True Friendships Are To Be Celebrated

The Vršac-based “Hanami” association organised a series of cultural and sporting events throughout the course of 2022 in commemoration of the 140th anniversary of the establishing of bilateral relations between Japan and Serbia, celebrating 140 years of friendly relations between our two countries

“Hanami” isn’t resting on its laurels, but is rather implementing major preparations for its traditional review of Japanese films, exhibitions of manga drawings, calligraphy and photography, the Balkan Cup in Japanese fencing, an international piano festival, the upcoming tour of trumpeter Danijela Veselinović, the new issue of its Serbian-Japanese newspaper and much more.

“At the start of last year, His Excellency Takahiko Katsumata, Japanese ambassador to Serbia, awarded an accolade to “Hanami” for exceptional achievements that have contributed to furthering mutual understanding and improving friendly relations between Japan and Serbia. This award provided additional encouragement for our team to work hard throughout 2022 and to start making precise plans for 2023,” says Adrijana Barši, founder of the “Hanami” Association of Serbian-Japanese Friendship. Here, exclusively for our magazine, Mrs Barši provides a detailed presentation of all the events and happenings that the association organised between January and December last year and which marked the strong and sincere friendship between the two countries.

Vr Ac Hosts The Best Samurai

Firstly, in cooperation with the Embassy of Japan, the Cultural Centre of Vršac hosted a review of Japanese films that symbolically marked the end of the pandemic, while Vršac hosted the best samurai based in

Europe from 6th to 9th May. Club Goshinkan organised the 12th European Sport Chanbara Championship, representing the world’s first major Japanese fencing event since the outbreak of the pandemic.

“Thanks to the support of the Ministry of Sport of the Republic of Serbia and the Kendo Federation of Serbia, we staged as many as 700 bouts and broadcast them live, so they were enjoyed by more than 10,000 people around the world. We are particularly proud of the fact that video judging was introduced for the first time in the history of Japanese sport fencing, so the final contests unfolded under the patronage and watchful eyes of the greatest masters from Japan,” notes our interlocutor.

The Serbian national team won 27 me - dals in individual bouts and three medals in team bouts, which marks our greatest success in this sport to date. The competition was formally opened by Japanese Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Takahiko Katsumata and Vršac Mayor Dragana Mitrović.

Summer Marked By Exhibitions And Reports

Late May saw “Hanami” realise two exhibitions: “Series of Morning Conversations” by academic painter Jelena Gorički and “Kokedama” by artist Gordana Kalnak, who presented plant arrangements created using this special Japanese technique. The third issue of the “Hanami” Serbian-Japanese newspaper, dedicated to the Tokyo Olympics, was published during the summer.

“We also supported exhibitions of Japanese artists at the Bela Crkva Museum, the Fotorama photography festival in Kragujevac, the “Chefs without Borders” event at the Egység Cultural Station and the “Metroplex” futuristic exhibition at the New Cultural Settlement in Novi Sad, as well as almost all events in Belgrade... We also digitised a large number of catalogues of Japanese and Serbian artists, which reached a large number of people in both countries via mobile applications,” explains Barši, listing all the things she worked arduously, together with her associates, to implement during the summer.

Reportages, photographs, live broadcasts and short films from different parts of Japan were met with great enthusiasm, and enabled the Serbian public to get acquainted with the kabuki theatre form, ikebana flower arranging and origami, calligraphy and sumo wrestling, but also to discover what it’s like to ride a bike through blossoming sakura trees, enjoying the cherry blossom, in the parks of Tokyo and Kyoto...

Numerous Programmes For Both Children And Adults

September showed that there is no rest for “Hanami”, as it was then that the photo exhibition entitled “Tohoku – Japan’s best kept secret” was presented for the first time. The opening of the exhibition saw the photographer responsible for the works, Masaki Nakamura, thank the people of Serbia, who were the first to collect aid for the earthquake-hit region of Tahoku.

“We subsequently organised Rakugo, a Japanese theatre featuring music from the Edo period performed by artists San’yûtei Rakumaro (rakugo master), Takako Hiraoka (soprano) and Yoshiko Kadota (piano).”

Marking the unfolding of October was the major international piano festival “Aisa&Friends”, held in both Belgrade and Vršac. The festival opened with a concert by Japanese pianist Aisa Ijiri at the Belgrade Philharmonic, while the second day featured a gala concert in the Great Hall of Kolarac Endowment that included the performances of young pianists Yejun Yong (Korea), Anju Nogiwa (Japan), Zosia Dzimitrowicz (UK), Kenichiro Kojima (Japan) and Ekaterina Bonyushkina (Russia). The second part of the concert featured the performances of two duos: Japan’s Maiko Mori and Aisa Ijiri; and Serbian LP DUO Sonja Lončar and Andrija Pavlović.

The festival then moved on to Vršac’s Millennium Centre and the Josif Marinković Music School. The entire week included daily masterclasses and concerts, complete with free masterclasses with professors from Japan for children from 12 music schools in Serbia. Artist Maiko Mori gave a lecture at the Svilara Cultural Station to students of the Novi Sad Academy of Arts on composing, animation and music production for video games.

YEAR’S END BROUGHT TOP CONTENT

The Aisa&Friends Festival became part of Italy’s prestigious Montecatini International Piano Competition, the premiere and final of which actually took place in Vršac. The competition was opened by Florence Philharmonic representative Paolo Davide Cognetti, while the event’s main sponsors were Palladio East, Confindustria Serbia, the Italian Institute of Culture and the Italian Embassy in the Republic of Serbia. This ensured that, apart from Japan, residents of Vršac could feel the exceptional spirit of Italy throughout the entire final, which included seven competing finalists from Japan, Serbia, Ukraine, Taiwan, Russia and the U.S.

The festival culminated with a concert by Serbia’s princess of the trumpet, Danijela Veselinović, accompanied by an orchestra, which served to announce the upcoming collaboration with a traditional orchestra from Japan for a major tour of Japan and Serbia in 2023.

“Hanami” was also part of November’s SPIK Festival of Movement and Choreodrama in Kosovska Mitrovica, which was set up by Vera Obradović Ph.D. This event included the presenting of an exhibition of photographs by Japanese artists and a lecture on the topic “Japanese swordsmanship – from traditional samurai skills to a modern sports concept”. “Hanami” also organised the workshop of contemporary Japanese artist and choreographer Chiemi Fukumori, entitled “Dance like no one else”.

“For the end of the year, Vršac’s Borislav Petrov-Braca Gymnasium High School and “Hanami” held a contest for fine art and literary works on the topic “Japan and Serbia, 140 years of friendship - What unites us”, which received submissions of 877 works from 36 Serbian towns and cities. In the Millennium Centre’s multimedia hall, we presented the educational video game “Nea&Kuki discover Japan”, which will soon be available via a free application, and the board game “Japanese Adventure”, which we print in large numbers as educational material,” explains a proud Mrs Barši.

Entering 2023 With Major Plans

According to the announcement of our interlocutor, “Hanami” is this year preparing its traditional review of Japanese films, an exhibition of the best drawings by manga artists, the Balkan Cup in Japanese fencing, the second international piano festival, Japanese theatre performances, exhibitions of various artists, calligraphers, photographers, Danijela Veselinović’s tour of Japan, a new issue of the Serbian-Japanese newspaper and much more.

“We receive great support for everything we do from the Embassy of Japan in the Republic of Serbia, the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Provincial Secretariat for Culture, the City of Vršac, the Kendo Association of Serbia, the Josif Marinković Music School, the Borislav Petrov Braca Gymnasium High School and Club Goshinkan,” says Barši, before formally announcing the construction of the Hanami Centre of Japanese Sport and Culture in Vršac. The design concept project has been entrusted to architect Milorad Ćirić, while the centre – to be presented this coming May – will feature a gallery, a traditional dojo training hall, a tea ceremony house and a Japanese garden.