How the beautiful "Anthem to the Serbian Flag" was created: Students working together to preserve our heritage

Photo: Nikola Tomic

"The Anthem to the Serbian Flag" was created through cooperation of students and professors from teaching, pedagogical and art schools from central Serbia and Kosovo and Metohija, as well as from the RS. Professors and students from the Faculty of Education in Sombor participated in this project, which was realized on the occasion of the recently celebrated Day of Serb Unity, Freedom and National Flag, who stress that the project was extremely important since the goal was to promote and preserve the Serb cultural heritage.

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When our famous poet Laza Kostic wrote a patriotic song dedicated to the Serbian flag, he had no idea that more than a century would pass before it would be turned into a music and video performance, "The Anthem to the Serbian Flag" - through cooperation of students and professors from teaching, pedagogical and art schools from Serbia and Kosovo and Metohija, as well as from the RS. A lot of energy and love has been invested in this multi-month joint project, say the participants from the Faculty of Education in Sombor.

"I think it is very significant, especially because I am a student at the Faculty of Education and because one day I will be able to show all this to my students and tell them what longevity that poem that Laza Kostic once wrote has had, but also that this was the first time it was recorded (in musical format)," said Jovana Ivancev from Novi Sad.

"As we felt the spirit of patriotism, we also felt the spirit of our monasteries where it was all filmed. It was a very nice experience for me, and the professors were wonderful and the whole organization was at a high level," said Lidija Hornjak from Djurdjevo, also a student at the Sombor Faculty.

"This project brought together for the first time music professors, and through this project we had the opportunity to see our colleagues for the first time in person, those we have been working with for years. Also, the students had the honor to participate with their colleagues and what is even more important are the places of our Serb spirituality where this video was filmed," said Professor Doctor Biljana Jeremic from the Faculty of Education in Sombor.

The spirit of patriotism has multifaceted significance in the construction of the Serb identity among young people, according to the Dean of the Faculty, Professor Doctor Sasa Markovic.

"The idea of Serb unity is the idea of respect that other European nations also show towards their own national identity, and it is not a pretentious idea, because art marks the identity of a nation, and then its political, and the broadest social expression that further develop from it," he said.

Through the artistic impression of the patriotic spirit in the song about the Serbian tricolor, the participants of the project believe that the values of the characteristics of the nation, namely the anthem, the flag and the coat of arms, are highlighted in a unique way.

Representatives of the Faculty of Education in Sombor pointed out that the music was written by Biljana Belojica Pavlovic, to Kostic's poem, and that the video was shot at the Serbian Orthodox Monastery of Manasija, in the Patriarchate of Pec, and in the medieval town of Zvecan. The video also features Serbian Army officers, as well as Jelena Spiric, a prominent solo singer from Kosovska Mitrovica.

The project was implemented under the auspices of the University of Pristina - Kosovska Mitrovica, the Serbian Orthodox Church's Diocese of Raska-Prizren, the Ground Forces of the Serbian Army, the Cultural and Educational Association Rasanka from Novi Pazar, with the participation of teaching and pedagogical faculties from Prizren - Leposavic, Belgrade, Uzice, Vranje, Sombor, Jagodina, Banja Luka and Bijeljina, with the support of the Faculty of Arts in Zvecan and students of the Faculty of Music in Belgrade.

The project is supported by Serb institutions in Kosovo and Metohija: Municipalities of Leposavic, Kosovska Mitrovica, and Zvecan.

(Telegraf.rs)