September 18, 2019 - The second KOTOR CIRCLE, a festival dedicated to human rights, dialogue culture and the position of intellectuals in our region, begins today, September 18, at the Nikola Djurkovic Cultural Center in Kotor. This year's Kotor Circle will last until September 21.
"We see the point of the festival in launching topics that are taboo not only in Montenegro but throughout the region. Therefore, we have invited renowned guests from the countries of the former Yugoslavia," explains Ksenija Rakocevic of the NGO Hiberion. Hiberion organizes the festival, sponsored by the Kotor Municipality, with the support of the Nikola Djurkovic Cultural Center. It is an organization of professors, assistants, and students of the Study Program for the Montenegrin Language and Literature at the Faculty of Philosophy in Niksic.
"We will start the festival by hosting Dušan Maljević and presenting the Queer Proceedings. Considering the Law on Same-Sex Marriage was recently rejected in the Montenegrin Parliament, we assessed that the issue of human rights is one of the main problems to be addressed at present. So, we decided to start the Kotor Circle this year with the issue of LGBT invisibility, or visibility. Marinko Vorgic, a publicist, journalist, writer and advisor at the Ministry of Culture of Montenegro will speak on the topic, as well as Queer Proceedings Editor, Dusan Maljkovic, director and civic activist in Serbia," explains Ksenija Rakocevic.
Tomorrow, at 9 pm, Teofil Pancic, Serbian writer, journalist, columnist, and publicist, will speak on the topic of "Culture of dialogue" in the company of Kotor doctor, musician, civic activist, and satirist Goran Jovanovic, alias Timur Tmurni.
"We felt it necessary to initiate dialogue and talk about the dialogue culture and the mechanisms by which the dialogues are conducted. Dialogues are divided into those that are focused on finding solutions and those that are focused on arguing. We chose our guests accordingly. For more than 20 years, Teofil Pančić has been trying to conduct dialogues through various forms of his public activity and in his texts, columns and publications, constantly trying to explain how dialogue is conducted. Goran Jovanovic will be the right company for him to explain his insights on this topic from every angle," points out Ksenija Rakocevic from NGO Hiberion.
Ivan Čolović, editor and founder of the 20th Century Library (Biblioteka 20.vek), speaks on the topic "The Danger of Myth" on September 20 from 8 pm. He will approach the subject through the mythology, myth mania, and myths on which the nation in this region has grown, what we continuously face up in the Balkans.
The same evening, the audience in Kotor will have the opportunity to participate in the discussion on the position of intellectuals in the region. The session is scheduled from 9 pm with the famous Croatian journalist, writer, columnist, and director Ante Tomic and Marinko Vorgic.
The second Kotor Circle ends on Saturday, September 21, when from 8 pm on the topic "Power of words" will speak Prof. Tatjana Djurisic-Becanovic and Ksenija Rakocevic from the NGO Hiberion.
