Macedonia’s Artists Feel Alone on World Stage

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov and Culture Minister Elizabeta Kanceska Milevska greet some of the most prominent macedonian artists | Photo by: Ministry of Culture

Macedonian artists complain that they are not getting the help they deserve from the authorities when it comes to showcasing their work on the European and worldwide stage.  

As a result, when they do take part in prominent international exhibitions, operas and festivals, it is usually down to their own efforts.  

“We feel trapped within the confines of the Balkans and it is difficult to get out,” says Natasa Petrovic, who won an award at this year’s International Film Festival in Seattle for her role in “As if I am not there”, directed by Juanita Wilson.

Apart from a handful of officially organized events, such as the “City of Culture” or “Days of Macedonian Culture”, held in some European cities, for the rest of the time artists and actors feel left to their own devices.   

A recent exchange of correspondence between the Macedonian embassy in Spain and producer Milcho Manchevski, published on the On.net webpage in July, has highlighted the dilemmas they face.  

In this correspondence, the Third Secretary at the Madrid embassy, Perun Jorgakieski, told Manchevski that the Madrid Experimental Film Festival had sought the embassy’s help in presenting his film Mothers at this year’s Festival in November.

The desired help included aid in translating the film into Spanish and covering Manchevski’s travel and accommodation bill. 

Milco Mancevski | Photo by: Ministry of Culture

But while the diplomat said the embassy was keen to support Macedonian culture in Spain, the Ministry of Culture in Skopje had “unfortunately… replied that they have already defined this year’s Project Financing Program for 2011 and do not dispose of extra financial assets”.  

Jorgakieski then asked Manchevski whether he would like to come to Spain at his own expense. The Macedonian ambassador in Spain, Metodija Belevski, joined in the exchange, assuring Manchevski that if he was interested in coming, he could surely cover his own expenses.  

“With your field of expertise, you may obtain such an amount of money efficiently and easily,” Ambassador Belevski wrote.
 
Manchevski replied angrily, saying the Macedonian Film Fund and Ministry of Culture had repeatedly refused to help pay for the subtitling of Mothers, or fund film and video copies, advertising materials, subscription expenses and other charges.  

“Our Film Fund hasn’t offered their help to me or the actors at any festival (even when we were awarded), though the same Fund managed to pay for the accommodation and travel costs of dozens of officials and friendly journalists at large festivals where no Macedonian film was presented,” Manchevski said.  

The Film Fund and the Culture Ministry were just passing the buck, he added.

“Let’s not talk about the fact that Macedonia has never participated so far in organizing or financing the promotion and distribution of any of my films on the international stage, which at various points have contributed to Macedonia as a state for the last 17 years,” he continued.

Days of Macedonian culture in Zagreb, Croatia | Photo by: Agnecy for Emigration

“Do you know that alongside the reviews in Japanese newspaper of [his 1994 film] Before the Rain, they circled Macednia on a map of Europe with a special article explaining how to pronounce the word ‘Macedonia’?” Manchevski adds.  

“In words, Macedonia got this promotion for free, while in the meantime, the state spends money on henchmen.”

Before the rain won numerous awards, including the Golden Lion for Best Film at Venice, while the New York Times listed it among the best thousand films ever.

Another indication of Macedonia’s mismanagement of foreign cultural presentations came this June when the Macedonian Opera and Ballet refused to perform at the Cantarena festival in Beziers, France.  

The visiting Macedonians bowed out of their scheduled performance in protest over what they called their inhuman conditions.

The 170 singers said they were only given the details of the travel arrangements one day before they departed on June 28. Sent off on a three-day bus journey, they complained that the accommodation on arrival was unhygienic.

Author and culture expert Robert Alagjozoski says the Ministry of Culture, the main donor, doesn’t have a clear view of what international cooperation stands for, or much of a strategy.

Their model of operation, programming and financial support is too inflexible, based on a fixed annual plan imposed by the ministry, he says.  

“We have no special fund or foundation to boost international cooperation,” he complained  

Logistical support for foreign projects was weak and the financial aid allocated for such projects was small in relation to what international productions required.   

“We also have no funds available at our embassies [for cultural events], so that such important institutions are humiliated when demands for support come, as was the case with Mancevski in Madrid,” he added.  

“We do not have mobile ad hoc grant lines at the Ministry available on a rolling basis for short-term or immediate project initiatives,” he continued.

Actor Natasha Petrovic agrees that too many Macedonian artists are left to shoulder their own burdens alone when abroad.

The US magazine Variety in January 2011 described her as one of the most talented actors from the former Yugoslavia.

But, recalling her experience at the Berlin film festival this year, she noted: “People were surprised that us artists from the Balkans have no managers and agents to take care of us and our contracts”.  

According to Petrovic, Macedonian institutions have no experience in promoting the country’s actors abroad.

 “We lack professionalism on the part of the institutions in terms of care, respect and openness to cooperation,” Petrovic said.

“We get frustrated when we compare ourselves to actors from outside of our country and the Balkans.”

She says it’s more difficult to convince the world that you are a quality actor when you don’t get official support from home.

“I’ve had an opportunity to feel what is it like to be a part of the world scene and to experience the attention and respect given to European and world film stars who have teams and cultural institutions by their side,” she noted.

Painter Sergej Andreevski agrees that Macedonian artists walk a difficult path when trying to get into prominent world galleries and museums, though he blames this in part on the attitude of the artists themselves.  

“It is true that we need a cultural strategy, which means investing in presentation, advertising in world art magazines and contacting renowned galleries,” he said.  

“And artists in neighboring countries are far more successful in presenting their national culture,” he added.  

“Nonetheless, our artists are partly responsible [for their problems] for not showing much interest in exploring and obtaining new and unknown venues,” Andreevski continued.  

Many prominent individuals in the art world had supported his presentations worldwide, he recalled.  

“They were my sponsors and managers, which was crucial for creating a solid ground for future competitions, as I presented myself beyond our borders,” he explained.

The Ministry of Culture insists that it does have a strategy to promote Macedonian culture beyond the country’s borders, based on strategic priorities.

“We’ve organized complex manifestations of a diverse and quality range, offering a mosaic of Macedonian traditional values and Macedonian urban culture,” the ministry said in a statement.

Of the total budget of the Ministry this year of 55 million euros, 10 million are allocated for the annual cultural programme including galleries, exhibitions, festivals and the activities of local cultural institutions.

The other 45 million goes on salaries, the running expenses of cultural institutions and major projects.

The budget for international presentations in 2011 came to 1.2 million, most of which went on large exhibitions in Utrecht and Tallin, European culture capital in 2011. Some funds also went on the Days of Macedonian Culture in the Russia and Hungary, and on book fairs in Frankfurt, Leipzig and Tirana.
 
While artists in Macedonia feel shortchanged and hard done by, their plight in the region is hardly unusual.
 
Serbia, which has a population almost four times that of Macedonia, spends vastly less on culture, per head of the population.

Serbia’s culture budget for 2011 came to 6.3 billion dinars, worth 60 million euro – which is only 25 per cent more than Macedonia’s, even though the country has a population of 7.3 million, compared to a mere 2.1 million in Macedonia.
 
Marija Djordjevic, culture editor at the Belgrade daily Politika, says that with official funds so tight, promotion of Serbian artists abroad is basically down to NGOs and private initiative.
 
“The success of our artists on the world scene is mostly a result of their own individual penetration [of the scene],” Djordjevic said.

This article is funded under the BICCED project, supported by the Swiss Cultural Programme.