc's book "Montenegrin Queens, Noblewomen and Princesses". She combined the past and the present, and Vuletić is responsible for the text and the strong messages delivered by her brilliant actresses, both small and large.
"My daughter gave me a memory game called 'Women of Montenegro'. It's true what they say that the teaching profession is the only one that takes things from home to work. When I saw that memory game, I immediately had the idea to do this project, but the problem was which of all those women to single out, because I know that if I include a lot of them, and I wanted to, then the children's attention would wane, and my goal was for them to get to know at least some of them, because the women of Montenegro have left and continue to leave a very deep mark," admits the author of the project, which depicts several strong and inspiring women from the history of Montenegro through acting, words and images.
"I tried to 'pull' a woman out chronologically, from all time periods, so that almost every dynasty is represented. I missed the Balšićs, but that doesn't mean we won't do some other strong and self-confident women in another setting. My goal was for as many children, and then adults, to watch this and learn something new. It's up to us to work on the cultural heritage of our country, to introduce the younger generations to it, to remind the older ones, and to love this country because we don't have a spare homeland," Vuletić said.
And then, brave, confident girls, fifth-grade students of the "Mileva Lajović Lalatović" Elementary School, took to the stage and told the story of Queen Teuta, Kosara Teodora Vojislavljević, Saint Ozana of Kotor, Jakvinta Vojislavljević, Ksenija Petrović, Sabiha Ćorović Gokčen, Mileva Lajović Lalatović and Svetlana Kana Radević. Hana Ajdarpašić, Jana Koprivica, Mija Tadić, Martina Simović, Darija Pejović, Petra Tomić, Lana Jokić and Mirela Bećirović suggestively brought the image of the women they presented, and they were introduced to the whole story by the great presenters Anika Rovčanin and Andrea Milović, who reminded us of the stereotypes that are still present today, that every successful woman is "worth a man's head", but also said that "Montenegrins would not know if it weren't for Montenegrin women".
"So much work and effort went into it, so I'm really pleased and happy that this was done so well. I really liked when Princess Ksenija introduced herself because she was into photography, just like my dad, so I especially liked that," Andrea said honestly.
"The most important thing is that we learned something new about the famous women of Montenegro who need to be remembered. I really liked Teodora Kosara, her love and life story. The message of this project of ours is that girls are no less important than boys and that they are just as brave, smart and daring," said Anika.
The actresses, both big and small, admitted that all their success is due to their teacher Danka, who is "the most special of all special teachers."
"I think each of us was equally good in our own way, and I think the other teacher was setting this up so that it wouldn't be this good. I'm really satisfied. Of all these women, I've only heard a little about Ksenija and Teuta," said Mirela, who impressively played the character of Sabiha.
"Thanks to this project, I learned about Teuta, whom I played. She was really interesting, because she was the first female ruler and she ruled before the new era. I really liked both Sabiha and Teodora Kosar," said Hana, who "opened a time capsule" of famous women in Montenegro.
"It was important to me that we all be good and that we know everything and that we can do it a few more times. I knew nothing about these women," said Princess Daria, or Ksenija, adding that she plans to pursue photography like Ksenija when she grows up.
The story of famous women was "closed" by Svetlana Kana Radević, or Lana Jokić.
"I really liked everything we prepared. We put in a lot of effort, both us and the teacher, we all learned something new. I didn't know anything about famous women, but now I do," Lana says proudly.
The multimedia project had its premiere, and the new performance was attended by the authors of the publication "Women in Montenegro", who presented the teacher and the school with monographs, and the students with memory games.
"This book and the games have taken on the dimension we dreamed they would, because our goal was for women to enter schools, for girls to find role models in women who are either from here, or grew up here, or created other cultures. Last time when they performed the play and when we got the video, we all cried with happiness and excitement. We didn't believe we would have the opportunity to see the play live, and it's much better to see and experience it live. I'm proud and satisfied. Thank you to the teacher for making all this possible, and to the girls who were phenomenal, so confident in their performance. They made an excellent children's, serious documentary play that many institutions don't manage to do," Tijana Todorović was full of praise.
As she pointed out, she is overjoyed that their monograph came to life in Nikšić.
"In times where all possible values are being lost, I hope that women will still save the world. Although each of the women presented is special in their own way, the first thing that comes to mind is Jakvinta Vojislavljević for one reason - she is always written in literature and history as an evil ruler. And why she is evil and why she is compared to Herodias is only because she wanted to rule her country and defended her country from attack. That is why I single her out, because that evil was once used for female ambition, for female politics. Today, I guess we have overcome that," Todorović hopes.
Unfortunately, it seems that we are not, because there is too much misogyny in this region, so it would be good for everyone in Montenegro to see the aforementioned project. In September, the Nikšić Theater stage awaits "Women of Montenegro".
Bonus video:
