Republika - Voice of Civil Self-Liberation

The first Kustendorf held at Mokra Gora Mt.

Encouraging New Primitivism

Director Emir Kusturica held the first Kustendorf international student film and music festival at Mokra Gora Mt., in the Wooden Town on Mecavnik hill, from January 14 through 21, 2008. The Ministry of Culture cashed out four million dinars from the state budget for the festival. The Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, Minister of Culture Vojislav Brajovic, member of the Academy of Science and poet Matija Beckovic, many actors and friends, were present at the opening. The festival's guest of honor was Oscar-winning filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov, and the old friend of the Serbs, Austrian writer Peter Handke, was also there.
Bad Movies Graveyard was opened on the first day at Mokra Gora, and the first "casualty" to be buried there was the Hollywood movie Die Hard. According to media reports, the "ritual" took place in line with Orthodox customs. A cross was carried, and there was also

a "priest", ordained for this occasion from the order of New Primitives rock musicians, as one of their most popular representatives - Dr. Nele Karajlic from Zabranjeno pusenje (No Smoking) band. With brass orchestra and local goodies, the event turned into a seemingly good party. There is no disputing about tastes, of course. But only the simple-minded can believe this is just a matter of taste. This concept of popular culture, known as New Primitivism, was promoted in the early 80's in Yugoslavia. In response to increasingly accepted idea of culture liberation, symbolized by Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK -New Slovenian Art) as its most avant-garde part, it was taken from Sarajevo, a center of the former federation and considered to be a more dogmatic and conservative part of the country, and presented in Ljubljana, which communicated well with all other urban centers, primarily Zagreb and Belgrade. It turned out later that the New Primitivism, which apparently spoofed "newly composed" folk music and the life and fashion related with it, as the paradigm of the then popular music and culture, actually helped it emerge from
		Leonid Sejka, The Temptation of St. Antony, 1967

a subculture model and gain impetus that will later, ahead of and during the civil war, turn into a powerful means of mobilization. The so-called "turbo folk" was a natural sequel of this cultural model.
In the country where cinemas have been turned into cafes and shops, and where many towns lack a movie theater, talking about films can, naturally, only attract attention if adorned with what is "ours", "original" - and brass orchestras and brandy are symbols of that. "Our tradition", even when we produce it, as is the case with the Wooden Town, is superior to what the world has to offer. The New Primitivism is here to prod us to hang on.


	Lidija Jovetic