November 14, 2020 - “The painting is created, not painted. All of my paintings have been created by the impression of the environment in which I live.” This is the view of Momcilo Macanovic, an academic painter who works and lives in Tivat. He is recognized as one of the most talented artists in Montenegro, as well as throughout the wider area.
This refined artist is well known for his astonishing paintings, which are easily recognizable due to their precise figuration and sculptural form.
His creative opus is characterised by hyperrealism, with a rich presence of the Mediterranean light.
The primary focus of Momcilo's art is on the figure, which is always static and frozen in time."The figure is in the center of the composition and dominates it, while the other objects and details simply have the role of filling the empty space. Everything is centred around the figure; for example like a mooring bollard behind which is painted a ship or an island,” he said. "The environment is of essential importance for every painter out there. It greatly impacts their view of the surroundings and the way they convey it on canvas".
Momcilo views the world as a composition of light and shadow, which helped him to develop his unique painting style. The presence of shadow and light play on his canvas, followed by olive-gray tonality, sometimes with a certain dose of humour and satire.We can often spot peeled paint, corrosion and rust on his paintings, for which he is well known.
As for techniques, he prefers to work with oil, since it gives him broader possibilities, although he often uses aquarelle paint as well.
While talking with Momcilo, he added that the biggest influence on his creative work comes from Flemish paintings and Italian renaissance.
When asked how he chooses themes for his paintings, Momcilo replied, “Sometimes a random detail, light or a part of a facade catches my eye and I convey it on my canvas”. He is able to create a whole composition, often even a cycle of paintings, out of a single detail. Momcilo never repeats compositions and motives. He uses linear perspective, while his paintings are organized horizontally.
The artist himself concludes,“The process of painting is unpredictable, full of details, and radiates with imagination.”
October 26, 2020 - The President of the Municipality of Tivat, Zeljko Komnenovic, and the Executive Director of the NGO "Our Action", Patricia Pobric, signed today an Agreement on Cooperation within the Cross-Border Cooperation Project Bosnia and Herzegovina - Montenegro, "YOUth Drive- Program for raising awareness on proper waste management and empowering legislators to take action." It is a project that connects the Bay of Kotor and the West Herzegovina County with numerous activities, aimed at protecting the environment through improved waste management and consistent application of energy efficiency principles.
The project, supported by the European Commission, is worth € 279,200.48 and will cover seven communities: Ljubuški, Grude, Posušje, Široki Brijeg (BIH), Herceg Novi, Tivat, and Kotor (MNE). The project will last from November 15, 2020, to May 15, 2021.
"Bearing in mind that we are a tourist destination, issues of environmental protection and treatment of various types of waste are of key importance, and we desperately need such projects supported by the European Union," the mayor of Tivat pointed out.
The project leader, Patricia Pobrić, mentioned that the project's goal is to strengthen capacity to apply environmental protection and energy efficiency standards at the local level and that "the municipalities involved in the project are offered a unique opportunity to address this issue."
The project defines two activities: those related to the waste management process itself and activities aimed at young people and the public. When it comes to the waste management process, partners in the project will analyze waste treatment, pollution of watercourses, and characteristics of illegal landfills. The subjects of analyses will also be the existing regulations for waste management, planning and strategic documentation, and existing infrastructure, with development of recommendations at the regional and local level being conducted.
Activities with young people and the public will include developing information material for students, the development of a digital platform, educational info-sessions in schools, a promotional campaign on social networks, and multi-day educational events.
By participating in this project, TIvat Municipality will receive concrete analysis and recommendations from the subject areas. Participation in a series of activities to raise awareness of the importance of environmental protection and application of energy efficiency principles will be offered, and primary and secondary school students will have the opportunity to participate in numerous educational events. The project benefits include bins for electronic waste and a container totalling an estimated value of € 14,000.
October 22, 2020 - In honor of 70 years of the sailing club "Delfin", an exhibition named "Nautical culture" will open on October 24th, in the Museum and Gallery Buca Lukovic – Tivat.
Club Delfin was formed in January 1951, and is one of the most famous sailing clubs in Montenegro. This club is of great significance, since it has competed for many years in national competitions. The biggest accomplishment of the club so far is the fact that it managed to place in the top 50 in the Olympic Class.
The President of Club Delfin, Frano Tripovic, will open the exhibition "Nautical culture" on Saturday, at 19:00. The exhibition is of a documentary nature.
"Nautical culture" will mainly be open on the first gallery floor, but it will be presented on the second as well.
The exhibition "Nautical culture" is made up of photos of documentary importance, as well as those recently taken. In addition to the photos, the visitors will also be able to see trophies, documents, diplomas, thank-you notes, and other artefacts.
Current exhibitions at Museum and Gallery Buca include:
October 17, 2020 - The defeat of the DPS at the national level seems to be less of a surprise than the epilogue of the local elections in Tivat. The peoples' decision to place their trust in the civil lists after 24 years of rule by the DPS and coalition partners is a kind of precedent on the Balkan political scene.
Called for at the beginning of April, local elections in Tivat were postponed due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The lack of interest from the parties at the national level in the situation in Tivat, where since 2016 the DPS had had absolute power and support of coalition partners - the Social Democrats and the Croatian Civic Initiative, prompted representatives of local parties, former opposition councilors, and members of the public to organize in the coalition list. "People Win" (NP) managed to win as many as 13 of the 32 seats in the Municipal Assembly of Tivat on August 30. The Boka Forum (BF) won two seats, and the Goran Božović list (GB) one. With the minority support of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) councilors, Tivat's new government majority has 17 seats.
DPS has nine councilors, and their traditional partners - SD and HGI - two each.
At the new parliament's constitutive session, held on September 23, the President of the Boka Forum, political scientist Doc. Dr. Andrija Petković was elected for the President of the Assembly. Yesterday, at the first working session, the new parliamentary council appointed Željko Komnenović, the People Wins list holder, as the President of the Municipality of Tivat.
Professor of Serbo-Croatian language and Yugoslav literature, journalist and publicist Zeljko Komnenovic (49), replaced the mayor, Dr. Sinisa Kusovac, relieved of his duties at the same session.
Former President of the Municipality, Dr. Siniša Kusovac, and the New Major of Tivat, Željko Komnenović, Photo by Siniša Luković
"I accept these duties with great seriousness, responsibility, and humility, above all towards the brave citizens of Tivat who showed great heart and determination in the elections on August 30 to take the fate of their city into their own hands. This is the beginning of a new era that we will create and trace together. The future must be the same for everyone, a future for our children, and a city of equal opportunities for all its citizens," said Komnenovic. "Tivat on August 30 voted against centralism, corruption, crime, nepotism, partitocracy, hopelessness and minority domination over the majority," said Komnenović, accepting the position of mayor.
"Although unexpected, you won an unprecedented victory and brought freedom to all of us. The biggest task is just beginning, and the coalition government of NP, BF, GB, and SDP will bring long-awaited justice to the citizens. We will conscientiously and responsibly manage the Municipality and the city's resources, take care of all our citizens and their interests. Our common goal is a rationalized and efficient local government that will solve citizens' problems and needs. In the further development of Tivat, we will try to use all the potential of our city, reduce bureaucracy, protect the rights of local people, and start more intensive cooperation between Boka cities. We will also ensure fair cooperation to investors who are implementing projects here," Komnenović pointed out, adding that the local government "should never again be enslaved to the interests of party headquarters, interest groups and captured institutions."
New Major of Tivat, Željko Komnenović, Photo by Siniša Luković
The new parliamentary majority previously proposed and adopted the decision on dismissing the President of the Municipality of Tivat, Dr. Siniša Kusovac. In the new parliament's long first working session, the new majority explained in detail that Kusovac did not ensure the implemention of the Strategic Development Plan of Tivat 2019-2023, whereby about thirty projects outlined in the document did not make it off the drawing board.
Kusovac also caused significant material damage to the city by signing an illegal contract to waiver 5.6 million euros of utilities to Porto Montenegro, "forgetting" almost two million euros of city money in the bankruptcy-affected Atlas Bank, and non-implementation of the court verdict in the "Dalmacijavino" affair, reads the proposal to dismiss the former mayor, Dr. Siniša Kusovac.
Dr. Andrija Petković (BF), the new President of the Municipal Assembly of Tivat, says for Total Montenegro News that he will be 100 percent committed to the radical changes in that area that all three winning civic lists announced in their election programs.
Dr. Andrija Petković, Source: Municipality of Tivat
By education a political scientist, active in political and social life, Dr. Andrija Petković is a long-term journalist, who has been on several occasions professionally engaged in public relations in the state and local administration, as well as in the private sector. He worked as a lecturer at the Faculty of Mediterranean Studies, and in recent years as a sports editor and presenter at Radio Tivat. He has published six collections of poetry. In the previous convocation of the Municipal Assembly of Tivat, he performed the function of councilor.
TMN: For a long time, and especially over the last four years, the assembly hall was not a space for constructive discussion and agreement on issues of importance for the city, but a body for confirmation of decisions that were often made contrary to the interests of Tivat and its citizens. They have shown in the elections that they want changes. They are expecting them now. Do you think that it is the Assembly's responsibility to restore citizens' trust in local institutions as their service? If so, how do you intend to achieve this?
First of all, I must point out that it is a great honor for me to have the opportunity to perform such an important function, first of all, from the people from the Boka Forum and then from our coalition partners. Of course, the responsibility is, therefore, all the greater since we all need to be aware of what moment we are in. Two viruses have hit us - one is the current COVID19, to which the whole world has no answer. For the second virus, the citizens of Tivat found a solution on August 30, and that is the virus DPS-SD-HGI rule, which destroyed the municipal coffers. From one of the wealthiest municipalities in Montenegro, they have put us in a situation where we have to fill a significant budget hole, so much so in fact that it sometimes seems to be bottomless.
You are right- the parliament was often a place where decisions were made that were contrary to the interests of Tivat's residents, especially those of the local population. They helped the Podgorica bureaucracy and satisfied the interests of private investors. This statement also contains the answer to your questions on how to restore citizens' trust in the system's institutions. The citizen must recognize that the decisions made in the future result from professional planning to solve the problems that have accumulated. The outcome will be an improvement in the quality of life of all members of our community.
I think the Assembly is just a small screw in the whole thing, to call it a "complex." Admittedly - an essential screw, from which that trust begins. Reasonable dialogue, constructive discussions, offering different solutions for the situations in which we are, and finding ourselves, by ignoring to the extent possible party attitudes and differences, and eliminating all petty individual interests. From the porter to the President of the Municipality, everyone must make sure that the public has no doubt that we are here to work in their interests. They must be made to feel welcome in the town hall by the people they pay to do the job.
However, there must be a change in the opposite direction as well. We hope to attract higher quality and much broader participation of citizens in public debates. We expect them to bring proposals that will not have anything to do with vested interests. And perhaps most importantly - corruption starts not from the public office but from the citizen who brings the bribe. That is the most important thing to overcome.
Dr. Andrija Petković and Dr. Dritan Abazović, the President of the Civic Movement URA and the Leader of the Coalition list Black on White, Source: Boka News
TMN: Do you think that the previous government had good cooperation with investors, primarily Luštica Development and Adriatic Marinas? Representatives of all three winning lists often thematized the last local government's moves, which in their opinion, were not in line with the best interests of Tivat and its citizens. In your opinion, is there a need to legally analyze this cooperation?
It depends which angle you look at. If we mean satisfying the needs of foreign and domestic investors and realizing the interests of individuals from the parties that made up the government, then that cooperation was exceptional. And if you mean bringing benefits to the local population and progress to the city, then Tivat did not get anything or at most received many times less than what was offered. Somehow all these everyday, local interests were left aside. On the flip side, every, even the slightest desire of the companies, was treated as an order. There are numerous examples. I'm not just talking about irrigating a golf course or forgiving a debt of 5.6 million euros, nor just about the most significant projects. I am also talking about smaller investments and everyday omissions which, until their appearance in an accessible public space, and even down to the smallest detail, were branded with an iron lock. We will not allow that anymore. For the new government, both at the state and local levels, the task is to find and launch all legal instruments to act in that direction.
October 7, 2020 - Education is only one way in which our lives have changed since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak. In these uncertain times many of us, parents and educators alike, are wondering what the consequences will be for our children - both in terms of what, and how, they are learning. In a first installment on the topic, lifelong educator, teacher trainer and language school owner Sue Dixon gives us some reassurance that all is "not lost"!
During these past COVID months there has been a great deal of debate about whether our children have suffered from ‘lost learning.
Online learning hasn’t suited everyone, especially primary aged children and many parents tell me how difficult it is to motivate children to learn at home. Many teachers haven’t enjoyed it much either!
So, what if children haven’t learnt how to do long multiplication or how to use adverbial phrases this year? Is that a serious loss of learning – I mean really? Given the circumstances around the world I don’t think so. With the right mindset, and positive teaching environment these are things that children can catch up. The first priority is to build confidence, re-establish routines and instil good dispositions and habits for learning.
I have recently embarked on a new education adventure (I have had many adventures it is true to say) in Kotor; Thinking Child Tuition Centre.
I am excited and privileged to have created this opportunity to teach individuals and small groups, to be able to develop those necessary thinking skills for learning in a focused and personalised way. I am confident that children’s learning will not be ‘lost’ for long.
I wish all teachers, families and children the very best learning experiences in the coming weeks and months.
Thinking Child Tuition