More of Serbia

Serbian Homes

As we drove along to our excursions, Shawn and I had fun trying to take photos looking out of the window.  I took quite a few photos of Serbian homes with the idea to give readers a glimpse into the kinds of living conditions that exist today.

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Naive Art Movement and Jan Nemecek – Violin Maker

Our excursion took us to Kovacica, a city in the Pannonian Basin, to visit the origins of the Naive Art Movement. We also had the pleasure of meeting a local violin maker, Jan Nemcek. Kovacica is a Serbian city about an hour outside of  Belgrade and is home to the Naive Art movement that started in the 1950s.  Residents Martin Paluska and Jan Soko began painting what was happening in their daily life. Neither Perspective nor realism was a concern for the artists. The Naive style that they created became a movement.

Kovacica – Jan Nemcek, Violin Maker

First, we went to the home of Jan Nemcek.  It was a lovely home with a working studio and a charming backyard.  We were taken to Jan Nemcek’s studio and learned about violin making.  He demonstrated several of his woodworking techniques and ended up by playing a tune on one of his masterpieces. His wife was very friendly and offered her home-made pottery for sale.  I bought several pieces and was happy with my selections.

After our visit with the violin maker and his wife, we went to the Naive Movement center.  We stepped into a gallery filled with artwork and musicians playing Serbian music.  They offered us drinks and little pastries and cakes.  Besides the gallery, there were several other buildings with local artists and their works.  Shawn and I were rather upset because our guide hurried us and we didn’t have much time to visit with the other artists and see their artwork.  What we did see was very unique and unusual. Both Shawn and I ended up buying several prints.

The bus had arrived and we returned to our Viking riverboat.  Along the way, we saw several huge storks nest and I was lucky to get a shot from the bus window.

Grafitti is very noticeable in whatever city you are in. It seemed difficult to capture as we rolled through the city, but I finally got a good shot.  Not that I knew what it meant,

That night there was a hearty Balkan buffet with regional cuisine.  It consisted primarily of a variety of grilled meats such as strips of pork, rolled steak, sausages and some side dished of beans, sauerkraut and different kinds of salads.  I ordered fish for my meal. Shawn had the meat plate but it was a lot of food.  Our boat departed at 10:00 PM for Croatia.